Work not appreciated....

beckman

I've had a tough couple of days at work, so bear with me as I vent....I'm not blowing my own horn here but I think I have a good work ethic, I NEVER ring in sick , have lots of hols left untaken so far this year and generally do a lot of overtime in order to meet the requirements of my job..(in which the four of us in the department are seriously overworked and do it mostly without complaint)....I had to submit a report to-day (which people were giving me angry phonecalls about) for review and approval by my superviser....said report contained a couple of typographical and formatting errors and I received quite an angry e-mail from her saying as much and that "could I please review my work before forwarding to her for review.THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE."..this might sound trivial..but it never seems to be unacceptable when I have to stay in work until 8, 9, 10 o clock at night to meet unrealistic deadlines and have stayed back every evening for the last 2 works to prepare for a audit.

I've decided therefore to start my own little "work -to-rule", no overtime, not doing anything that might be seen to be beyond the call of duty, etc, etc...

What do you think...am I over reacting and should grow up, carry on as usual .....or stop being a door mat for my supervisors demands as she takes advantage of me ......

It might sound like I'm blowing things out of proportion, but I got quite a shock as I'm usually conscientious about my work and thought this was an unnecessary reaction.....

Sala

Yes, otherwise things will continue the way they are. If you are paid 9-5 you should be doing 9-5. No one minds going the extra mile or staying late when they are appreciated but you obviously are not, so you need to show them how valuable your work actually is.

I would try to explain (in a clear and level headed manner!) that you understand absolutely that typographical and formatting errors in a report are not acceptable, but that failure was a direct consequence of you not having the time to do it properly due to the demands of your work load. Then tomorrow, do your work, be pleasant and professional, but leave on the button at 5!

exaisle

Take any holidays that you're due...a nice long break might be nice at Christmas.

As the previous poster said, if you're paid 9-5, work 9-5. Being flexible is entirely appropriate and laudable in an employee, but bending over backwards without reasonable compensation is well beyond the call of duty and it's just an employer/manager taking the pi$$.

mw3guc

An old adage comes to mind here - the slave makes the master. Please begin restoring the balance to your side of the equation now. Only then will your work be properly appreciated and you will feel a lot better about yourself and your your work. Trust me, I've seen this happen too often when managers and supervisors kill the golden goose with overwork.

Incidentally, the next time a report is due, take the necessary time to edit and proffread it before submission. Resolve now that you will give her no further excuse to malign your work. If asked or pressured, remind your supervisor (nicely) that you are doing what she instructed.

Mister Dread

Stop the overtime. Tell them have you traning on and miake it non-negotiable.

helimachoptor

Mister Dread wrote: »

Stop the overtime. Tell them have you traning on and miake it non-negotiable.

Agreed.. Dont tell them you are not doing it straight out.
Tell them you have other plans that you cannot miss and your hours are 9-5 or whatever.

LegacyUser

I know what your are going through as I was in this position a few years ago.
My work load was high but one week each month it was always dreadful but my boss chose to ignore it. When I took a day off one task I did on a daily basis was never done so I had to find an hour plus the next day to do this. I spoke to one of my co workers and commented that /// was busy and I was told no that my work went to her even though my boss knew they high work load they already had when /// sat back and did very little.

You need to leave each day at 5 o'clock - if the work is not done leave it to the next day - if your boss says anything - say I have worked the following hours over the past x period of time. Does your boss do the hours you do or do they pass the buck?

My boss/job go so bad I left with stress. I waited until the bad week and left a load of work on my desk for someone to deal with it and when I was off I got another job.

tenchi-fan

First up, if there were actually formatting errors and typos you should hold your hands up. Be more careful in future even if it means getting a colleague to scan over your work for 2-3 minutes with a fresh pair of eyes.

If the errors were minuscule you have a right to be pissed off, but try not to let it get to you too much.

If possible try to establish a good working relationship with your manager's manager. This can stop your manager using you as a whipping boy and can let the quality of your work get recognised.. otherwise your manager will just take praise when you do good and blame you when things go wrong.

You said you have a lot of annual leave untaken.. that's completely your own fault. I know it's tempting to hoard annual leave, and many people feel twice as much work will be waiting when they get back, but try to take regular, scheduled annual leave and ensure you take a 2 week block during the summer. Hopefully they will try to get someone to cover your responsibilities and realise just how much work you do for them.

Irish_Elect_Eng

My 2c.

A lot of the advice given above will certainly make your life easier in the short term and maybe even in the long term, however I think that a lot of the advice has been passive-aggressive, so I would argue that there is a better way.

You have not mentioned a pattern of such behavior by your manager was this a once-off?

Have you considered other possibilities?

(1) Perhaps your manager, busy with the upcoming audit, is relying on you for support because he/she appreciates your work ethic and knows that you are the person to get things done.
(2) Perhaps your manager, busy with the upcoming audit, is so busy themselves that they do not realize that you are being overworked and putting in long hours in the run-up to the audit.
(3) Perhaps your manager, busy with the upcoming audit, received your report and sent it out to a senior manager without reading it and the senior manager sh1t on your manager about the errors, then as we know sh1t rolls downhill, landing on you.

Is your manager stressed about the Audit?

Now none of the above forgives any manager for ranting at staff, but don't forget that they are human too, everyone has a boss.

I would suggest quite simply that you speak with your manager, outlining how her reaction made you feel after your dedication and long hours, your manager may be surprised that they hurt you and perhaps apologize or perhaps explain why the incident occurred.

Communication is the way forward here, unless your manager is a complete Muppet, they will learn from the experience and you will have a better working relationship going forward.

Bandana boy

Your managers style of informing you of your mistakes leaves a little to be desired.
That said in a small hardworking team ,starting a work to rule is career suicide.

1-it will be noticed really quickly
2-It will create tension with your boss and you can forget about any future progression
3-it will create tension with the rest of your team
4-if there is future downsizing ,you just put your hand up

mikemac1

Just on the report, as said already have a team mate glance over it before you hand it up

After working twelve hours days you can get in a daze and if you skipped lunch you might be getting dizzy.
Small stupid mistakes get made which you would never ever make when you are bright and fresh.

The checker can spot mistakes immediately that you would never see.
Can't see the wood from the trees, or there is some saying on it anyway
Just a suggestion


Oh and take those holidays. If you can't get them before the end of the year find out when they expire, many companies won't let you carry them over.
So get it in writing that you can carry them over if needed. An ok from the boss is not enough, must be in writing

tenchi-fan

mikemac1 wrote: »

Oh and take those holidays. If you can't get them before the end of the year find out when they expire, many companies won't let you carry them over.

Annual leave does not expire. It's the company's responsibility to ensure employees take annual leave. Leave may be carried forward only with the employee's permission.

mikemac1

Anywhere I've worked has a use it or lose it policy to annual leave

the_syco

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Annual leave does not expire.

Do you know where I can access that in writing? I ask as I think that if the contract he has written doesn't carry over the days, the days don't get carried over?

As for not taking holidays and doing overtime, continue doing so will ensure more mistakes. You need something to look forward to, or you'll loose motivation to work hard, imo.

tenchi-fan

Organisation of Working Time act 1997

kflynn

I can see how discouraging that would be! I think you have just hit a brick wall, I can imagine working all those hours just to see that email.

I think leave it be for now and take some holidays, come back with a clear head and stand your ground. Your manager may not appreciate overtime, but he/she does not own the business. Your boss will be grateful (hopefully if hes anyway normal), and he should resolve this issue.

It's so hard to get good staff, the boss will want to keep you.

leeroybrown

the_syco wrote: »

Do you know where I can access that in writing? I ask as I think that if the contract he has written doesn't carry over the days, the days don't get carried over?

The thing with carrying over leave is that your employer just (with a few caveats) has to give you a month's notice of the requirement to take leave in order to make you use it. Putting an "all leave must be used in the relevant calendar year" line in a contract will likely cover this. Technically it's an employer's responsibility to ensure you use all your leave but if they've notified you that you can't carry leave and haven't deliberately impeded you from taking it they'll pretty much have covered themselves.

Where I work we're allowed to carry a limited number of days for a limited period. Everyone knows this and if they don't use the leave in time then tough luck on them.

CricketDude

I posted this in another thread.

I learned that when you give 120% the boss thinks its 100%.
Then when you only give 110% he thinks you are slacking off.

I used to go in most Saturdays and Sundays. I used to work from 8am til 7pm every day.
One day I had an appointment and got up to leave at 5pm and the boss asked me why I was going early and that the thing I was working on needed to be finish today. So the next week I was so annoyed I started coming in at 9am leaving at 5pm every day. I got taken into his office and asked why I was leaving early and arriving late the last few days. When I said 9-5pm is not early or late, its the time everyone else leaves does. Its the time im supposed to do. He wasnt happy at all.
The next day I went looking for a new job. Got one with a salary that was 30% more than the one i was getting (which the boss always told me was a great salary) for the very same job but doing normal hours.

I wont ever make that mistake again. Lesson learned the hard way.

I also learned that you never increase your salary and conditions as much by staying in a job as you do by sending your CV off and moving job. But thats for another thread.