This all sounds a bit fishy to me....
Discussion
Hello all, just wondering what the general consensus is regarding the following situation a friend of mine is in at the mo.
She has worked for her company for 18 months. During this time, owing to internal conflicts and disagreements amongst the management and board of the company as to exactly how their products should be researched and marketed, she has been unable to deliver any of her projects to fruition.
This has been due to a number of factors: some projects she had been told to "lose" to lesser departments, others have been cancelled outright by the executive board following unsatisfactory market testing and some have not been granted initial research funding after various "voice of customer" exercises.
She has regular review meetings with her boss to discuss her performance and was feeling pretty optimistic right before the last meeting as, although she hasn't been able to deliver anything, she felt she'd worked hard, really made a good effort across her role and had lots of great feedback from her 360-degrees (where other employees, confidentially, report back on one another's performance).
However, she was stunned when her boss announced that she:
- didn't engage people during her presentations (when previously she had been advised by a board director that they were so impressed with her presentation performances, they were changing the standard format used throughout the UK side of the business to reflect her styles and methods)
- was "flippant" to a board director during a meeting (this instance was never formally acknowledged at the time, nor was she disciplined for any kind of insubordination and, when pressed, her boss admitted he "couldn't remember of the top of (his) head" what precisely had occurred).
- had failed to deliver any project to fruition (she gave examples of all the projects she had been specifically instructed to lose, farm out or cancel and, again, her boss was unable to give her any further comments).
She finally asked her boss the obviously question: "does my face just not fit"? Whereupon he merely smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
She feels that she hasn't "fitted in" since she joined the company as far as the upper echelons of management are concerned - not necessarily her boss, but the board above him. She says she has tried on many occasions to engage with the two boards directors she feels have created the unfortunate situation she now finds herself in but has been rebutted repeatedly - even down to them refusing to make eye contact, speak directly to her in meetings and ignoring greetings when passing in the hallway.
She's not a whinger and is really of the opinion that she just wants to find another job and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. However, my feeling is that she's effectively been told to leave simply because a couple of board directors have taken a dislike to her which surely equals grounds for constructive dismissal.
At the meeting with her boss, absolutely no offers of help, advice, support, not any kind of plan were discussed which could lead to a resolution.
Are employers not obliged to support an employee who they feel is not working effectively? How can someone just be told "we don't like the look of you, please leave".
Sincere and unreserved apologies for waffling on! I just really hate to see my chum so disheartened when she really has given her all and was so upbeat and energetic when she started this job.
Many thanks,
Kirsty
She has worked for her company for 18 months. During this time, owing to internal conflicts and disagreements amongst the management and board of the company as to exactly how their products should be researched and marketed, she has been unable to deliver any of her projects to fruition.
This has been due to a number of factors: some projects she had been told to "lose" to lesser departments, others have been cancelled outright by the executive board following unsatisfactory market testing and some have not been granted initial research funding after various "voice of customer" exercises.
She has regular review meetings with her boss to discuss her performance and was feeling pretty optimistic right before the last meeting as, although she hasn't been able to deliver anything, she felt she'd worked hard, really made a good effort across her role and had lots of great feedback from her 360-degrees (where other employees, confidentially, report back on one another's performance).
However, she was stunned when her boss announced that she:
- didn't engage people during her presentations (when previously she had been advised by a board director that they were so impressed with her presentation performances, they were changing the standard format used throughout the UK side of the business to reflect her styles and methods)
- was "flippant" to a board director during a meeting (this instance was never formally acknowledged at the time, nor was she disciplined for any kind of insubordination and, when pressed, her boss admitted he "couldn't remember of the top of (his) head" what precisely had occurred).
- had failed to deliver any project to fruition (she gave examples of all the projects she had been specifically instructed to lose, farm out or cancel and, again, her boss was unable to give her any further comments).
She finally asked her boss the obviously question: "does my face just not fit"? Whereupon he merely smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
She feels that she hasn't "fitted in" since she joined the company as far as the upper echelons of management are concerned - not necessarily her boss, but the board above him. She says she has tried on many occasions to engage with the two boards directors she feels have created the unfortunate situation she now finds herself in but has been rebutted repeatedly - even down to them refusing to make eye contact, speak directly to her in meetings and ignoring greetings when passing in the hallway.
She's not a whinger and is really of the opinion that she just wants to find another job and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. However, my feeling is that she's effectively been told to leave simply because a couple of board directors have taken a dislike to her which surely equals grounds for constructive dismissal.
At the meeting with her boss, absolutely no offers of help, advice, support, not any kind of plan were discussed which could lead to a resolution.
Are employers not obliged to support an employee who they feel is not working effectively? How can someone just be told "we don't like the look of you, please leave".
Sincere and unreserved apologies for waffling on! I just really hate to see my chum so disheartened when she really has given her all and was so upbeat and energetic when she started this job.
Many thanks,
Kirsty
Oh, I should also have added that, since the review meeting where my chum was effectively left thinking she had no choice but to look for another job, all of her subsequent weekly reviews have been cancelled without notice or explanation. Other colleagues are still having their weekly meetings as usual.
Also, in this situation, what happens if she is simply unable to secure another position in any reasonable length of time? She could still be there in six months time, with the board still making her feel singled out and useless, right?
Also, in this situation, what happens if she is simply unable to secure another position in any reasonable length of time? She could still be there in six months time, with the board still making her feel singled out and useless, right?
Fallon said:
Oh, I should also have added that, since the review meeting where my chum was effectively left thinking she had no choice but to look for another job, all of her subsequent weekly reviews have been cancelled without notice or explanation. Other colleagues are still having their weekly meetings as usual.
Your friend needs to detail all of this (dates of projects being canned, meetings from where she was made to feel surplus to requirements etc,etc) from as far back as possible until she either leaves the firm or is made to feel welcome again.If she is "forced out" and she can prove she was treated unfairly she may have a decent case for unfair dismissal.
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