Monday, February 15, 2010

Update 4

This person had a manager who wanted an investigation done to determine who was talking about him:

I spoke to John. John did speak to another supervisor about Jane, but just to state that she had a confrontation with another employee (Employee A) and was a upset by it. He stated that he didn't say one way or the other who he thought was right because he wasn't there.

He stated that he was upset with Jane because she actually went to others before she came to him. Jane's side of it is that she went to John first.

He stated that he wanted to put a stop to Jane gossipping as well as other employees and he figured the way to do that was to tell her he would go to HR. He thought this would make her think twice about saying things behind his back instead of checking with him first. When he got in the meeting with me and I let him know that I would not investigate and find out WHO Jane was talking to (and was talking to her), he was ok with it.

I did let John know that especially since he is in a position of authority that others will speak about him. I let him know that I am always open to hear what he has to say and also it is important that he has open communication with his team members. I let him know that he is valued and that I know it is upsetting when someone finds out that others are talking about them.

John was worried that when his team members talk about him, that it would ruin his reputation to management. He stated that he had seen this happen in the past with a previous company. I let him know that if management was ever in a position that they felt they needed to question him about a particular incident, they would. This, however, was not an incident where that was the case and he was actually the one that brought it to our attention.


This person felt her PTO was being docked unfairly:

Apparently their unwritten policy is just like you said: if you're a manager, and you're gone an entire workday, they take a full 8 hours of PTO regardless of how many hours you work in a work week. Likewise, you can work 50 hours the first week of a pay period, and 30 the next, and they do not honor the 80 hours in the pay period; they still take 10 hours of PTO. However, if your manager likes you, and you wheedle enough, he or she can 'write off' the PTO they would normally use, effectively not using any. However, none of my PTO was returned.


This person had a nit-picky telecommuting boss:
For my effort, I still have the burn marks from the flaming I got. The lesson I learned, Evil HR Lady, was never go to the internet for any kind of advice or insight. People will type things to/about you that they would never say to your face. Frankly, who needs it?

However, the update on the situation is that this former boss got fired in June 2009. During the recession my former employer was hit hard. They also use layoffs as an excuse to divest themselves of troublesome employees. I think this woman was deemed troublesome. She was a great peer, but a terrible boss.


This person was contemplating leaving a job and getting pregnant:

Thanks for doing some follow up spots and for your answer. You made some excellent points (as usual) and certainly gave me quite a bit to think about. I applied for and accepted the new position. I've now been in place a year and a half and have lots of good things to report. I've made good progress, I feel the position is a good fit and my new supervisor is the closest thing I've had to that mystical boss/mentor combo we all dream about.

There is also a less happy news. I apparently fall into the category of unexplained infertility.' This is quite enough to deal with without being stuck at the job I left and feeling stagnant. I'm glad I left, I've been able to expand my skill set, broaden my network, and work with a fantastic executive director. I think the moral for me would be you can't make decisions on what you plan to do, when those plans may not be within your control. And definitely don't tell your coworkers (and think long and hard about the family) you are TTC. It's too much information and may lead to much hardbreak when everytime you forgo coffee you set tongues to wagging. In my case, I didn't have to tell anyone, they just all assumed (unfortunately correctly).


This person wanted a company to pay for an aptitude test:
Based on your answer I needed to stop wasting my time and my manager's time "rearranging the same stack of paper," so to speak, and take more direct actions to improve my job satisfaction. I decided not to leave my job yet because it pays very well for the credentials I have with less than five years in the field. I am lining up some industry training that the company will probably pay for and that could lead to another job in the company. But, if there is an issue with reimbursement, I am willing to pay myself, since I recognize the value of the training.

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