When your evil boss and HR are friends, watch out
(MoneyWatch) Dear Evil HR Lady,
I work at a private university, and I enjoy my job 100 percent. The reason I'm writing, though, is that our office has undergone some hard times recently. In the past two years we have had 13 employees leave (mostly due to their pay not compensating for the amount of micromanagement we withstand). Last fall our director underwent an "HR investigation" and all of us underlings were sure that she would be gone by spring. However, we were wrong, and in fact the results have made the work place an even more hellish situation. We are no longer allowed to go to HR with our issues. We first have to go to the director -- who is the issue -- and then the VP and then HR. Further, the person in HR who was in charge of the investigation is friends with our director. How do we go about reporting complaints or changing our situation without incurring retaliation?
You can't. The company has made it very clear that they stand behind your director. HR stands behind your director. Even the VP stands behind your director.
- 5 signs that you're the problem
- How to be a better manager in 9 minutes
- Can your boss micro-manage you to death?
There are several possibilities for why this is. One is that HR, the director and the VP are all complete and total idiots. I've seen it before, and I'm sure I'll see it again. Sometimes you just get a group of leaders who are dumb as rocks and best friends and there's not a blooming thing you can do about it.
Another possibility is that your current and former coworkers are the actual problem, the investigation that HR did showed that, the VP agrees with it, and this is the very logical, very necessary conclusion.
Or it could be somewhere in the middle.
If it is the first situation, you have to decide if the things you love about your job (which appear to be many) outweigh the things you dislike. It's not illegal to micromanage people, nor is it illegal to be an office jerk (as long as you are an equal opportunity jerk). So just make a decision. And then own that decision. Be clear about this: I am staying at this job because I really value A, B and C, and that makes it worth it, even when I have to deal with the director. Do not go home and gripe about it. Do not get increasingly angry. You made this decision -- now live with it.
Or make the opposite decision and decide it's not worth it and find a new job. Both are fine. There are logical reasons for both decisions. The key to happiness is acknowledging that you are not stuck. You made this choice.
But let's talk about the other option. Maybe, just maybe, your director is doing exactly what her bosses want her to do. Sometimes a department can attract a huge contingent of bad employees who are doing low-quality work. Often companies prefer to make these people miserable rather than simply firing them. (I prefer face-to-face talks and written performance plans, along with giving people the opportunity to shape up or ship them out, but there are times when it's better to encourage people to leave.)
So the HR investigation may well have shown that your former coworkers were low performing and that the higher ups are thrilled that these employees are gone. They didn't have to fire them, and they aren't being dinged by unemployment.
Take a look around. Have there been other changes other than the micromanagement? Is the director micromanaging the new hires? (I presume some or all of the 13 who left have been replaced.) Do the new hires perform better than the previous employees?
If you notice that this is the case, then you need to do a very serious self-evaluation. Are you performing at a high level? Are you meeting the expectations that your boss has of you? Have the micromanage-y interventions your director has performed had a real impact or were they over fairly trivial things?
It's always important to consider that the people above you are not crazy and that they have valid, business reasons for what they do. If you've looked at it and truly determined that she is a bad boss, then it's back to your decision to stay or go.
Have a workplace dilemma? Send your questions to EvilHRLady@gmail.com.
