I have been in my current position for 10 months now, with a company that I had worked for prior to moving to Dallas. I left amicably, which is why I was eligible for rehire almost 3 years later when they opened up in my area.
I was hired as part of a two person team, but my counterpart didn’t make it past training and they never rehired for that position. For the last 8 months, I have been their only trainer at a slowly growing new call center. Always well regarded, no issues, my boss (who is off site at corporate on the east coast) telling me all is well and very happy with my performance.
Well two months ago the top dogs in my location were ousted after working with my company for over 14 years (deservedly so or not, it was a surprise to all) and a new site leader was brought in to “clean up” or so it seems. For whatever reason, this new site manager does not seem to like me (laundry list of examples topped off with a direct meeting with him telling me he thinks I don’t want to be at my job :eek:)
I am continuously hounded, he’s been observing me on our security camera while I train. Anyway- fast forward to this last couple of weeks. My company sends out another trainer, to do some up training and observe my training (?) all the while telling me all is good. My boss continues to tell me all is well and she is happy with my work, but also says doesn’t know what the deal is with the new site manager either she cant seem to get where his displeasure is coming from. To make matters worse, my department decides to CYA and send me to corporate, where I am now, for more “training” in an effort to appease the new site director. So I am at corporate for a week, away from my family on the company’s dime of course but still, really?
So last night, my job was listed on our corporate website. Should I be calm, freaked out? I plan on talking to my direct supervisor when I arrive in a half hour. I guess I can believe its in preparation for ramping up our call center, which is on the agenda, and I guess they wouldn’t waste money on my travel if they didn’t plan on keeping me, but still…
This sucks and I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that the writing is on the wall. Update your resume and fire it off without further delay.
Your boss is not going to tell you that your goose is cooked. She was told to zip it.
This “extra” training they put you on is likely just an HR stunt they are using to claim ‘they’ve tried everything and employee still does not meet expectations’.
You can talk to your supervisor but don’t expect him/her to reveal much.
It’s a terrible situation to be in and I’m sorry you find yourself in it.
Make the most of the time you have left by looking for new opportunities.
Who is your “real” boss–the site manager, who you see every day, or the ‘boss’ at the corporate hq a thousand miles away?
Look at it from her point of view. What does the boss at hq have to lose if you get fired? What does she have to lose if the site manager gets fired? She presumably has reasons to avoid a conflict with the site manager, and she probably has no reason to give a damn about you.So the site manager wins.
Be glad that you happened to notice the job posting, so that you’ve had some advance warning. Imagine how you would have felt ,say 2 or 3 weeks from now, when the site manager asks you to step into his office for a minute at 5:05 pm* , and just drops the bombshell on you when you had no idea that your life is about to get ruined.
Start job hunting right now, and if necessary take sick days to go to interviews.
You days are numbered, but you don’t know if you have a few days, or a few months.
Good luck.
If you are really really lucky, you might even be able to find a new job before the axe drops on your head. Then when the bastard calls you into his office, you get to give him a smart-ass look. Instead of looking shocked and hurt, you can just politely ask him a few simple questions about bureacratic procedures for leaving, how to receive your last paycheck, etc, and walk out with your head held high.
*(assuming that most people in your dept go home at 5:00.)
There is the possibility that they are still looking for that second trainer. Even then you should be hoping that person isn’t better at the job or more well liked than you are. Perhaps it’s nothing, but it’s a good time to consider your options for a different job.
This is a red flag: “For whatever reason, this new site manager does not seem to like me (laundry list of examples topped off with **a direct meeting with him telling me he thinks I don’t want to be at my job **)”
It doesn’t matter if you were good or bad or if he just has that “pick one to fire one & the rest will toe the line” management style. Its done. So…
Don’t do anything stupid. You aren’t Bill Murray and this isn’t a John Hughes movie.
that said…
Get all your heath stuff out of the way NOW: physical, dental, eye glasses, etc. while you are still covered. COBRA is damn expensive & few can ever afford it.
Lock down your network people, contacts, and references (people loyal to you) and get reference letters wherever possible now. Time is of the essence and while you want to be Extremely respectful and polite…tick-tock, tick-tock.
Use personal days where you can (they pay you for accrued unused vacation) or make sure that you use 100% of your 2014 allotted vacation time before the axe drops. Forward home emails of your reviews, appraisals,
and client commendations. You’ll want a copy of the company phone directory both local and corporate (over the years you might forget a name or a number). If there are employee help numbers off an employee
site that you will lose access to, screen shot the page and drop them into a saved word doc. Do Not Email Those; use a thumb drive & drag-drop them to it.
Forward home that email from your direct report that they are happy with your work. Print it & provide it if asked on interviews & make damn sure you check “do not contact” on every single job on the online application.
Do not take anything that is the company’s home with you, but take anything of yours that you do value or that you would miss home from your desk. The Cooler things can go “missing” when someone gets walked to the door
and their desk stuff is boxed/shipped home, especially if the new boss is a Asshole. I’ve even seen where the new boss will take a “trophy” item out of the box & pull it out at [del]power plays[/del] meetings as a symbol of power and
as a subtle warning: “that guy disagreed with me too and Look, he doesn’t work here anymore”.
Some call-centers are better than others YMMV, but there are some where professionalism only applies to employees and not management.
Work for them like they are one of the best, but plan your exit strategy like they are one of the worst.
It may be that the new manager has someone lined up for the position and now he needs to find an excuse to fire you. Happens all the time.
First and foremost, give them nothing to fire you with. Don’t fire up the internet at work with personal matters, don’t text at work, don’t repeat any mistakes that were brought to your attention. That may buy you time because even if you’re in an At Will situation, most companies really dislike firing someone without cause.
And then, of course, do as others have said and look for other work.
Get an external back-up drive or an amazon cloud account and back up all your e-mails and everything on your hard drive immediately. Training materials on the corporate site you might want to refer to in your future? Back 'em up! You won’t believe how quickly those names, charts, references and phone numbers are going to leave your mind when you really need them.
Get cracking on finding a new job. Nothing at all wrong with looking internally in a different department, but the time is now to make a move before you have to say “I was fired.”
If you move company property, like manuals and training materials, and even email, to a private location, like an external drive or a cloud account, you are stealing that property. You will have just handed the company a valid reason to fire you for cause, which will disqualify you from receiving unemployment insurance.
I agree. It isn’t always stealing, but just about anything can be used as grounds for firing within the company’s policy, and even if it’s not stealing you don’t want to have to fight it out if you need the unemployment compensation.
Um, I back up my information to an external drive all the time. It is to ensure that I have it in case my hard drive fails. My company not only blesses this practice, but they encourage it.
It is only stealing if, after being fired, she takes it with him/her.
I agree too. Moving company data to an external drive or – ::shudder:: – cloud storage will give the company a reason to can you. It depends on the company, of course, but I just spent the last 18 months of my life monitoring internet traffic at a big company to catch people doing this (Google “Data Loss Prevention” or DLP). When I caught them, I referred them to management and HR. If you’re on thin ice (justified or not) this kind of activity will likely be used as a reason to fire you.
You are a “human resource”. The operative word there is not “human”, but “resource”, like iron ore or timber or navigable waterways. Your value is the extent to which you can be exploited and sold for a profit by the board-foot in the industrial state.
Sure, but the post referred to was about keeping those materials for future use. Worst of all is being accused of doing that which could wreck your future opportunities.
Start looking. I have seen upper management send people to very expensive training even when they KNEW they were going to fire them. It is sometimes part of the game plan–to get the future ex-employee out of the building for awhile.
Manuals, documentation, etc., will most likely constitute “trade secret” materials. Use of those materials beyond the scope / term of your employment could be actionable offenses.
I’ll offer a contrary opinion: they wouldn’t be spending lots of money to have you train at the corporate HQ if they were going to get rid of you.
Using trade secrets is not “an offense”, incidentally; it’s civilly actionable at worst. Your employer might file for an injunction but that’s about the worst that could happen. It’s almost impossible to prove monetary damages from use of other peoples’ training materials. IANALLIYS, etc.