Issue at Work

[Eco-Logic]

I'm in the Financial Services industry as some of you may know, working for an Advisor with over 400 clients. One of the main products we sell is an Annual Financial Plan. We charge anywhere from $700 to $11,500 for them and to stay compliant we have a time frame for when the plans need to be delivered of 1 year after payment. For one, that time frame is extremely high already. The problem I am having is that my Boss tends to procrastinate on things and sometimes she even lets the plans slip past the 1 year date. Which is crazy. A bulk of the work is complete by me and a coworker normally within a few weeks of receiving payment, with the only thing left to do is for her to review a draft and make any changes so we can print the final copy. (one hour work at the most). We have all these undelivered plans stacking up in my coworkers office, basically complete, just waiting on the final touches by my boss. My coworker has talked to her about it a few times and nothing has changed. In the meantime, business is booming and we are having a contest to sell 20 plans between Sept - the end of Nov-, and we're about to hit 20. 20 new plans... Not only do we risk punishment from our compliance officer, but we also risk losing the clients.

So, I took it upon myself to email the business manager my concern. The reason I emailed the business manager is because she acts as the go-between and is in charge of keeping the calendar for my boss. I suggestion to her was to recommend to my boss to allow her to schedule one whole week for my boss to do nothing but deliver plans. Reasonable request, right? The email was to the business manager, who has always been big on trust and what is talked about between us stays between us. So, here is the email I wrote.

Biz Mgr,

I don't know if you realize or not, but Boss not delivering plans on time, sometimes up to over 1 whole year late is a big deal and we should do whatever it takes to fix it. It's going to bite her in the butt if we don't light a fire under her to take care of things. [Compliance Officer] is going to be on her case about it once he realizes how many are late. Here we are getting close to 20 new plans (yay!), and we still have a huge number of old, paid for plans to deliver. Personally, If I was a client who had paid $1,200 or whatever for a plan and it was over a week late, I would get completely out. Over a year late is completely ridiculous and has honestly made me question some decisions I have to make in the future. I recommend to you, that you get a week in the future where there aren't many appointments and schedule it solely for [boss] to work on and complete the plans that [cowworker] has finished so that we can deliver them. If she has a problem with it I would love to speak with her one on one about it. I almost think she has let the fog and excitement of bringing in over 50 clients this year cloud her judgement and take her eye off her ultimate responsibility, client service. It's always been this way though so it will be a hard thing to change. Please let me know what you think. I will probably talk to her about it as well as it's a really big deal and should be on every one of our lists of things to accomplish as soon as possible. Thanks.

-C

After receiving the email, she left for the day and called my boss and told her about it. My boss called me and I explained my concern to her over the phone, and she bullshat me about the reasons and we hung up. I found out today that my boss asked the business mgr. to see the email and the business mgr gave it to her.

This same manager has talked to me about my boss on various occasions (think venting sessions), where nothing leaves the conversation. I stand completely by everything I said in the email above but it wasn't worded for my boss and it pisses me off that she showed her.

What do you all think?



Now, onto the second issue I have had lately. I got a call yesterday morning at 6:00 AM from the business manager. She asked me if I was on my way to a business in town [name excluded] to help my boss setup for a seminar she was doing that morning. I told her I hadn't ever been told that I need to help my boss setup for the seminar so no, I was still in bed. She said she told me the day before which is absolutely not true. She told me when she told me and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she never told me. She then asked if I could quickly get dressed and go to the business to help her setup. So, I did, and halfway there I checked my voicemail and there was a message from my boss telling me she found someone to help her (setting up a projector and laptop for a powerpoint pres) and she would talk to me when she got to work. Oh joy..

So when she got back from the seminar I went into her office and apologized for any confusion this morning. She went on and said she has too small a practice for things like this to happen and that she told me about it yesterday bla bla bla. I talked to her for 5 minutes the day before and the only thing she said to me had to do with the case we were working on at the time and later in the day she said see you tomorrow. That is all. Period. I told her that she didn't tell me to be there and neither did the business manager and to tell me a time when I've ever not shown up to something she told me to be at. She then said " Well I know you're really excited about your engagement and wedding and you were probably keeping up with the election yesterday but this isn't acceptable". I just about flipped. I almost bit a hole in my lip. Of course I'm happy about my wedding and I did keep up with the election, but that has nothing to do with you dropping the freaking ball and not letting me know I needed to be there. If I normally go to every single seminar that would be one thing, but I don't at all. In fact I haven't setup for one in 3 or 4 months. How the hell was I supposed to know. I didn't say anything, turned around closed her door, went into my office and shut the door for 2 hours to try and cool off (while working of course).

I just thank God that I didn't say something I would regret and lose my job. I hope more than anything that she never brings it up to me again because I don't know if I can hold it in.

BAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Enough]

Wow that's a tough situation. I don't have a lot for you here, but do have one statement. Whatever you commit to an email consider as public knowledge. Never under any circumstances commit something to email you would not want repeated elsewhere. If you had instead met with the manager you could have still expressed the same concerns but then she would have had to go to your boss with a whole he said she said thing, and those rarely get much traction. But good job on keeping your cool in the second situation. If you have to take a walk around the block to cool off, it's better than losing your job. That is unless you are profoundly unhappy at your current job, in which case I say go out with a bang if you don't need the reference!

[gellar]

Well, here are my thoughts.

On issue #1: You f'ed up. From what I can tell, you didn't go to your boss first (you said your coworker did) but instead went straight over her head. My rule of thumb: don't go over someone's head unless you yourself are over their head. Go to your boss first.

Issue #2: Your boss seems like a fuckwit. There isn't a lot you can do to make the situation better, other than leave.

gellar

[Dirt]

Get her drunk and...

Well, you know the rest.

[Enough]

Good point on going to your boss first and not over her head. That would be looked at by some people as insubordination. And as I'm sure you know Eco insubordination is like kryptonite to the corporate world much like plagiarism is anathema to academia.

[Eco-Logic]

Yea, very good point all.

The reasoning for me going to the business manager first is because she pushes my boss harder than any of us and my boss listens to her more as well. Having nothing to do with the financial planning process, she isn't as up on the situation so my thought was I would explain to her how serious the situation is/will become and what I think would be the best method to fix it. I've gone to my boss on my own about it before and nothing changed. My co-worker has as well as I said earlier. The business manager hasn't ever talked to the boss about it and being the one who takes care of the scheduling and talks to her the most it seemed logical.

I stand behind everything I said in the email. I obviously wouldn't have worded it that way if I had know the boss would read it. Do you think the email is really bad? (wording)

[SuperHiro]

I'm agreeing with everyone else, you should have taken it to the boss first... even if it was totally ineffective. Writing the email was a bad idea too. If you had to go over the boss's head, do it in person. Then at least if the boss comes back totally ticked you can use 'she must have understood, this is what I meant...' to diffuse.

As for the actual email.

It's going to bite her in the butt if we don't light a fire under her to take care of things

Over a year late is completely ridiculous and has honestly made me question some decisions I have to make in the future

I almost think she has let the fog and excitement of bringing in over 50 clients this year cloud her judgement and take her eye off her ultimate responsibility, client service. It's always been this way though so it will be a hard thing to change

Do these sound like appropriate things a suboordinate should be saying about his boss to his boss's boss?

[Tony]

A piece of advice about email at work. Never put anything in an email that you wouldn't want your boss to see. (Uh-oh. Are those double negatives in a sentence?) I've seen it come back to hurt people more than once.

[Tareeq]

I stand behind everything I said in the email. I obviously wouldn't have worded it that way if I had know the boss would read it. Do you think the email is really bad? (wording)

Enough is right.

Your email was really bad considering its intended purpose. But to amplify, all email is really bad. Never communicate anything personally significant by email, IRC, message board, usenet, or electronically in any fashion, unless you want the world to know it.

Never write anything unless you wanted it copied and handed around. Don't speak to two people unless you are physically strong and fast enough to catch and kill both of them with bare hands.

Nothing I say here is important. Nothing.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Never communicate anything personally significant by email, IRC, message board, usenet, or electronically in any fashion, unless you want the world to know it.

Especially when you're drunk. That was a painful lesson to learn.

[Eco-Logic]

Yea, I guess I've learned my lesson and even more important learned I cannot trust the business manager. Thank you all for the advice.

Hopefully things won't get ugly.

[TheMix]

Man, that sucks!

I have no advice on the first part (beyond what has already been said), but I would recommend that you suggest - politely - to your boss that any future requests for assistance be sent through email. You could even point out that you do have concerns that may impact your short-term memory and it would be extremely helpful. Better yet, make the request through email.

I've done that at work many times. I pass someone in the hall and have a quick "meeting". They ask me to do something... I ask them to send me an email to remind me. That way, if I forgot, it's at least a cooperative failure - and not mine alone.

Best of luck.

[JSHAW]

People in the business world use email as a weapon, and in extreme cases as evidence.

People can ALWAYS deny saying something in a conversation, but it's harder to deny something that you've said in an email when it's printed text on a piece of paper.

You said you stand by everything in the email, so that being the case you have to stand your ground.

As far as the "trust" issue with your business manager, you can throw that out the window There is NO TRUST when the person you think you trust has other ideas that may not be the same as yours.

How do you know what the relationship is between the business manager and your boss? Are they both female? Or is one a man? Are they friends? Are they perhaps more than you know? Is one trying to score brownie points with the other by passing on the info. in your email.

There is the old saying that rang true in the X-FILES and should ring true with your from this point on; "TRUST NO ONE".

If you have to in the future use email to your advantage. If you have to send one, use it to document deadlines that aren't being met, use it to communicate facts, not opinions. Keep personal opinions out of business emails.

Good Luck Eco-Logic, watch your ass and keep your head on straight.

[Bob]

Sorry, but the seminar thing sounds like a set-up to fire you. They are establishing probable cause.

[gellar]

Oh, I forgot to add. As someone who's fairly well versed in your industry and the SEC/NASD regulations... you did right by making sure you're keeping the compliance officer in mind. I still think you should've said things to the boss first, but you are right to note the issues.

I'd honestly consider moving to another office if I were you, the one you're in doesn't seem to run well at all.

gellar

[Blackadar]

Yea, I guess I've learned my lesson and even more important learned I cannot trust the business manager. Thank you all for the advice.

Hopefully things won't get ugly.

Yes, the lesson is don't be a fucktard and mouth off about your boss.

[Kael]

Your job, everyone's job, is to make your boss look good to your bosses boss. There is nothing else.

[Eco-Logic]

Your job, everyone's job, is to make your boss look good to your bosses boss. There is nothing else.

I certainly understand that. I honestly don't know what she would do if it wasn't for me and the other 3 on our team.

[gellar]

Your job, everyone's job, is to make your boss look good to your bosses boss. There is nothing else.

I certainly understand that. I honestly don't know what she would do if it wasn't for me and the other 3 on our team.

Replace you.

gellar

[Hispanicgamer]

Start maintaining a journal of all your communications with your boss. Can the other three on your team vouch for you and how your boss procrastinates? I think your boss is probably going to find ways to show that you are incompetent. I don't think it's to fire you but rather to punish you at review time. I would also guess that she was embarassed by your email and possibly views you as a threat. The Biz Mgr is probably thinking that you are gunning for your boss' job. Be careful and keep your feelers up to possibly jump ship or find a way to change bosses. My $0.02.

[LawBeefaroni]

Tell her a monkey could plug a laptop into a data projector and run a PowerPoint presentation. Then say, "Here, let me show you. You can be that monkey. Don't get me out of bed to do this shit, I don't call you to help me get dressed or pour my cereal."

Not that I've been there or anything...

Beyond that, I would not take lightly being the patsy for missing the presentation. It sounds like a set-up, like Bob said. If you're sure no one informed you, take it to both of them and say you are uncomfortable with their accusation. Just say you value your reputation and don't want to let that slide. Or suck it up and keep your head down. The former will keep your own integrity in tact but will lead to conflict. The latter will ensure your job for a bit longer.

[Giles Habibula]

Beyond that, I would not take lightly being the patsy for missing the presentation. It sounds like a set-up, like Bob said. .

I'm gonna have to go along with the set-up idea.
I cannot imagine another reason for such a flagrant 'lapse of memory'.
Keep your eyes peeled for other future possible set-ups. The whole thing sounds just plain nasty. Not sure if I'd be interested in continuing to work there. I think I'd start at least idly scanning the help wanteds.

[Chesspieceface]

Man that sucks. It sounds like you should be polishing up the old resume. Obviously its not good timing with your big life changes but, holy cow what a pickle. I have been in a similar situation and ended up just negotiating my resignation in such a way that they paid me handsomely to leave so that I wouldn't blow any whistles, and no I didn't have to even approach blackmail. People know when they are bending rules to the breaking point and will scramble like the rats they are to cover their asses.

It sounds like complete bullshit that they are delaying a year to deliver something that takes a week to complete. I've seen a lot of bullshit in financial services, lots of padding to make the client think the job is harder than it really is. You may have to examine if you really want to be participating in that sort of chicanery. With your experience you should be easily able to move to a more 'on-the-level' outfit.

Oh yeah and for a while a had a boss who essentially refused to learn how to set up the freaking laptop and projector. We would print out powerpoints and he would draw on them or cross stuff out and say make these changes when he could have easily hit the delete key himself, if only powerpoint wasn't so *HARD*. We are at a strange point technologically where people who got where they are (or started businesses) under the old system can claim to be not tech savvy and make everyone do it for them. Of course no one moving up could possibly get those jobs today without these basic skills. You can't get a FS job today without Microsoft Office Suite on your resume.

Anyhooo, sorry for the slight rant, but you could surely do better and if the above posters are correct, and they are trying to create a 'file' on you and your insubordination you may as well preempt them by getting that resume out there. In April I had 5 interviews before my first severance check got cashed, and I got offers on all of them. It was a good feeling.

Good Luck.

[Grifman]

Sorry, but the seminar thing sounds like a set-up to fire you. They are establishing probable cause.

I would agree. They are both lying about something. I could see one thinking they had told you, but both being confused about it? Not likely. I'd be very concerned about my future there.

And I echo everything said about email. Assume anything in an email will be seen by anyone, especially the people that you don't want to see it. Email is dangerous.

Grifman

[noun]

Sounds like you know your job and the industry really well, but how current are you on the office politics? Screw ups that achieve and retain positions of responsibility tend to be there because of who they know. You sure your boss and the compliance manager don't have a history?

After many, many years of dealing with and fighting in office politics, I'd have to agree there's something going on here. You may want to start practicing some defense. Request things in writing. Forward your voicemail to your cel phone. Avoid putting ANYthing in email, and be sure to save the ones you do receive. Etc.

[Eco-Logic]

This is my first full-time job so I'm not completely up on job politics etc. I do know that my boss and the compliance officer do not have any history at all. in fact, he just took over as our new compliance guy in July and it's his first time doing the job so he's eager to please his boss. My boss is already on probation for some type of compliance error so it could be ugly.

I really do appreciate all the insight. You all have made me think about the whole situation differently. I'm going to get my job hunting shoes and and see I can find another salary paying job for a fully licensed candidate with experience in the field. I have no desire to sell right now as consistent income is the most important thing for me now that i'm going to be married soon.

Part of me wants the compliance thing to bite her in the ass now, which would pretty much prove me email correct. I'm not going to try and change anything though. I'll just save the emails I've sent over the last few months addressing the various issues so come the time for the annual review I will have evidence that I tried to do something.

I will definitely let you all know what happens. Thanks again!

[JSHAW]

Eco-Logic,

From reading your posts it's hard for me to determine who in your company IS the boss, the person how runs the company, the person who everyone reports to. Every company has 1 main person that is in-charge of the company. It's hard to tell who that person is in your situation.

One thing that I've found in the jobs I've had is that you have several different types of bosses. Some of them are the type that are the first to know what's going on with their employees, some are the LAST to know what's going on. Some you have that are kept informed by their employees how things are going in the day to day operations, some are lied to and misled by scumbags who are trying to make others look bad while they try and shark their way to the top of the food chain. And you have some bosses who don't know diddly until the shit hits the fan and everyone is scrambling around trying to duck from all the flying shit in the office.

IF you've informed the person who runs your company what's going on, and in your case, NOT going on or getting done you've done all you can do to prevent impending doom from coming down on the person who isn't getting her job done.

Sometimes things come back to haunt the people who aren't getting it done in the office, and the people who were honest and telling the truth about the situation will be vindicated.

You might find that this whole thing blows over, and all will be right with the universe that is your current job. But while you wait for either doom or calm in your office, make it your main priority to do your job to the best of your ability AND making sure you cover your ass on everything you are responsible for.

If you have scumbags in your office that you can't trust and they're looking to take you out, then you have to make sure that you don't fuck up and give them any opportunities to prove you are a fuckup.

You sound like you care about your job and it being done right so I don't think you'll have too many problems in continuing to do your job to the best of your ability. Just don't let your "covering your ass" get to the point that you get ultra paranoid about what others may think of you.

Take care of #1, and that's you. Continue doing your job, getting paid and if you find another job that's better than your current one, give your 2 weeks notice and bail.

[Spike]

This is my first full-time job so I'm not completely up on job politics etc. I do know that my boss and the compliance officer do not have any history at all. in fact, he just took over as our new compliance guy in July and it's his first time doing the job so he's eager to please his boss. My boss is already on probation for some type of compliance error so it could be ugly.

Office politics suck. I hate them and avoid them as best I can: there is always, however, some part that slips through the net. The best thing in any political situation is simply to do what you are paid to do, make noise about what you've done and don't ask any questions about stupid-ass decisions. They can't possibly fire you or mistreat you if you do (without risking investigation).

Guard your arse, but don't spend ages doing it.
If you are asked to do something - ANYTHING - by a boss, request an email ("so you have the details").
Always email your boss (and keep a copy) with updates on progress.
Always email your boss (and keep a copy) with problems - do this separately and clearly.
Always write all emails professionally, of course.
Always offer solutions, never just problems.
Never email anything that includes a personal opinion: just the facts, man, just the facts.

In the example given, emailing/talking to your boss would (as people said) have been a better starting point. You could even have emailed Boss with something along the lines of "As you know, we are soon to receive an extra 20 wotsits. While I believe we can handle the increased workload, I am concerned that the signoffs often take a while for completion, which could cause us problems down the line. Perhaps we could discuss this as a team and find a more efficient way to work so that your signoffs can be dealt with quickly, to ensure we do not find ourselves swamped with the new wotsits."

Basically, point out that you see the problem, but don't ask why and don't blame anyone. That's always a bad idea: blamed person = enemy = screw you over later. Offer a solution - maybe the Boss really *does* have a problem (other than being an ass) that could be figured out so that the signoffs get done and your work gets easier, too.

I really do appreciate all the insight. You all have made me think about the whole situation differently. I'm going to get my job hunting shoes and and see I can find another salary paying job for a fully licensed candidate with experience in the field. I have no desire to sell right now as consistent income is the most important thing for me now that i'm going to be married soon.

Always keep an eye on the job market: I haven't for the past few years and am coming up for a change. I'm regretting not keeping my eyes open, but thankfully I've acquired enough experience to switch now. A note for interviews: do NOT mention the above predicament to prospective employers. Say you want to move on, find another reason.

Part of me wants the compliance thing to bite her in the ass now, which would pretty much prove me email correct. I'm not going to try and change anything though. I'll just save the emails I've sent over the last few months addressing the various issues so come the time for the annual review I will have evidence that I tried to do something.

Smart move. Keep everything.

I will definitely let you all know what happens. Thanks again!

Good luck!

[LordMortis]

Eco,

I am not saying this is you, but there seems to be a strong thought that doing your job well, sets you up for some sort of entitlement (In the form of money, perks, or even respect). People who do their jobs well and have a sense of entitlement tend to be angry people. Either the compenstation is worth the job you do or it is not. Aside from that you can only try to get along with the people around you.

I can't speak for your current job, but in general, work with your boss. Work with your coworkers. Stay out of politics. If you don't like your job, look for another one on the side.

As was mentioned earlier, one of your most important jobs is almost always to make your boss look good. If that is intolerable then the job might not be for you.