Opinions on problem with a supervisor at work

[trixyben]

Just looking for opinions on the problem my sister is having at work..

She started a new job 2 months ago in telesales, first couple weeks fine everything ok, but recently her supervisor has been giving her a very hard time, she is giving out to her over every little thing and yells across the office to her if she says something not on the script but only does these things when the manager isnt there, she always meets her sales targets everyday and granted she is new and will make a few mistakes but feels unfairly treated...

now the supervisor has been there from day 1 with the owner some 6 years and the current manager is there just over 1 year, she feels she cant say anything because the supervisor has them all wrapped around her finger and feels she would lose her job if she speaks to the manager...

What would you do in this situation? Now my sister has been out of work for a while and feels very lucky to have gotten the job and dosent want to lose it over this but waht can she do that dosent go aginst her in the end?

 

[ccp consultancy]

Your sister is in a difficult situation.

Legally she is entitled to raise a grievance with regards to her line managers behaviour. - which is belittling, bullying etc

In reality - she has only been there 2 months and therefore has no legal protection against unfair dismissal, if after complaining she is laid off , unless there is a discriminatory elemement to the bullying

So it is a catch 22 situation I am afraid - she either pulls the manager to oneside and has a quiet word along lines of your behaviour towards me is making me fell unhappy and then run the risk of a) Behaviour towards her improving, b) behaviour towards her worsening c) Being dismissed for some minor issue non related to her complaint

or she says nothing - puts up with the behaviour, looks for another job and moves on

 

[ADW]

Is it personal or is the Supervisor like this with all the staff.

I don't know if it sounds that bad to make a big issue of..... being told to stick to a script and then going off and getting pulled up for it. Some people are just generally grumpy and unpleasant in all walks of life and it sounds like your sister has found one of them. If she is being overly victimised it might be different but being new she just might be temporarily on her back to get her upto speed.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

http://www.dignityatwork.org/

 

[thebigIAM]

It's very hard to offer constructive advice when you are just a sympathetic bystander. Carry on being a good pal to your sister and try to steer her on to happier things when she is not at work. But in the sphere of work, she unfortunately has to make her own hard decisions as to how she will fight her battles. Any advice you give her might backfire on you later.

On the plus side, you say she's meeting all her targets doing telesales. People like her are like gold-dust and very hard to find. She will easily be able to walk into any other sales job she wants in a few months' time. High earning jobs, too.

 

[Kernowman]

This person is breaking one of the golden rules of Management which is:

"Praise in public, chastise in private".

The next time this person berates her unfairly, then she should stop work immediately and go over to speak to the supervisor. Give her the choice of having this conversation either privately in an office as reasonable mature people, or in front of the other staff is she prefers. Bullies don't like a taste of their own medicine one little bit and I have stood up to few in my time.

Once in the office, inform the supervisor than what she is doing is overt bullying which she will not tolerate. Be sure to make notes. If the supervisor is so full of herself she elects to discuss it in front of other workers, then that is by her own election, but again be sure to make notes either then or very soon after. Whatever you do, don't turn it into a personal battle because you will lose.

This confrontation can go one of two ways: Either the bullying stops, or they will try to lever the employee out of the door.

She isn't of course able to complain to a Tribunal because of the length of her service, unless of course it is discriminatory.

However, there is nothing to stop any employee who does not qualify for the Tribunal unfair dismissal process, to take out a breach of contract action in the county court. The reason being that it is not in the contract of employment to be harassed and bullied. This is where contemporaneous notes are invaluable.

 

[trixyben]

There was another lady who started at the same time who my sister says is making some of the some mistakes she makes but it goes unnoticed by the supervisor..

She was saying last night that she is really dreading work today as the supervisor is in charge and she will just be waiting for her name to be roared across the office to be embarrassed and humiliated in front of the rest of the staff again..

She was told by her manager at her training that it will be a learning curve for the first 8-10 weeks as there is quite a bit invovled with the sales/booking process and thats grand when hes there if he heres her saying something wrong or doing something wrong he will call her into his office for a quick chat just to bring it to her attention and she is happy with that, as you can imagine at least you now no and can do it correct the next time therefore getting better at her job and not having been roared at across the office with the intentions of showing her up for her mistakes making her anixous and making her unproductive...

I really dont no what to advise her, first thing to mind is get out of there and forget about it but she was looking for work for a while has the morgage, 3 kids etc...

 

[Kernowman]

It seems as though it is discriminatory for the supervisor to pick on your sister and not the other person who is making the mistakes. Trouble is, unless everyone is within the same age group including the supervisor is within a group and your sister ISN'T, then discrimination is very hard to prove.

So, my advice is for your sister to STOP WORK IMMEDIATELY and confront the bully in the way I described in my last post.

I cannot see how when she is very good at her job, she is to be held in fear by this sh*tbag of a supervisor and let her get away with it. I'm sorry, but I value my health and well being far too much to let some tin pot little dictator make my life a misery at work by increasing my stress levels needlessly.

 

[ADW]

Is she in a position to ask advice of the Manager? If it is just her getting the grief and she believes it to be way beyong the line of constructive critiscim then she has more of a case even though she is new. She doesn't have to put up with it but saying that and getting a successful outcome is a totally different thing. The supervisor whilst a permanent fixture since the start of the business obviously can't be that highly thought of with a Manager recently having been brought in over her head. Only your sister knows the best course of action and if it is as you say the Supervisor has no right to treat her that way. Have the other staff noticed that she is unfairly picked on? They might be of help if so.

Good luck and hope she can find a way of sorting out her problems.

 

[TheGuru2010]

You need to think about this long & hard, without going into to much detail my best advise is to stick with it & look for something else at the same time, at the end of the day remember she goes to work to provide for her family, foolishly leaving her job could cost her even more in the long run.

 

[DPOM]

Does she have a company handbook? If so it should detail a grievance procedure. She should follow this to the letter. They have to take her grievance seriously.

If they dont and it forces her to leave then head for an employment tribunal.

Obviously, try and resolve it first. There are laws to adhere too here and she shouldn't be afraid of speaking to her line manager.

 

[ccp consultancy]

If they dont and it forces her to leave then head for an employment tribunal.

Obviously, try and resolve it first. There are laws to adhere too here and she shouldn't be afraid of speaking to her line manager.

The employee has no grounds for taking this to tribunal, unless there is a real discrimination case (genda, race, age, dda etc)

On top of this she has to be employed for a year before she has any legal protection

Yes laws are there to protect employees, but due to her length of service there is very little protection available to her.

Yes she can raise a grievance, but the harsh reality is that if she raises a grievance within the first few months of employment then she will be sure to find herself quickly picking up her p45 - the stark reality, in this economic climate is that it is an employers market, and they will not entertain an employee who is "perceived" to be a trouble maker. And with such a short length of service the law is heavily weighed towards the employer.

 

[DPOM]

i stand corrected - tribunal comment regarding unfair dismissal..I misread 2 months - didnt realise it was only that amount.

Should maybe slow down when I type in future :|

 

[PBDPConsulting]

In reality, she has three options:

1) Put up with it, but don't play the role of a victim. You need to have or develop a thick skin, an inner toughness and self-esteem that allows you to ignore the supervisor.

2) Walk away, either immediately or at some point in the not too distant by looking for another job now.

3) Be assertive (not aggressive) and manage the supervisor. I coach many people in what most people would consider to be an essential life-skill, but which is often lacking. But being assertive in aggessive situations like this takes time and practice. I always recommend a book 'Assertiveness at work' by Kate and Ken Back - its proved to be lifesaver.

From what you say, option 2 seems the most appropriate, but learning to be assertive will ultimately be the best for her. Whatever, it is up to her to take decisive action so she doesn't suffer any longer.

People and Business Development for Performance

 

[J Binder Design]

BPDP Consulting has made some very good points.

Write down everything that happens - date and time too so she has the backup to use that info if she needs to. She can then take it to a tribunal or prob best to speak to her boss first assertively and clearly with all the facts.

She should definately look for something else in the meantime. No-one should be treated unfairly at work. If it can't be solved then go. Something bigger and better will come and she will learn and be stronger from it - believe me, i've been there.

Good luck with everything.

Julie

 

[GemmaC]

Coming from a HR stance I've encountered this problem on many occasions. It's a horrible predicament as she probably wants to assert herself now rather than let the problem fester. If her manager is particularly 'vocal' then unfortunately her behaviour may be replicated by other colleagues.

Even if she is nervous about speaking to her manager, your sister will build her self esteem and (hopefully) command more respect from management if she is seen to be proactive. My advice would be to send a polite and carefully worded email to the manager in question. This should be non confrontational and as constructive as possible - Something along the lines of "I am very committed to building my career here / I would like to develop and learn as much as I can / I understand we need to form a close and communicative relationship to deliver top results / Would appreciate any guidance on how I can improve my performance and our relationship".

If this is done via email there will be a paper trail which could be used as evidence that she has proactively attempted to repair the relationship - in case this is ever called into question during her 3 month probation interview (I assume she in undergoing this right now).

Finally, if she is being attacked due to poor performance at work - maybe she could seek out a mentor at work to help her. Over time, if the mentor is the right person. they might also guide her on any HR issues she might be experiencing. Also a great way of making friends and gaining further insight into the business!

 

[bdw]

Write down everything that happens - date and time too so she has the backup to use that info if she needs to.

Some good advice being purveyed here but IMO the above is the most important point that has been made so far.

When a complaint is finally made to someone about this situation a list of incidences and full facts about the extent of the situation is a hundred times more convincing than a general comment like "she is always having a go me".

Meantime your sister is lucky enough to find another job (meaning she can walk away from this) she can still present the facts to the manager before she goes. She can also tell the offender that she has done so and give her a copy of the facts, which will upset her and perhaps make her think about her behaviour in future.

 

[trixyben]

Many thanks for all the replys folks all been really helpful...

My sister went into work yesterday and while the manager was briefing the team on how they were doing she noticed he made no eye contact with her what-so-ever, then after the brief she was asked into the office for a few words...

The supervisor had obviously told the manager every single thing that my sister had done wrong or made a mistake on or said wrong on the calls as he pulled her on all these things, in fairness she did stand up for herself and said yes she was still learning the robes although even if saying something incorrect from time to time is still making the sales targets each day and is trying her best everyday to do better but finds it very hard with constant criticisms and being shouted at and being put down across the office by the supervisor...

He instantly dismissed the actions of the supervisor saying she is under so much pressure during the day from her managers and her work loads and cant be blamed for giving out if she heres something wrong or sees her doing something wrong...

My sister now feels she has put one foot in the exit door now as the manager then said that she is there 2 months now and really should be doing her job correctly and he didnt no what he was do to now, then asked her what does she want to do (as in go back to work or pack it in) and she said obviously she wants to return to work...

So she now feels she has no were to turn as they basically cover each others back and even though there is countless managers the supervisor has more power than any of them and they are afraid to confront her prob afriad of losing their jobs!

My sister was in tears last night as she really didnt want to go to work today but cant afford not to, we startd looking for another job so hopefully we come across something but it really angers me that a supervisor/manager can treat someone this way and get away with it.

 

[Kernowman]

Reading posts like this one makes me so furious

I have lost count the number of times I have carried out work in companies just like this one where just one person causes so much havoc, mayhem and ultimately, money. Within hours I will have found out someone like "Betty in accounts" makes everyone's life a complete misery and the business owners bury their heads in the sand, or are completely oblivious to exactly how much damage they are doing to the organisation.

If the supervisor has it in for people time after time, then the employee churn rate is probably pretty high and has nobody thought about the consequences? It costs a lot of time and money in recruitment alone, then there is the training investment, then you have a period where the employee is not up to full speed in the job yet and that costs money too, so it could be as long as 3 months before you are getting the full ROI for any new employee. Chuck them out of the door on a whim and round and round we go again.

Worst of all though, is these incompetent bullying clowns will also sour the employee's references for the next job they apply for, because there is no such as a "bad employer" is there?

 

[GemmaC]

Poor girl. Unfortunately it sounds as though she is better off out of there. It seems to be destroying her confidence.

What does she do? What's her skillset like? Where does she live? I'm a contractor so constantly have to look for ways to optimise my potential and stand out from the crowd. There are lots of things she can do to improve her chances in a crowded marketplace.

- Brush up her cv
- Build relationships with specialist recruiters
- Use social media to connect with industry players
- Niche jobsites tailored to her skills
- Linkedin... (I'm perhaps the biggest advocate going)

Happy to provide any advice