Need some advice � I have been working for a privately owned company for almost 3 years and I am not sure if I have any type of case, so any help or advice would be appreciated. There are two things that may or may not be relevant which include that I work in an federal regulated facility where I am a supervisor of a team, however the advice that I am seeking is how my boss, the Manager of the team treats me. My friends, who I have shared various occurrences, have told me to go to HR and write all incidents/interactions down between my boss and I, which is the main reason why I am finally seeking advice. Here are specific occurrences, between my boss and I that have happened within the 3 years that I have been employed at this company:
Note "issue to HR" is in bold to indicate that it is the same issue throughout this post - which represents the "interaction that I had with my boss and that i took to HR"
During an occurrence where I was told by my boss to give my employee a verbal warning for my employee not following documented procedures. I met with HR in a 1:1, who discussed with me that he/she felt that my boss was a micromanager, who told me what to do all of the time. HR�s advice was to talk to my boss about allowing me to manage my own team and to lessen his/her control so that I am allowed to develop my team in my own way. ***note: HR did not support nor agree to the verbal warning. I can provide details if needed � but it seems a long story. The short story is that the reason for the verbal warning, per my boss�s request, had morphed from �a behavioral issue� to a �not following procedures issue�. The reason had changed, based on my boss�s discussions with HR. By the time that I had that 1:1 meeting with HR, the HR Rep asked me why the verbal had changed from behavioral to not following procedures. I advised HR that my boss had told me what to write and edited the verbal before it was presented to HR/employee.
Based on HR�s suggestion, I attempted to give my boss some feedback/advice on an unrelated topic, based on HR's suggestion � which was not well received by my boss and my boss continued to demonstrate same management style which was micro-management.
***note: I would be given verbal warning for reasons that morphed throughout my HR session to review the reasons for the verbal warning being presented to me, which included not following procedures, and/or not following up with someone, and/or being or lack of being detail oriented. And the HR Rep is now a different person and the HR rep and my boss are good friends � admittedly by hr rep and hr director. I question the validity of this verbal warning because, based on procedures, as they are written and effective as of date of verbal warning, it is others responsibility to ensure these specific item(s) is completed, asthey are written and effective on date of verbal warning. If it is for not following up, I had been following up for approximately 4 months and then just stopped and passed the info to my boss but did not specifically �ask� my boss for next steps, so basically because I did not include a �what do I do next� statement, it became part of the verbal when I feel like various people were in the loop and it fell off everyone�s radar, not just my radar, and not my responsiblity, as procedures are written at this time. One other piece of info, which may or may not be relevant which is 3 days before the verbal warning, my boss met with me 1:1 to discuss this very same issue and I had come up with an action plan to help resolve this issue in the future and I was told to move forward with whatever plan I think would help with this issue. It was discussed that my boss was thinking of giving �my� employee a verbal warning but it was not firmly decided. The next day, I was told to schedule a meeting with my employee and present a verbal warning (that was written by boss). During verbal warning session with employee, my boss did all of the talking � I did not say (or was asked to say) one word. An hour before I was given verbal warning, this same �procedure� happened to come up for discussion in a meeting where my boss was present. My boss spoke up and stated that it is not our team�s job to chase others down to ensure that they are following this specific procedure, that I would be included as part of my verbal warning an hour later.
I also feel that that this verbal is the start of a way to �get me out� because I had taken an unrelated FONT=Arial Black] issue to HR [/FONT]a few months earlier, related to an interaction that I had with my boss, and at the time, HR was in full support and on my side, and told me specifically that they are not even sure why my boss said/did what he/she did. The verbal given to me (above) was given to me within three months after me bringing an issue to HR about my boss. Before bringing this specific issue to HR, I had good performance reviews and was given kudos and a financial award for successfully completing a project.
Right after I took this issue to HR, HR boss and boss�s boss both expressed their apologies to me that this incident should not have happened and apologized that it even happened, and admitted that my boss was in the wrong. Each of them, in separate discussions with me, expressed that I did not do anything wrong and that I should have reached out to HR, like I did and that I could go to them anytime to help them �coach� my boss and they both advised that they were �working with� my boss to try to get him/her to improve.
Before I took this issue to HR, there were various (I feel) inappropriate information that my boss discussed � and these talks took place on a continuous basis, up through the date that I �took� my boss to HR. Once I did this, the inappropriate topics stopped, but the verbal warning (or potentially warning process) started to �get me out�.
The inappropriate topics mainly focused on sex. I don�t feel comfortable sharing details at this time, but I can say that it was not advances (or hints) towards me � it was more about my boss�s sex life. And this was a constant conversation during our 1:1 meetings for over a year. There was a point where I tried to interrupt and divert the conversation back to business, but the topic would always revert back to my boss�s sex and personal life. I was also coached on the fact that I should not interrupt, and how interrupting is rude.
Before I took the issue to HR, I also met with my boss�s boss (they called the meeting) and wanted some feedback about my boss to �help us� improve teamwork. I don�t feel safe going into details at this time � but I can say that my boss�s boss already had an awareness as to �how difficult� my boss was to work with to the point that boss�s boss revealed that he/she does not like having meetings with my boss and sometimes will not answer the phone if they see my boss�s phone number. There was a witness to this conversation. There was also an awareness that my boss �micro-manages� me and they do not �allow� me to supervise my own team.
After I took this issue to HR, I reached out to my boss�s boss, and was advised the team is completely 100% my responsibility and the verbal will remain. And that regardless of what the procedures state, it is 100% my responsibility to ensure that guidelines are followed by all employees, even employees that are not my direct reports. They also stated that the verbal would remain because it was my responsibility to follow-up with others that were included within email. And, that if I would have included a note saying �what are next steps� in the email in question � then I may not have received verbal.
This may be irrelevant, but my boss also demonstrates unprofessional behavior to my team, which I feel could potentially become discrimination issue. My boss calls one of my team members a nickname that is directly related to their nationality � I have not brought this potential issue to my boss or any of his/her boss�s at this time. And, my employee has not expressed (to me directly) that they have an issue with this nickname. But, it does concern me and not sure if I should take any action related to this issue since I seem to be in enough trouble at work and need my job, just like everyone else. So, I tried to pick my battles and this is where I�m at now.
I may not have anything here but, I have a strong feeling that �they want me out� at this point and wanted to see if I have any type of case. Maybe I just have a horrible boss, and in the meantime will be looking for another job � but if you have any advice or next steps that I could take � it would be appreciated.
Note "issue to HR" is in bold to indicate that it is the same issue throughout this post - which represents the "interaction that I had with my boss and that i took to HR"
During an occurrence where I was told by my boss to give my employee a verbal warning for my employee not following documented procedures. I met with HR in a 1:1, who discussed with me that he/she felt that my boss was a micromanager, who told me what to do all of the time. HR�s advice was to talk to my boss about allowing me to manage my own team and to lessen his/her control so that I am allowed to develop my team in my own way. ***note: HR did not support nor agree to the verbal warning. I can provide details if needed � but it seems a long story. The short story is that the reason for the verbal warning, per my boss�s request, had morphed from �a behavioral issue� to a �not following procedures issue�. The reason had changed, based on my boss�s discussions with HR. By the time that I had that 1:1 meeting with HR, the HR Rep asked me why the verbal had changed from behavioral to not following procedures. I advised HR that my boss had told me what to write and edited the verbal before it was presented to HR/employee.
Based on HR�s suggestion, I attempted to give my boss some feedback/advice on an unrelated topic, based on HR's suggestion � which was not well received by my boss and my boss continued to demonstrate same management style which was micro-management.
***note: I would be given verbal warning for reasons that morphed throughout my HR session to review the reasons for the verbal warning being presented to me, which included not following procedures, and/or not following up with someone, and/or being or lack of being detail oriented. And the HR Rep is now a different person and the HR rep and my boss are good friends � admittedly by hr rep and hr director. I question the validity of this verbal warning because, based on procedures, as they are written and effective as of date of verbal warning, it is others responsibility to ensure these specific item(s) is completed, asthey are written and effective on date of verbal warning. If it is for not following up, I had been following up for approximately 4 months and then just stopped and passed the info to my boss but did not specifically �ask� my boss for next steps, so basically because I did not include a �what do I do next� statement, it became part of the verbal when I feel like various people were in the loop and it fell off everyone�s radar, not just my radar, and not my responsiblity, as procedures are written at this time. One other piece of info, which may or may not be relevant which is 3 days before the verbal warning, my boss met with me 1:1 to discuss this very same issue and I had come up with an action plan to help resolve this issue in the future and I was told to move forward with whatever plan I think would help with this issue. It was discussed that my boss was thinking of giving �my� employee a verbal warning but it was not firmly decided. The next day, I was told to schedule a meeting with my employee and present a verbal warning (that was written by boss). During verbal warning session with employee, my boss did all of the talking � I did not say (or was asked to say) one word. An hour before I was given verbal warning, this same �procedure� happened to come up for discussion in a meeting where my boss was present. My boss spoke up and stated that it is not our team�s job to chase others down to ensure that they are following this specific procedure, that I would be included as part of my verbal warning an hour later.
I also feel that that this verbal is the start of a way to �get me out� because I had taken an unrelated FONT=Arial Black] issue to HR [/FONT]a few months earlier, related to an interaction that I had with my boss, and at the time, HR was in full support and on my side, and told me specifically that they are not even sure why my boss said/did what he/she did. The verbal given to me (above) was given to me within three months after me bringing an issue to HR about my boss. Before bringing this specific issue to HR, I had good performance reviews and was given kudos and a financial award for successfully completing a project.
Right after I took this issue to HR, HR boss and boss�s boss both expressed their apologies to me that this incident should not have happened and apologized that it even happened, and admitted that my boss was in the wrong. Each of them, in separate discussions with me, expressed that I did not do anything wrong and that I should have reached out to HR, like I did and that I could go to them anytime to help them �coach� my boss and they both advised that they were �working with� my boss to try to get him/her to improve.
Before I took this issue to HR, there were various (I feel) inappropriate information that my boss discussed � and these talks took place on a continuous basis, up through the date that I �took� my boss to HR. Once I did this, the inappropriate topics stopped, but the verbal warning (or potentially warning process) started to �get me out�.
The inappropriate topics mainly focused on sex. I don�t feel comfortable sharing details at this time, but I can say that it was not advances (or hints) towards me � it was more about my boss�s sex life. And this was a constant conversation during our 1:1 meetings for over a year. There was a point where I tried to interrupt and divert the conversation back to business, but the topic would always revert back to my boss�s sex and personal life. I was also coached on the fact that I should not interrupt, and how interrupting is rude.
Before I took the issue to HR, I also met with my boss�s boss (they called the meeting) and wanted some feedback about my boss to �help us� improve teamwork. I don�t feel safe going into details at this time � but I can say that my boss�s boss already had an awareness as to �how difficult� my boss was to work with to the point that boss�s boss revealed that he/she does not like having meetings with my boss and sometimes will not answer the phone if they see my boss�s phone number. There was a witness to this conversation. There was also an awareness that my boss �micro-manages� me and they do not �allow� me to supervise my own team.
After I took this issue to HR, I reached out to my boss�s boss, and was advised the team is completely 100% my responsibility and the verbal will remain. And that regardless of what the procedures state, it is 100% my responsibility to ensure that guidelines are followed by all employees, even employees that are not my direct reports. They also stated that the verbal would remain because it was my responsibility to follow-up with others that were included within email. And, that if I would have included a note saying �what are next steps� in the email in question � then I may not have received verbal.
This may be irrelevant, but my boss also demonstrates unprofessional behavior to my team, which I feel could potentially become discrimination issue. My boss calls one of my team members a nickname that is directly related to their nationality � I have not brought this potential issue to my boss or any of his/her boss�s at this time. And, my employee has not expressed (to me directly) that they have an issue with this nickname. But, it does concern me and not sure if I should take any action related to this issue since I seem to be in enough trouble at work and need my job, just like everyone else. So, I tried to pick my battles and this is where I�m at now.
I may not have anything here but, I have a strong feeling that �they want me out� at this point and wanted to see if I have any type of case. Maybe I just have a horrible boss, and in the meantime will be looking for another job � but if you have any advice or next steps that I could take � it would be appreciated.
