I drafted a letter to my management team over the weekend requesting a review and changes to our bonus structure: it’s outdated, and our pay cheques have dramatically decreased over recent years because the bonuses have not kept up with our sales patterns.
So I sent it this morning, but because I wasn’t exactly sure who to direct it to, sent it via my immediate supervisor for him to forward it to the appropriate person.
I just received an email back:
You did what? You edited a document that I wrote, in MY name and you don’t think it’s important that I know WHAT changes you made?
Did you note on the letter the changes, and sign YOUR name to them? Or am I now to be responsible for what YOU wrote (whatever the fuck that might have been) with my sig at the bottom?
IN WHAT FUCKING UNIVERSE IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE CONSIDERED REMOTELY FUCKING ETHICAL???
Fucking goat fucker. If I cop any shit over this, you can be fucking sure your cunty head will roll mate.
Is it too late to politely ask your supervisor for a copy of the edited version? Or maybe you already did that - it would be my first step (after I got my anger under control).
I’m fucking furious. It wasn’t like I was ‘running it’ by him for approval or changes. My sole request was for him to PASS IT TO THE APPROPRIATE PERSON IN THE OFFICE.
For him to take it upon himself to EDIT the fucking letter is just beyond the pale.
I think my next move would be to write back with just ‘what changes did you make?’ Hopefully you’ll just get something back like ‘Oh, I just caught a spelling/grammatical error’. Not that they should have edited anything, but it’s better than ‘Well, I just added a few of my own I ideas as well’.
I think it’s important to just leave it at ‘What changes did you make’ because if you come at them on Monday morning with ‘I didn’t ask you/How dare you/I demand to see a copy!!!’ they’re going to go on the defense and if they made some huge sweeping change to you’re proposed policy they might not tell you, but if you don’t come at them with guns blazing, you’ll stand a better chance of finding out what they did and can maybe send the original letter to where it’s supposed to go.
During a brief lull in the smoke and steam emanating from my nostrils, I sent an email requesting a copy of the edited version he forwarded (as per CairoCarol’s suggestion). No acrimony, no accusations, and I’m awaiting a reply now.
This is bad advice, at least until you know a lot more about this situation. Never put HR between you and your supervisor, they will back your supervisor every time unless you have overwhelming evidence against him.
This is reasonable advice, though I would make seem even less threatening – just ask for a copy of what was sent “so you can answer any questions better if someone asks”, and figure out for yourself what was changed. Then you can decide what if anything to do about it, without sounding alarm bells in advance.
He’d removed, “As we all know…” and flipped a couple of paragraphs around without changing my words at all. He’s a lucky arsehole today…that’s for sure!
Still, the point remains that he shouldn’t have altered my words at all without permission. I’ll leave it (revenge is a dish best served cold etc) for a later date, but will keep all evidence of rank stupidity!
As someone who regularly advises clients with workplaces and in workplaces, everybody needs to understand that HR works to protect the company from its employees and potential bad employees. Any worker other than the owner is expendable without regret in that mission. Any employee who goes to HR is subject to being viewed as the enemy.
First thing first…
removing “as we all know” is GOOD advice…at best it is redundant, at worst you either make your audience feel stupid or yourself look stupid.
Secondly, he didn’t change your words at all? Sounds like he’s trying to help you.
Whether right or wrong, do keep that in mind.
Yeah, sounds like he was trying to help but didn’t go about it very well. He should have responded to your original email with something like “…am happy to forward your email on, however it may go over better if you make the following changes …”
I felt the same way recently when my boss took upon herself to make unnecessary changes to an abstract that I’d prepared and submitted for a clearance. She did this on my day off, without letting me know she was going to do it beforehand.
If I trusted her competence and writing ability, it probably wouldn’t have phased me. If it had to deal with scientific content and not style, then I could have rolled with it with minimal complaint. But because I don’t trust her skills at all and because her tweaks had nothing to do with the technical content, her interference annoyed me greatly. Probably more than it should have, but we’re only human, right? Anyway, in the end I took out her changes and justified doing so by pointing to the word count limit.
As a supervisor, there is a wrong way and a right way to input your 2 cents into a document authored by a subordinate. Doing it on the sly and then admitting to it after the fact is not one of those right ways.
So you’re not alone in feeling ticked off by this kind of thing.
Why do it in such a roundabout way, though - “pointing to the word count limit”? Why not be open and direct about it, but still polite and diplomatic, as in my post #14? Basically just say “hey I’d rather that you checked with me first”?
You’re right; I should have done that. Will take your suggestion if she pulls this again. Assertiveness in situations like this isn’t my strong suit, unfortunately. It is something I’m trying to work on.
For what it’s worth, I think she saw the shadiness in her own actions. Because when I returned to the office, she immediately admitted what she did and started blurting out justifications for it without any prompting by me (“it just sounded better to me this way and I think the front office will agree and I think it will increase it chances of acceptance”). This blather was just as unnecessary as the edits she made to my document.
(And as fate would have it, my abstract was accepted with no problem, as well as the one that I drafted for her. The abstract she authored was not accepted, as I assumed it wouldn’t because it was incoherently written. When topsy turvy outcome like this happen often, it makes it hard for me to regard her as a credible authority over my work. It’s a daily struggle and I just try to be nice. Sigh.)
I hear you, man. I can only really do it properly over e-mail, and maaaaaaaybe over the phone. Face-to-face it’s just a hell of a lot harder…
That’s good. Seems like she knows that stuff is wrong, which means she might fold pretty quick if she’s called out on it. Again, think of it as a pre-emptive strike against her next fuck-up…
Also glad to hear it turned it out alright. Hang in there!
