I've written about an issue that I have at work. I'm careful not to give details since the last thing I want to do is get fired from my job. I like the people I work with and I really enjoy what I do. Having great benefits and the ability to work from home is a huge plus with this company as well. That being said, something at work happened - a decision made - that I vehemently disagree with.
It goes something like this: an employee has worked at the company I work for for the past 4 years. In that time, this person has NEVER received a review that shows that they meet the expectations of what their job entails. This person was recently put on probation and given a performance improvement plan with tasks and due dates. This person in the past 6 months has not met a single one of those task deadlines. In fact, many of those tasks have not been completed or were late - VERY late.
Because of special circumstances, this person was allowed to interview for a position outside of the department they currently work in. And the position that they were ultimately given was a position at a higher grade level. The hiring manager assumed that this person had a good track record and never bothered to look at this person's past performance reviews. I know this because when the hiring manager found out that about this person's performance, he was shocked that someone with substandard performance evaluations would even be able to interview for another position.
Normally, things like this don't happen. Employees with poor performance don't get to interview for other jobs within a company (everywhere else in corporate America except for where I work). Employees with poor performance don't get a new job at the same company where they are promoted (everywhere else in corporate America except for where I work). And, in the past people who have worked at the company where I work have gotten fired for doing things like testing in a production environment or not meeting deadlines. But, this person is "special" in a single important way - important only to the company I work for.
I know that there are people in the company I work for who are seething about this decision and I have started to get over these events that upset me initially. I realize now that this person is the new hiring manager's problem and railing against the "injustice" of this is like spitting in the wind (useless and unproductive). However, I will walk away with this lesson: Even though you do do the right thing, unfair conclusions may happen. And, it isn't important what happened to knock you down (in this case my sense of fairness took a hit), but what IS important is the way that you get up, dust yourself off, and move on.
"This person is 'special' in a single important way..."
I'm guessing a few things:
a) he/she isn't fired because of his/her race
b) the hiring manager is an idiot
c) he/she has a disability and won't be fired because of your EOE
-OR-
d)he/she is sleeping with someone important higher up and will never be fired because of it
I could be wrong.
Posted by: Eatmisery | June 20, 2012 at 08:38 PM
It ain't b.
Posted by: Me | June 25, 2012 at 05:43 PM