How to deal with a bad review - one that is misstated

Well like I said we only have 2 people in HR here in Boston – most of HR is in Dallas. One person is in Dallas for the rest of the month, the other – the director is who I spoke with. And the director goes on vacation starting tomorrow. I think I will do as you suggest, bring in my boss.

CJ – if you think HR does little; our staffing department does even less. I actually have my resume at three companies now. One so far wants to see me, I am just waiting for the recruiter to set up an interview. Whatever day that is, I think I will come down with a severe stomach bug – no reason to use my vacation days as when I leave anything I do not use with be reimbursed to me. And I am meeting with another recruiter at lunch tomorrow – he thinks he may have some other opportunities for me.

Oh by the way it is 8:20 and I am still working. No one else is working as late as me – I guess I am a horrible employee.

I have an interview next Friday! Wish me luck.

am still looking for another job as I cannot work here any longer. There is no longer trust.

That is exactly what I meant. I have had somewhat similar situations and some fences just can not be mended. I hope Greener Pastures are in store for you.

PS PAT yourself on the back for not just Taking it, (or going on all out vengence campagin). Well Done.

I keep my fingers crossed Linklat.

fingers crossed here too - it would be so nice to give your notice and preferably for a better and higher paid job - I don't think you'll ever get a fair deal or really win - it isn't worth the hassle, they'll cover their backs.

I'm surprised (and impressed) that you are still prepared to work such long hours - when I was treated that way in a job in the past, I started working precisely the hours they paid me for and not a second longer. If things didn't get done I didn't apologise - just said that there wasn't time, what a pity. Not professional maybe but made my point! I moved to another and much better place.

Good luck Linkat!

Viv:

started working precisely the hours they paid me for and not a second longer. If things didn't get done

ME TOO, That's exactly what I did. But my bunch is so bad--They did another Woman I work with that way, She transf. to another dept and it TOOK 2.5 (1 Pt Time) people to replace her + she took part of her duties w/her and they did not even care--truly sometimes its purley personal. It was not about $ at all, She was a great worker, made no difference.

yes, if it gets like that it is time to move on, unfair or not. I am so glad I did.

It’s hard Vivien and sometimes I don’t feel like it. However, I do feel an obligation to my team and my client. They did nothing to make me cause suffering and they are the ones who will feel the brunt. If I don’t stay, one of my other team members will have to take the slack or the client will not receive their filings on time and these deadlines are mandated by the SEC. Also, if I don’t find a job in a while, I still need to keep my current one. Unfortunately I am an exempt employee which means I am paid a salary to get the job done whether it is completed in a 40 hours a week or not. Tonight I leave on time, I have some one else scheduled to cover and I am not working during this nice long weekend.

Thank you all so much. You do all make me feel so much better. And your compliments make me blush duce.

Well I finally did speak with the “enemy” and my boss. It was as I expected. I came in with a list of general concerns about my review. Beginning with the facts that no one ever spoke with me in regard to having issues with my performance, to potential opportunities to be promoted, to promises of salary increases. Then I went on to specifics within my review – pretty much requesting support for almost everything said in the review as there was only one specific incident (minor in scope) that was repeated over and over. All other statements were not supported with any facts of incidents occurring.

Well, the “enemy” said my rating would not change no matter what. He said that this was his honest feedback even it is hard to give. So I asked why didn’t I get any honest feedback then when any incidents occurred? His only response to that is that he is not very good at giving feedback and it is something he needs to work on. He went to say that he knows I can excel and that I am capable of being promoted blah, blah and that he is there to support me and will work with me. He did say that he would get support for all I requested.

My question – is he really in my ballpark or is he full of sh*t?

Also, has anyone seen the commercial with the man working in an office full of monkeys? I saw it recently and laughed my a** off as that man is me. I like how he spoke out about the name Titanic and how it was not a good name and no one seemed to listen – fits me to a “T”. And to top it off, the one monkey kissing the other ones butt. That is my boss and the “enemy.”

And the interview went well – cross your fingers – the feedback has been positive.

Needless to say, there are some people pulling for you.here. I'll keep mt fingers, toes and eyes crossed for you.

Thank you Bob!

I just have to be careful not to ever let my husband ever see either of these two people. He would rip their heads off. And he definitely has the capability to do it. I could probably take both these weasels myself and I am very petite. Luckily I am not a violent person.

I am supposed to hear today about the final results of my interview.

Wow, what a story! I had something like this happen long ago, and was able to get a post-review review... in other words, 3 months later I was reviewed again, quite thoroughly (at my own insistence).

The "problems" (non-existent in the first place) mysterioulsy disappeared in this 2nd review. Not only that, both my boss & my boss's boss were thorougly upbraided for mistreating me when the owner (550-person co.) got wind of it. They both left a few months later.... and so did I, for a much better job.

Maybe this is one of those Blessing-in-Disguise things, where you end up with a much better job because of it. I hope so!

I do get the feeling that this could be a blessing in disguise. A lot of things have been going on here with all the mergers and other stuff where it is not the company it once was when I first worked here. It used to be a great place to work, but slowly it has been getting worse. It can be difficult to lead a group of people here and try to be as positive as possible when health insurance rates more than double, when they increase workload, but do not increase staff, they even took away our plant service. The nickel and diming has been the worse.

O-K here is the news. I was offered a position with just below a 3% increase in base salary. The bonus pool is also about 8% higher than my current company with 10% profit sharing. Health care costs are also lower and they subsidize parking costs or public transportation costs. So all in all money wise it seems I will get a good increase considering all the benefits in total. I will lose a weeks vacation – that is the only downside.

But overall it is a much stronger company, the employees seem happy there – most have been there a significant amount of time and they have low employee turnover. They want me to start the beginning of April that will also fit in nicely as I have relatives visiting the last week of the month and currently have this off as vacation.

I am very nervous, excited and happy and cannot wait to see their faces when I hand in my resignation.

Personaly, if I was in your shoes I'd wait until whatever day I'd decided was going to be my last and then hand the resignation letter to your current boss and tell him that I'm just not very good at giving notice.

Congrats on the new job!

Here again: Congratulations Linkat!

fishin, in most companies you can leave immediately after
you hand in the resignation.

Actually in my industry it is customary to give 2 weeks notice. As it is a small enough industry you don’t want to do anything but what is proper. Obviously handling myself appropriately in the past did help me as a former boss has been currently working at this new company and she gave positive remarks regarding me.

I do like the way you worded it fishin’, but unfortunately I do have strong values so either if others do not display them, I will not compromise my values and give anything less than what is appropriate.

Congratulations Linkat. Success in the future. Sounds like a fairy tale ending. Of course, being realists, it isn't a fairy tale but is certainly better than what has gone before. The reduction in stress alone is worth the choice you've made. I'm very happy for you.

Thank you bobsmythhawk – I cannot tell you how stress free I feel right now. I cannot remember when I have felt so relaxed before. It was especially nice this morning as I spoke with the HR contact and he told me how happy the group was when they heard I had accepted. It is nice to hear some positive things after being knocked down over the past several weeks.