Work Situation Advice

[eastcoast_bsc]

I have been at my current position going on 4 years. It was bad from the start. I was trained on the off shift by someone who didn't want to train me. She literally refused to train me. After several days I went to management. They brought back the woman who had my position previously for 20 years. She was great. She was a former radical feminist who converted to Catholicism and we got along great. She went out of her way to teach me everything I needed to know. Such a good person.

She warned me though that the dept. environment was poison. Boy was she right.

I have been through several mangers in the past 4 years. The Senior Technician who was hired the same day as me is bright but he absolutely loathes me. The 1st time I saw him I walked up and introduced myself , extended my hand and he didn't shake my hand, he sorted of grunted.

The past 4 years he has gone out of his way to not offer any assistance to me, and not answer any of my questions. (He is a senior IT Tech) He tries to make me look bad on a consistent basis with negative comments. . I work 3 nights and 1 day shift 40 hours. So I don't get the chance to counter the negative comments.

There are two newer staff that are great, helpful and team players.

I was just turned down for a day position and it was given to a Temp with less time and experience. The temp is a personal friend of the senior Tech. She has dinner with him and his wife and socializes with them. She is also a consummate brown nose. Running behind the manger with a clip board and issuing pithy team emails.

I know that I do my job well and have a deep well in regards to continued learning. But I feel the well has been poisoned.

When I didn't get the position, I was told my the acting manager, who told me and asked me if I had any thoughts. No comments from her as to why the decision was made or any further advice .

My question is: I am getting very stressed and tired regarding the situation and constant negativity from the Senior Tech. Should I have a sit down with the interim manager? Should I go to HR? My fears are HR is basically a shill dept. for management. The manger who listens to gossip of disinformation my not be mature enough to have a conversation with.

Other than leaving, which is an option. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[bill5]

Honestly I'm trying to figure out why you didn't start looking for another job right away, instead enduring it for 4 years. Yikes. It sounds cattier and sillier than a high school cafeteria.

Anyway it's impossible for anyone here to give a valid answer as to whether you should talk to your mgr or HR as we don't know the people or the company. The only thing I feel I can say with reasonable certainty is look for another job. IMO leaving isn't "an option," it's a necessity. Best of luck!!

 

[Michie]

Well I think you should let your feelings be tactfully known. I'm not one for playing games and I know you aren't either. I think honesty is the best policy.

 

[pdudgeon]

i think the question wil be who can outlast whom.

eventually if you stay where you are it will come down to you vs the Senior IT tech.
so how much influence does he have over your job,
and how often do the two of you have to interact with each other?
What you want to do in this case is to project the image of a team player who works well with others.
and that means keeping your feelings about the situation to yourself.

instead of a promotion you might also consider a lateral move to a
different department or location, and use your accumulated time and experience with the company to
garner a better working environment.

but don't make that move immediately. instead use the intermittant time to let things settle back down,
project the image of a team player, and quietly develop new skill sets.

work at being one step ahead of the game, and position yourself as both a leader and an asset to the company.

you don't want to counter move on the IT guy's ideas, but you do want to be in a position
to enhance them in a way that improves the end product for the company
AND that shows you to be a valuable asset to the company's bottom line.

and that's the difference between getting a promotion
and being presented with a well deserved position as a reward from the company.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

Good points all around guys. The senior Tech is known for his issues. He recently went to HR regarding being told not to speak Cape Verdean in front of the Interim Manager while a meeting was going on. He is a white guy but learned Cape Verdea.
He lost that battle.

He was also turned down as Manager a few years back. he was reported to the CIO as being difficult to work with.

But he is tolerated because of his skill sets.

As for me, I am getting closer to the last roundup career wise. Not old enough to retire but definitely not the young tiger. It Gets harder to drink the Kool Aide or play politics as you get a little older. It gets wearying.

I might have a sit down with the interim manager to at least get my thoughts on record.

I do have my eyes on moving on also. The resume has been prepared.

It would have been nice to stay and havesome longevity. But that would entail working poop hours.

 

[Michie]

I just think not saying anything enables an unhealthy and dysfunctional work environment. Unless the head honcho is involved in such games, or would just rather ignore them, or needs to hear this with his own ears... Whatever it is, as long as you do it tactfully and without rancor he will appreciate you speaking up because people are not as oblivious as some like to think.

Good points all around guys. The senior Tech is known for his issues. He recently went to HR regarding being told not to speak Cape Verdean in front of the Interim Manager while a meeting was going on. He is a white guy but learned Cape Verdea.
He lost that battle.

He was also turned down as Manager a few years back. he was reported to the CIO as being difficult to work with.

But he is tolerated because of his skill sets.

As for me, I am getting closer to the last roundup career wise. Not old enough to retire but definitely not the young tiger. It Gets harder to drink the Kool Aide or play politics as you get a little older. It gets wearying.

I might have a sit down with the interim manager to at least get my thoughts on record.

I do have my eyes on moving on also. The resume has been prepared.

It would have been nice to stay and havesome longevity. But that would entail working poop hours.

 

[bill5]

With all due respect Michie, you (like the rest of us) have no idea whether anyone there will appreciate speaking up. It may in fact be greatly resented and make things worse. As I said before, none of us can know the best course of action here as we don't know the people involved.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

Well I think you should let your feelings be tactfully known. I'm not one for playing games and I know you aren't either. I think honesty is the best policy.

Insent her an email regarding some up comg traings and also requested to set a time to have a conversation regarding some work related issues and to seek some clarity on a few things.

 

[Michie]

Keep us updated. Seems there are either some very immature people there.

Insent her an email regarding some up comg traings and also requested to set a time to have a conversation regarding some work related issues and to seek some clarity on a few things.

 

[Michie]

I treat others as I would like to be treated and that means being honest. Whether they appreciate it or not, it is an unhealthy work envioronment and needs to be addressed.

With all due respect Michie, you (like the rest of us) have no idea whether anyone there will appreciate speaking up. It may in fact be greatly resented and make things worse. As I said before, none of us can know the best course of action here as we don't know the people involved.

 

[bill5]

I treat others as I would like to be treated and that means being honest.

Unfortunately though, that's irrelevant. This isn't about you, or me, for that matter.

Whether they appreciate it or not, it is an unhealthy work envioronment and needs to be addressed.

Perhaps. But again that could make it worse and whether they appreciate it or not is very important. Sure they SHOULD....but that doesn't mean they will. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to most problems, and unfortunately, honesty is not always the best policy.

No offense, in fact I think what you're saying is great, generally speaking. But given the people eastcoast is dealing with, normal advice might backfire.

 

[Michie]

Well I am not going to debate it. We do nobody any favors by turning our heads to a bad situation that is anything but what is supposed to be a team effort in the workplace. It is just my advise and opinion and eastcoast is free to take or leave what he can or cannot use. He asked. I answered.

Unfortunately though, that's irrelevant. This isn't about you, or me, for that matter.

Perhaps. But again that could make it worse and whether they appreciate it or not is very important. Sure they SHOULD....but that doesn't mean they will. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to most problems, and unfortunately, honesty is not always the best policy.

No offense, in fact I think what you're saying is great, generally speaking. But given the people eastcoast is dealing with, normal advice might backfire.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I'm with Bill. Either stay quiet or look for employment elsewhere.

In my 40 plus year career working in hi-tech, those with the big egos move on in time. You just have to put up with
them til they do.

If you rock the boat, you could make the situation worse and I have found, it was usually the case as the big ego was
better at politics than actually doing the job and they could beat me in the political game.

I stayed quiet and survived 28 years with that company.

Jim

 

[seashale76]

If you do decide to pursue anything, then you need to confront the person you have the issue with first and attempt to work things out (and document it) before moving up the chain. If you don't use the chain of command, you'll be considered wrong even if you're right.

 

[bill5]

Again......it's not that simple. In fact, IMO odds are that confrontation (no matter how tactful) will just make it worse, esp in this hypersensitive, addicted-to-drama day and age, and extra esp given what we do know of the people involved....they don't exactly paint a picture of rational, objective people.

I hate that this is so often true. Like you and Michie, I think people should be able to air things out and not just hold back or play games. But the reality of today's society/corporate America is that it is rarely a productive or wise move. We need to see things and deal with things as they are, not as we wish they were.

 

[seashale76]

Again......it's not that simple. In fact, IMO odds are that confrontation (no matter how tactful) will just make it worse, esp in this hypersensitive, addicted-to-drama day and age, and extra esp given what we do know of the people involved....they don't exactly paint a picture of rational, objective people.

I hate that this is so often true. Like you and Michie, I think people should be able to air things out and not just hold back or play games. But the reality of today's society/corporate America is that it is rarely a productive or wise move. We need to see things and deal with things as they are, not as we wish they were.

I have ONLY worked in careers where I've routinely had to deal with people that were neither rational nor objective. People play games all the time (be they co-workers or members of the public you have to interact with in a professional capacity), but one can't simply go to management and expect things to get done UNLESS they have gone through the chain of command first. The OP needs to do the CYA thing, dotting his 'I's and crossing all his 'T's, documenting everything he is doing from here on out. It's up to him whether or not he pursues it, but I have learned via experience that you HAVE to document everything you are doing and make sure that YOU can't be called out for doing ANYTHING wrong yourself.

I was once a building rep for my union (in my former career). I have seen some really ridiculous things. In some jobs and professions, you can request others to witness any mediation and conflict-resolution attempts. You have to know your company policies, job descriptions, et cetera. Be forewarned that if you hold others to it, then you WILL be examined thoroughly and held to them as well.