WWYD? Probable character assassination at job

[Opti]

Looking for some quick short suggestions of what you would
do if someone did some character assassination on you under
the guise of helping your boss with a job evaluation.



I just got my first job evaluation at the subacute facility even though
I have been working there almost three years. Apparently my first
boss told my current boss I was easily flustered when I first started
when I had to juggle multiple things. I was so shocked at the comment
I didn't say anything yesterday, but now I am pissed and wondering why
my old boss would say this.

Just recently my old boss did something very odd - he apparently solicted
a resume from a spanish speaking woman and had her fill it out to be left
for him even though he no longer oversees the receptionists and hasn't for
more than a year and several bosses ago. We do not have any openings,
the FTer is scheduled to return in March from maternity leave, and the person
in question did not even speak to me and the other receptionist when dropping
off the application. The guy with her did all the speaking and her minor discussions
with him were soft and quiet. Very odd behavior for someone who wants to work
at the front desk. And apparently the old boss made a big show of reading over
the resume by his mailbox in front of our newest receptionist instead of just
taking it back to his office. I did UNIX administration for years. Easily flustered
is not words I'd expect anyone to describe me with.

[Peace77]

Just lt it go.  Your old boss probably recalls your first few days on the job.  Your current boss sees your current work.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

I would go to my current boss, when I was able to ask calmly, and ask if he had the same perception and if so could he give me some examples. 

[Tiny]

Rhetorical questions:    How much do you know about the "job evaluation" process? Is it one of those systems where there's different categories of 'behavior' and "tasks" and 'skills' and then what kinda things to work on for the future? If like that then your old boss just pointed out to your new boss that you have the skills necessary to cope with the challenges of 'change' -- a new job --  successfully.  Also that you have confidence in your abilities (look at where you are now!) and a whole slew of other "job evaluation qualities" that employers look for.  

That's one of the pit falls with 'job evaluations'  the evaluator/system may require that the evaluated person has 'improved' which means that at some point in the past they were 'doing not so good' so as to compare to the improvement.  After all if you are perfect - being rated MORE perfect kinda implies you weren't so perfect in the past...       Some people (not me) have the amazing ability to make this process all complimentary and pleasing sounding.   Most people have trouble with it.   

So, depending on the 'evaluation' process and what kind of hoops the evaluators have to jump thru to fill out the forms or come up with nice words that HR will find appealing - the comments of your old boss may not be "character assassination". 

[8 Bit WWBG]

A quick short suggestion?  I'd prove it wrong.

[whoisjohngalt]

With a title like that, I thought you were being accused of fraud or espionage or murder for hire or something.

Look at the bright side, at least you, somehow, found out.  There are plenty of times when "bosses" talk among themselves and peons never know.

[msventoux]

I guess I really don't see that as being such a bad thing, true or not.  It's expected that someone might be flustered and not fully up to speed when they first start a new job.  He didn't say you're always flustered and have trouble multitasking. 

[NastyWoman]

Jan 12, 2014 1:59:38 GMT -5 msventoux said:

I guess I really don't see that as being such a bad thing, true or not.  It's expected that someone might be flustered and not fully up to speed when they first start a new job.  He didn't say you're always flustered and have trouble multitasking. 

. And maybe old boss was trying to tell new boss not to judge this-potential- new employee too fast ala "Optimist was flustered too at the beginning and look at well how that worked out" 

[Deleted]

Did he also say you tend to overreact?  

[Opti]

MMC, I have no idea what he said to her. All I was told is that because
my boss is relatively new to managing the receptionists and me in specific
she asked our Administrator (also very new) and my old boss (23 years
at this place) for input to do my evaluation.


The only thing she mentioned that came from him was the "easily flustered"
comment. I didn't say anything then because I've trained myself not to say
something when I'm totally taken off guard in a workplace situation. Since I
worked as a UNIX admin where multiple things went to heck and I had to keep
many people and higher ups informed, well ... easily flustered is not a description
I'd expect anyone to use accurately to describe me on any job.


There's been other oddness with him recently and given I was the only one
I know of being supportive of him in recent employee dustups I admit I saw
it as character assassination that must have a reason behind it. Now I could be
wrong, but I have had people do something similar in the past. Tell someone
the oppositie of what was actually true in hopes of trashing my rep and reviews.
My boss did add up my score incorrectly, putting me smack in the middle of
meets expectations.

Supposedly anything that rates as a 3, exceeds expectations or 4 highly
exceeds expectations requires documentation behind it. Yet when I look at
the numerical ranges it seems you aren't considered to actually exceed expectations
unless you can do so in at least 11 out of 19 categories. I only did so in 6.

[Opti]

A shout out to Milee though.

One of my exceeds expectations scores was for being dependable both
per my own schedule and my willingness to cover call outs.

[Deleted]

Optimist, please don't get offended, but my impression of you online is that you are extremely sensitive to any type of criticism. 

It's great to be perfect, but few people are when it comes to annual reviews.  I remember Carl getting a few comments on his that he didn't like. 

Let it go.  Also, let go the idea that your former boss is working to replace you with a Hispanic hottie.  Your getting a review means they are now considering you as more than a temp or a fill-in.  Take pleasure in that and work on "improving" anything the review noted. 

[Opti]

SS I'm very sensitive to some kinds of criticism. Some don't bother me
at all, but here I post about things that bother me late at night and I usually
get jumped on more than supported. Its going to make me look sensitive
to some people, because most of you don't see me criticized in real life or
even P&M.


I'm not worried about my former boss replacing me with a hispanic hottie,
but there are some very odd and worrying things happening. I let things
go in the past and what it got me was crappy hours and having one of the
worst receptionists during my tenure getting significantly more maternity
leave hours than me. Its possible it happened because of the churn in our bosses and building administrators ... but yes I am concerned and I can't think of a time on a
 job where I finally got worried and it turned out to be nothing.



I really hope you all are right and I am wrong. My job track record though
tells me I should be worried and take action. I think though the action I will
take will be to actively court the new administrator and update my current boss.
And perhaps find out if his memory confused me with Optimeesta, a former
receptionist, with a very similar name.

[Deleted]

Great response, Optimist!  I really didn't want to hurt your feelings.  If that is how you respond in real life, you've got it under control. 

LOL about Optimeesta. 

[Opti]

Optimeesta got fired BTW. I never found out why.



Similar names can be a blessing or a curse. My favorite though was
when three of us had similar enough names sometimes people would
just give up on using names entirely. Imagine a workplace where say
Dan, Don, and Dave all worked in the same area. You get called by someone
else's name frequently and occasionally people just wave their hands and
say yes, you the D person.  

[Deleted]

On our evaluations there is a section that we make comments and sign. I have been known to discuss a point with the evaluator for clarification and on at least one occasion the comment was removed. If I was you I would talk to the newbie and say that you would appreciate further clarification as this is the first time you have had this feedback and after considering the idea you don't understand where it is coming from.

[8 Bit WWBG]

It always embarrasses me when folks don't correct wrong names until its way too late.  I was calling a guy by the completely wrong name for at least 3 days.  I felt horrible, but... he didn't correct me.

Meanwhile, others will correct you in an instant, or ignore you completely, if you emphasize the wrong syllable or stretch the wrong vowel.  Megan vs. "May-gun".  I get it, I want to say people's names correctly.

We have this challenge with a lot of Indian folks.  As it was explained to me by one of them, "we are used to it, so we just take it".  I've tried to listen to how they say their own names and replicate.  Not always easy...

[resolution]

Another thing to consider is the guidelines your manager had to follow when doing the reviews. In a lot of appraisal systems there is the appraiser and then a reviewer that has to approve the scores.

Over the years I have completed many appraisals, but some of my reviewers have refused to approve high scores and would only approve meets expectations regardless of how much documentation I provided to support higher scores. It is possible that the meets expectation appraisal isn't a shot at you but just what your reviewer had to score to get it approved.