Quote From: nooyawkgurrl I have been in the administrative assistance field for over 15 years now and have worked in many different offices with all types of co-workers, and ranging from huge, well-known corporations to small local area businesses. Dynamics and protocols differ from office to office, obviously, but one thing I have observed is that one thing NEVER seems to change: The competitive pettiness, the subtle favoritism, and small-minded people who have somehow been afforded power over others while lacking human interaction skills. I am continually astounded by the magnitude of incompetence and allowable offenses I have seen in the workplace, and I am even more astounded by the blame-games, the backstabbing, the " cover-your-a** " attitudes, the outright lies, and the serious lack of accountability on the part of those exhibiting these behaviors. Often, the people I have seen demonstrating bullying office behavior are in upper-level management positions and supervise others.
Now I do realize that anybody promoted to or hired into a position of authority as such may have come about it because their quarterly figures were outstanding, or they have excellent training and expertise, or they may have been loyal and dependable employees of the company for years. Whatever the case may be, from a revenue-generating and productive-business point of view, I am sure many of these people are skilled at what they do. (And sometimes they aren't...)
What is obviously NOT being appropriately measured and evaluated is how well these people interact with others on a human scale. It seems that much of what is considered "valued business traits" these days seem to straddle the fence on what can be called competitive, "cut-throat" tactics or outright abuse. The magnitude and escalation of abuse of power by upper-management is directly affected by how much these people are able to get away with it and why. In my opinion, it is a structural problem, and almost all office dynamics are structurally set up to model a hierarchy, or militaristic-type chain-of-command. For example:
You will obey and respect your superiors not because they are respectful or fair to you but because you have been instructed to do so by the organization that employs you. Here lies the great potential for abuse. This is the arena where absurdly obvious mistreatment becomes the accepted norm, and ultimately, the grounds for an unhealthy work atmosphere, to put it mildly. Unfortunately, the threat of job termination is used for leverage and dangled in front of weaker employees much like the proverbial carrot-on-a stick in front of the donkey. This threatening attitude perpetuates the bullying abuse, the tolerated silence from management, the shunning and isolation from co-workers, and even the endured continuation by the target of abuse themselves.
I truly believe this is a behaviorial issue, and that it is high-time we recognized that there needs to be some serious intervention and regulation into the assessment of "people skills". But this assessment needs to come from an independent, external source from the company itself. I feel that an employee's Human Resources department is NOT the place to turn to. However sympathetic they may seem, remember, they are employed by the company you work for and
saving the company from any accusations of misconduct is first and foremost on the agenda.
Here are just a few examples of improper and abusive workplace behavior I have actually endured myself:
-- I once casually asked a co-worker, who unfortunately had an explosive temper, if he was okay because he looked upset. He responded by aggressively and loudly screaming "None of your f***ing business!" at me in front of the entire office. Nobody reprimanded him and none of the supervisors who I am sure heard it through the open doors of thier nearby offices bothered to intervene. I was not only offended, but shocked. When I later brought up the incident privately to my supervisor, I was told by her these exact words: "Oh, that's just how Dave is. I'm sure he didn't mean it." Needless to say, I resigned from that job within weeks.
-- Also, on this same job with the same supervisor: While on the phone with a client I was instructed to call to inquire about payment on an overdue bill, I apparently must have said something that did not bode well my supervisor, who was lurking behind my desk. This woman actually screamed at me into my ear while I was conversing with the client. Not only was the client taken aback, but he actually started consoling me as I was at a loss for words. The supervisor then ripped the phone out of my hands and "finished" the conversation. To this day, I have no idea what, if anything, I had "done wrong" during that phone call.
Later, I found out that I was the
eighth person hired to fill that position in a
five-month period of time! Some of the previous departures, I was told, actually went to lunch on the first day of employment and never returned. I must have done something right; I managed to stay there over six months before I resigned.
-- One company I worked for had an office comptroller who took naps at his desk daily, surfed the internet for porn (which he bragged about), and had to ask for the current date nearly every day, usually around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
-- I once worked for a large corporation in which I discovered that my cubicle had been assigned to someone else while I was on my lunch break. With no preparation or prior knowledge, I had to move my entire work area to another location altogether while the newly assigned person audibly complained about how the area was "not ready for him".
-- I had a supervisor who routinely sent back completed documents for revision, reprinting, and redistribution due to such minor and insignificant details as a missing comma, whether or not I typed the number 3 or wrote the word "three", the margin setting was not to his liking, or the fact that his name was not stated first before another supervisor's name. This resulted in wasted time which ultimately reflected poorly on me. Not to mention insulting, as I was a journalism major and have always maintained a near perfect average on the subjects of English, grammar, and other related fields. I don't even use SpellCheck!
--In the office in which I currently work, I recently had a another department's supervisor (one to whom I do not professionally answer to) yell at me from across the office in front of other co-workers because I said "The confirmation will be mailed out this afternoon" (as I had been told) instead of saying "The confirmation will be mailed out shortly" to a consumer on the phone who was inquiring about it. The information I was relating was not even something I dealt with in my department and I was only answering this inquiry as a means of "helping out" (as we were expected to do) because we were short-staffed that day, her assistant being out on sick leave. After hanging up the phone with the consumer (who incidentally heard the embarrassing exchange), I let this supervisor know that what she did was extremely rude. I was subsequently "written up" by this person because I was angry. My actual supervisor, to whom I DO report to, had been on vacation at that time, the Vice President was out of the office due to illness, and the President was out of the office at a business meeting. This left me with no witnesses other than co-workers who were already walking on eggshells in fear of this woman, as I have come to realize, and no one on that particular day to go to for assistance. Moreover, I have started to see a pattern with this woman: She will lurk around my work area and try to verbally "push my buttons" whenever we are short-staffed and my immediate supervisor is not around.
Worst of all, last week I was informed by my supervisor to locate a file on her desk for her. While doing so, I came across an unmarked folder lying right out in the open on her desk that contained typed-up complaints about me and my work performance by this other woman. Needless to say, I read her comments. I was outraged to see that this woman had made up OUTRIGHT LIES about me, attributing things to me that I had NEVER SAID OR DONE! But because I was not supposed to have seen this document, I was powerless to do or say anything about it. This is what I am dealing with now, and still am not sure how to handle just yet.
OH MY GOSH! I feel like I am not alone anymore. I can't believe your experience sounds so much like my previous job!
I had quit at a last minute notice due to the head nurse that I worked for. I am a caregiver. And we are in the position of "TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE!" And this person in charge of all the other nurses and all the caregivers is hardly in ANY position to be COMPASSIONATE! She is anything BUT compassionate.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.
stiletto8
