Sunshine Up My Butt!

This is an update on the work related entry from March 21, 2005. The stuff in bold text is my current feelings/comments. 1. I told her that they needed to wake up & realize that the reason there was such high turnover was not due to people wanting more $$ and finding other jobs....a lot of it is just plain due to people not being happy, and they need to look at the departments with the highest turnover & really take a good look at the managers there & see if that might not be where some of the problems lay (lie?) I said that most people weren't going to actually pipe up and say 'hey my manager is a jerk'.....because more often than not, the repercussions aren't worth it. They need to just take matters into their own hands & see everything for what it is. I'm not sure if she really heard me on this one or not. 1 of the Lending staff who recently left, did an Exit Questionnaire, and she totally blasted the AVP of Lending.....who, I believe, is the BIGGEST reason that the Lending department has such a high turnover. Did it make a difference? I don't know....I'm sure that the AVP probably read it, as well as the Exec. VP & CEO. There was probably discussion, and I'm betting it was all made to look like it was the other person blowing things out of proportion.....because, from what I hear from other people in the Lending department, is that it's just SSDD there. 2. I told her that I didn't like being talked down to, I didn't like her over-explaining things to me, and that I felt that she treated me poorly whenever she was having a bad day. I said that I understood that she was under a lot of pressure, and that there were issues of mistakes being made by other people....but that unless she could point out where I had screwed up or let her down in the last 3.5 years....that she needed to stop treating me like I was part of the problem. I said that I felt like she was doing the 'do as I say, not as I do' routine with me....by calling me to the carpet for being bitchy when I'm under stress, but then turning around and exhibiting the same behaviors herself. She has been making an effort in this area....but sometimes I think she took things differently than I meant them. She's told me that she feels that she can't be 'down' around me....I've told her that's not what I meant at all, that what I wanted was her to stop being negative TO me....not around me. People have issues & bad days, I know that.....I don't expect anyone to put on a Happy Face, when they ain't happy.....BUT, I also won't just roll over when you need a punching bag. She's still over-explaining things to me. I'm just going to have to learn to grin & bear that, because I'm thinking, that when she's 'in a mood', that's just how she is going to handle things. I don't like the over-explaining, but I suppose it could be worse. 3. I told her that I was bored and that I really needed more to do....I also said that I understood that she felt that she didn't have time to train me to take over some of her work, but that I believed that the time spent training me, in the long run would be more than re-paid by the time saved by her not have to do or worry about whatever work she decided to pass my way. 4. She almost seemed like she was asking my permission to start looking for a HR Manager.....as if maybe I would be upset that I wasn't asked to take the position. I told her that at this time, I didn't want a management position. I told her that I know I'm not really cut out for it, and that I don't have the experience needed. I said that all of this is not about me wanting a management position, it's about me wanting more to do. 5. She outlined her future department staffing plans (hopes). She wants to hire a Regional Branch Manager, to oversee all the branch issues & to take over all the training for the whole company. She wants to hire a HR Manager, someone who could eventually take over a significant part of her work, as well as doing the bulk of the recruiting. She also wants to hire a clerical type person who can take over the more clerical & reception parts of my job, and thereby get me away from the front desk & possibly into a office (with a door even). 6. She told me she wants to re-vamp the job descriptions for our department & she wants me to look at the current descriptions for the HR Assistant (my job), HR Generalist, Operations Trainer, and HR Manager.....and pick out what from those descriptions I would be willing to keep doing, or take on.....what I'm not willing (or able) to do, and what can be given over to a clerical person. 3-6 I can give a lump sum answer to. It pretty much ain't happenin'. She thinks we can get along with a 2 person department....her (or a HR Manager) & me.....with me doing exactly what I do now, exactly where I'm doing it. She finally relented A BIT, and has me writing classified ads for our company website (www.metro1cu.org), and for our in-house postings. When she gave me the list of open positions, I said 'what about HR?'....and she said it's just not in the budget......I don't understand.....we seemed to have enough for our 3rd who left in March....where did THAT money go? I asked about the clerk idea that she ran past me in March, and again....it's not in the budget. I pretty much squawked.....I told her that I HAVE been looking at the HR ads out there....and that I feel that I'm being put into a position where I will not be able to grow & learn.....I said that of the ads that I see out there, I don't have quite a bit of the experience that is commonplace, and I WANT THAT EXPERIENCE. She said that I have to understand that in 'this company' HR is a job where you know something about everything, but not A LOT about anything...because we just aren't big enough to be specialized. She pointed out that she's trying to get me more involved with FMLA and Worker's Comp stuff....and I kept my mouth shut about the fact that it's only the BEGINNING things she involves me in.....I rarely get to follow the process to it's end.....I don't even get to learn about the end results most of the time. It's like reading the first 3 chapters of a book, and then having it taken from you. She ADMITTED that she is over-whelmed, and that she has too much work in front of her....but she also said AGAIN, that she doesn't have the time to train me. I pretty much told her that I have been where I'm at for 3 years now....and I don't want to be IN THE SAME PLACE (experience-wise) 3 years from now.