Dear Lady Disdain Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Dear all, I have a problem, a horrible one that has arisen in my workplace since they started monitoring our performance We got on just fine before it began, I work in a team of three - we got on so well together and it was lovely Then our Boss begins performance monitoring one week and tells us that our results will be passed to the Higher ups He writes about me that I am a Goddess and I reign supreme - my colleague wrote back " I am jealous " and he wrote " so you should be " We carry on working as normal, I am top again because I am enthusiastic about the work and enjoy it and he writes " the Queen holds on to her crown " so my colleague writes back " sack her " - lol which was funny at the time until it did turn ugly So after six weeks of this ( we are monitored every three weeks and results are published ) they begin to say I am picking up too much and I feel intimidated, bullied and pressured into picking up less and letting them " win " Then they become top of the league - the boss writes of my colleague, the Empress is back on form etc etc Fine - so we are all equal then and I suggest we work equally - I was being too " nice " in letting them win and feeling bad for letting myself shine They are still picking up a lot so I start to pick up more and then the quarrels begin again One colleague, who always slacked before and had the lowest performance figures is now doing something a bit corrupt - and phoning up managers to try and get all the plum bits of work for himself in advance so he gets more This morning I called him up on it with my colleague, this has been going on for weeks - and he had a nasty go at me in an email saying I had " grabbed " loads and did 12 more than him last week ( yep he is counting! ) and nobody said anything to me when I picked up loads, I didn't actually pick that many more and had been doing my best to share I had just about had it today and said I thought we should discuss with management and my colleagues don't want to do so I am an agency worker, that is the problem, I have less security than them and cannot raise things as easily, that is another reason I don't see why I should let them " win " when we are being monitored Our managers have distanced themselves from our team with no involvement at all so we are left to our own devices - we all acknowledge this Boss appears to be using Divide and Conquer tactics, I suspect for his amusement The really good news is - we are meeting in the office on Wednesday for a meeting about this, we normally work from home - so hopefully things will get resolved Any suggestions about what you would do? Please help if you can thank you I am actually thinking now they want to oust me out as there are cuts going on in our company and I am good at my job XX Link to post Share on other sites
Bastile Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 (edited) I despise performance monitoring. Don't get me wrong, it is necessary. But when it gets too overt, it ends up ends up destroying a team ethic. One of the things I did on reaching a management position in a former job was get rid of the electronic league table board, which immediately resulted in a better all round vibe. I am an agency worker, that is the problem, I have less security than them and cannot raise things as easily, that is another reason I don't see why I should let them " win " when we are being monitored Work them over socially. Make them laugh, keep it fun with good energy - regardless of their crappy attitude. Going from agency to full time contract is about being considered indispensable. And a massive part of that which really can't be understated is fitting in socially. Don't let your work performance slide, but concentrate more on the social aspect. Don't be naive... people take liberties. But play the game. Our managers have distanced themselves from our team with no involvement at all so we are left to our own devices That happens so often in these cases. They aren't wanting to muddy themselves in the toxic waters they create. I actually found this to be useful, as I enjoy that sort of freedom. The really good news is - we are meeting in the office on Wednesday for a meeting about this, we normally work from home - so hopefully things will get resolved Any suggestions about what you would do? Please help if you can thank you Sit back and let all of the other idiots complain and moan, like they do in those situations. You provide solutions and answers instead. Always do that. You'll stand out in a big way. Edited June 19, 2017 by Bastile 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Dear Lady Disdain Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thank you Bastile! Luckily it turns out I am surprisingly popular in the team as nearly all of the other staff there do moan and complain a lot - all the permies lol Connecting socially seems to be the key - I am at this moment actually preparing a delicious pasta salad for our team picnic in a few days - also coming up with solutions and answers but none of them have reached the boss yet, only the three of us in our team I guess I've just gotta keep on making them laugh, being easy going and doing my work well, I can do this What bothers me is that I might need to make my performance figures low to get on with them socially and this will give an inaccurate reflection, making them appear better than me The freedom was blissful at first! Until this performance monitoring lark began - we work from home and have zero management most of the time and it was like being self employed One person wants to become a faux Boss and I made the mistake a few times of challenging her on this which didn't work well, perhaps I'll just leave her to it and adopt a more laissez-faire attitude, things should change soon anyway, another boss has told me I will have some new responsibilities soon attending board meetings which sounds good I'm sure if I begin to do badly in the " league tables " management will begin to cotton on as they are not stupid! Thanks for your reply Bastile, glad to hear that you too have a hatred of this Performance Monitoring and you put a stop to it in your team! Bravo! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bastile Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Thank you Bastile! Luckily it turns out I am surprisingly popular in the team as nearly all of the other staff there do moan and complain a lot - all the permies lol Connecting socially seems to be the key - I am at this moment actually preparing a delicious pasta salad for our team picnic in a few days - also coming up with solutions and answers but none of them have reached the boss yet, only the three of us in our team I guess I've just gotta keep on making them laugh, being easy going and doing my work well, I can do this What bothers me is that I might need to make my performance figures low to get on with them socially and this will give an inaccurate reflection, making them appear better than me The freedom was blissful at first! Until this performance monitoring lark began - we work from home and have zero management most of the time and it was like being self employed One person wants to become a faux Boss and I made the mistake a few times of challenging her on this which didn't work well, perhaps I'll just leave her to it and adopt a more laissez-faire attitude, things should change soon anyway, another boss has told me I will have some new responsibilities soon attending board meetings which sounds good I'm sure if I begin to do badly in the " league tables " management will begin to cotton on as they are not stupid! Thanks for your reply Bastile, glad to hear that you too have a hatred of this Performance Monitoring and you put a stop to it in your team! Bravo! I was just going to edit and say go to the stupid events! And I took out the bit about being a faux boss. That was short sighted and rude. That can be a gateway to better things. Also it can be the managers taking the piss though. Keep your chin up. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Dear Lady Disdain Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 Hehe I'm preparing for that lol - all the bosses are men and the way to a man's heart is through his stomach! Well we do in actual fact have a faux manager but that's fine, she isn't too bad, she's not a dragon anyway Yes, it's a cross between managers taking the piss and us all being very good at our job - it's the strangest thing, though, being a self governing little team of three, quite a novelty - we're managing it surprisingly well really with three being a crowd and everything Thanks Bastile for helping me feel more positive about this! I will keep my chin up :-) I'm sure it'll blow over and get better, it couldn't get worse! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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