Stood Up for Myself Feedback
The only male coworker on our small 5 person team was trying to belittle me. Our extraordinary male supervisor recently passed away, so my male coworker was trying to take charge of the team, same as he did before when we had a direct supervisor when the supervisor was not around. A temporary supervisor has stepped in for the time being. My male coworker won't try to boss my other strong female coworker, but I needed to stand up for myself this time. All 5 members of our team work each client in a different way. This male coworker and I have different ways of working with clients. My male coworker makes advanced promises and has boundary issues with clients. I never promise clients anything and am working to perfect my boundary setting. The client called the male coworker and my coworker made the client an advanced promise in a single phone call that involved me. I confronted him about the promise. He told me verbally: "The referral is a simple email that can be done today...do you know how to do it? His tone was sarcastic and belittling. I had it. I told him to not talk to me like I was dumb. This small out burst was from built up anger toward my male coworker's sarcastic remarks in the past. As my deceased supervisor said about me; "She does not take kindly to being disrespected" My other female coworkers on my team are not really talking to me, but I am proud of myself for standing up to him. My male coworker, I, and my temporary supervisor had a meeting about it, and my male coworker is not talking to me, which I do not mind. He has made petty remarks, not directly to me, but I think it is because he is immature since he did not get his way. I also called out his lie about making a promise because I heard him on the phone since our cubicles are close. My female coworkers seem so up in the clouds and charmed by this male coworker. I tried to keep this anonymous as possible with giving enough information. What do you think?
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I'm going to go a little differently on this.
While I appreciate the employee's personal challenges, you both have roles that need to be performed for the company. I actually am sensing some manipulation by the employee and you stepped straight into it. If she is messaging you on Facebook, that means that you probably added her as a personal friend. It sounds like potential manipulation lured you into blurring boundaries that could set you up for a challenging situation down the road particularly if her performance is not up to par. It is possible to be an empathetic leader while also maintaining appropriate workplace boundaries. Many people today are going through different types of struggles. The balance is in finding humanity while also having realistic expectations of them to perform their role and being clear on the boundaries. It's fantastic the employee is in therapy but therapy is not something to be weaponized for poor performance. Incredibly, there's nothing in this long post about how this employee is actually performing their job. I think more of your time should be spent on helping her achieve career goals versus getting into her personal situation about which you only hear one side. I found that it's best to maintain professional boundaries especially with someone who reports to you. If you decide to be friends after one of you leaves the job, that's completely fine. But while you're on the job, situations like this are fraught with landmines.
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When implementing a rewards and recognition program is it better to implement rewards and recognition based on individual or team performance or a combination of the two?
What types of rewards and recognition have you found to be most effective for increasing employee engagement and commitment to the organisation?
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What is going on with this forum?!
Some of the posters are so nice and supportive…and others just want to tear women down! It’s so incredibly sad. I keep reading things and wonder if the person would respond the same way if they were speaking in-person. Maybe keep scrolling if you can’t be civil and constructive?
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Seeking opinions about group interviews...
I had a virtual group interview this week. It was one interviewer and about 10 candidates. The job seekers were asked one question and each was asked to answer it one after another with no discourse in between.
I didn't feel that any candidates really stood out or made a significantly better impression than any others. (Except possibly me. I went last and was from a vastly different background than the other candidates-- and not in a great way.)
As a person who was been responsible for the hiring process at organizations in the past, I don't see how this was a valuable step for any of the parties. It seemed that the company just wanted to see everyone and appeared that it could be used in a discriminatory way.
I would be interested to hearing other's experiences with and opinions about group interviews.
At this point, I'm not sure I will accept any future interviews in this format.
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No signed Purchase Order for 2024 from a client for which I do subcontracting work yet – 1099 here
I posted before on this Forum " No ticky – no shirty" –I had an issue where the Purchase Order for a large client in 2023 for the firm for which I provide consulting services was delayed - which meant the firm could not submit an invoice to the client for me to get paid (Purchase Order # has to be included on the invoice) . 4 month delay in getting paid for consulting performed for which we did not have the PO.The PO is for the entire year and we chip away at it as we do consulting work.
To cover myself for 2024, I prepared a letter stating that I will provide consulting services to xxx for which a purchase order is required for xxx when a signed Purchase Order is received. The owner of the firm signed the letter (I think to placate me ). And in recent conversations I have stated, I cannot provide free work. I also suggested if she doesn’t get a signed PO, that her company pays me for the work performed.Here is where we are at: One hand doesn’t know what the other is doing at this large client. Owner asked them about the signed PO is…. as of 12/9/2023, she does not have a signed PO.. the PO is in “the works”
Here’s the question: We are down to the wire here. I know we will get the signed PO.., the client knows our value. but when, who knows? .with the Holidays upon us. . If she doesn’t get a signed PO by Jan 1 2024, do you think I should state AGAIN, I cannot provide consulting work without a signed PO and suggest that her company pay me UNTIL she gets the signed PO. I do not want to be in the same financial situation as last year.
PS. One thing I didn’t mention to this group is 5 years ago… she transitioned me from W2 to 1099 (benefit for her company). She knows how valuable I am.. Funny thing is the universe was supporting me last week when I presented a report to this client and they responded “ Thank you, you are awesome”. Timing is everything, right?
Thank you as always for your input.
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What does RTO or Hybrid look like at your company?
I was recently talking to an old peer and she mentioned that someone that we used to work with has to go back into the office 3 days a week, but a badge swipe is all she needs. So she can go to a meeting in the building for an hour and then leave. So that has me thinking what does it look like at other companies. I'll go first, GM Financial 3 days in office for officers and 2 days in office for non officers. Some folks don't come in at all. Some will do a half day for their in office days and weirdos like me work a full 8 hours but come in late.
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