Should I Be Concerned?

LegacyUser

I've worked in my current job for slightly over a year. Looking for some advice as I'm slightly concerned about losing my job. At the minute, I cannot afford to risk this. The pay is decent and there's not much else on the market at the minute.

The Divisional Manager and Owner are both very difficult to work for and constantly deride and demean their staff. As I report directly to them, I often get the brunt of this and feel like I'm perceived as being incompetent despite the fact that I'm over-worked and often come in early and leave late to ensure my work is complete.

A new divisional manager was appointed mid way through 2019. Recently she asked me to perform tasks X & Y. I responded and outlined that those were already complete.

A few days later she again asks me to perform tasks X & Y and says they have been outstanding for a fortnight and what's taking me so long. In addition she wanted to know when I would have task Z complete. Again, I respond by saying I have completed X & Y and outline exactly when and how they were completed (I was civil in my email but I used it as an opportunity to subtly let her know to get off my case). In relation to Task Z, I said that she had previously outlined I had a month to complete it so I would complete what I was currently doing and move on to Task A after. When Task A was complete, I would move on to Task Z, which would still be completed within advised timeline.

She sent me an angry e-mail which took me by surprise. She accused me of undermining her and questioned my competence and ability to complete work within a deadline. She brought up some mistakes I had made last year (which was the first I had heard of them). She told me that Task A was absolutely not a priority and questioned my understanding of the business if I believed that it was. The entire tone of the response was arrogant, demeaning and belittling. Needless to say, I was seeing red but did not respond. I have since learned that another employee was told to complete Task A with urgency.

This is not the first time things have been handled per above. I've been receiving increasing phone calls and emails that are incredibly condescending and demoralizing. I put a good shift in and go above and beyond to ensure I keep my head above the water. I arrive early, skip partial lunches and leave late. I don't seek any gratitude for this but I certainly don't expect to be spoken to like a misbehaving child. Unfortunately, I have made some mistakes (nothing major) as I blast through work and don't typically have the time to review it (the place is hectic and company has doubled in size since I started).

I was hoping for some advice as to how I might proceed with the above. Also, as I'm there for over a year, I assume I would have some legal protection in my position and couldn't be sacked on a whim? My last place of employment seemed to be thrilled with my work, so much so that they offered me a significant raise to remain with them (I was looking for a fresh challenge so I rejected their offer). Any confidence I gained in my previous role has been very quickly eroded in my current position.

Batgurl

Is this person your manager? Or just a manager?

ie do they have the authority to prioritise your workload? If she does, I do think you were in the wrong as you should have told her your workload and asked which needs to be prioritised. Instead of telling her which you were prioritising. That’s her job. Not yours. And you may not have a high level view of the overall strategy.

If she doesn’t have authority to dictate your work, then I don’t think you were wrong but I do think you could have handled it better. The first thing that struck me is that emails can be a terrible way to communicate at times. I’ve always been told that people don’t read emails how you write them. They read them in the mood they are currently in (something which you can’t ever predict).

You say you were civil but subtlety made a dig. Perhaps she didn’t interpret it as subtle and (unprofessionally) reacted. Whenever people are working remote or communicating over email/Skype/slack, it’s always better to over explain and exaggerate your emotions as subtlety is not always clear through this medium.