posted
I'm feeling angry at my boss for what I know are trivial reasons. They just keep building up though. In general he is a good man and a great guy to work for, but I almost feel like at the moment he is setting me up to screw things up deliberately, in order to become an independent contracter himself for the lab after his offical retirement. The company is balking at this situation, and I'm caught in the middle. Last week I talked to a person slightly higher but sideways on the chain of command from my boss, explaining the situation and why I couldn't quite go through normal channels. He promised to talk to the director who has been pushing my training agenda, to my boss, though once it gets down to my boss' level even though the words are there, the action evaporates.
A) I was told to get price quotes on a piece of equipment (an Instron) for a specific upgrade (high strain tensile testing). I did. I consulted with him through the entire process to make sure I was doing it correctly.
After the vendor has left, my boss comes out and asks, "Well how much would it cost to upgrade our old one?" No one told me we HAD an old one, that was remotely usable, and I have no idea where it is located. You would have thought he could informed me of this detail during the two weeks prior, to the vender coming out, when he knew I was doing research on the subject. My co-worker (not my boss) had no idea where it was located or if still usable, and he has been in this department for 17 years. My boss is claiming that it is only 6 years old. I have no idea who to believe and still haven't seen the old piece of equipment that we are supposed to be replacing.
B) I have been told, repeatedly that I'm supposed to be getting trained on several peices of equipment. One we are having a hard time finding a qualified instructor for, since our SEM is so old. But, this same machine, the Instron that was being upgraded, also has a training course that I've been told I am going to go to, for the programmable software interface. So I took the initiative and asked the vendor how much one of these training courses costs and when and where they take place. Pretty inexpensive actually only about $1200 and in Minnesota.
When I bring this up my boss then goes on a rant about budgeting and not having the money, when I'm fairly certain that there is plenty of money, and I know that HIS boss has told him training me is supposed to be a top priority.
Later he changed his tune slightly and is talking about having me drive and re imbursing me for driving to Minnesota rather than going through the company authorized travel agent which is supposedly more expensive.
C) From events yesterday (tours going through our lab) I put two and two together. I asked some questions today and I found out that there is a week long product seminar that is for our customers taking place. I have been told repeatedly that I should attend this, even though I'm an employee and not a customer because it gives a very comprehensive view of all our product lines and there are several that I'm not familiar with, and is a great introduction for a new employee.
They are scheduled infrequently and I was supposed to be told (by my boss) when the next one was happening. Well obviously he didn't tell me.
Pretty much if my boss does retire, (which he could literaly do at any minute) and the director expects me to be ready to take over, even at 65% percent of what my boss was capable of the company is screwed. The person I went sideways and up to talk to, genuinely likes me, but both he and the director are on vacation this week, so I knew nothing to improve things was going to happen this week. But in the mean time these little things have kept building. That person was in a meeting with my boss the day before I talked to him, and asked me why I wasn't there. I hadn't even known there WAS a meeting, and it was covering an issue which I'm pretty directly involved in.
I know I'm probably being grumpy because of this sinus bug, but all of these little things keep adding up into a disturbing picture. I hope something actually does get done next week.
Would it be possible to talk to your boss, expressing your concern about a "lack of communication" between you and how to resolve it?
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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quote:B) I have been told, repeatedly that I'm supposed to be getting trained on several peices of equipment. One we are having a hard time finding a qualified instructor for, since our SEM is so old. But, this same machine, the Instron that was being upgraded, also has a training course that I've been told I am going to go to, for the programmable software interface. So I took the initiative and asked the vendor how much one of these training courses costs and when and where they take place. Pretty inexpensive actually only about $1200 and in Minnesota.
When I bring this up my boss then goes on a rant about budgeting and not having the money, when I'm fairly certain that there is plenty of money, and I know that HIS boss has told him training me is supposed to be a top priority.
Later he changed his tune slightly and is talking about having me drive and re imbursing me for driving to Minnesota rather than going through the company authorized travel agent which is supposedly more expensive.
Yep, that's crap. You're getting played. Good luck!! Can you talk to someone with power?
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
AJ, those sound like pretty big things to me. It's one thing if your boss is being less than diligent b/c he's about to retire. His career is basically over. Yours is just beginning and it sounds like he is being grossly negligent when it comes to your training.
I guess all you can do is grin and bear it until everyone comes back from vacation.
It does seem like the company really appreciates and values you. As they should.
Posts: 3037 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Well it isn't entirely a "lack" of communication, it is that in the communication (which happens generally frequently and well)sometimes "important" things get left out.
I am currently going to the director through an intermediate as I said, once they both (my intermediate and the director get back from vacation). I feel it would be improper for me to go to the director directly at this time, though he is a generally nice and approachable guy just walking through the halls. But it would be unusual for me to be seen talking to him in anything other than a very informal setting, and I wouldn't want to discuss the matter, in the hallway somewhere because gossip always travels like wildfire. If I were to make a "formal" appointment with him, I have no doubt he'd mention it to my boss and ask him why I'm asking for the formal appointment, which also defeats the purpose.
I think it is just the cumulation of this particular week that has me at a higher simmer than normal. And also knowing that even though I've set the process in motion nothing can happen until next week. I've been more acutely aware of the problem for at least a month or two (I may have mentioned it on hatrack once before) but it took me a couple weeks to figure out my strategy, and select my intermediary.
*hugs* you guys are great, thanks for listening to me vent!
posted
Yeah, good thing there aren't any sharks in the waters of academia!
My brother is defending next month, and I can't believe some of the stories he's told me of the politics going on in his department.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I talked to my connection last night. He had talked to the director. The word is that they have worked out a deal with my supervisor, that he will stay at least one more year. He will work 3 10 hour days rather than 5 8 hours days. This is good. It means I will not be thrust into a position that I'm really not ready for, and they don't have unreasonable expectations vs. reality of what I can do.
As far as training me to take his place. They probably are going to hire a metalurgist because we are sadly lacking in that area. However, if I want the managers job in a year and a half to two years and I prove to them I want it, it is mine. In the mean time if I have ideas for innovating the lab they want to hear it. If my supervisor doesn't pass on the message, I am to go around him to either my connection or to the director himself. As far as training goes, they will lean on him from the top down, and I am to take as much initiative as possible (which I already have on my end.) The actual managerial paperwork they aren't too worried about me catching on to. Apparently it isn't actually as difficult as my supervisior makes it out to be. Though the fact that I am actually a proficent typist makes it much easier for me to fill out many of the forms than it is for him.
So things seem to be moving smoothly. Yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of my hire date. I went from being 66.6% vested in my 401K to 73% vested (I will be fully vested after 5 years.) I am also now elgible for continuing education scholarships from the company, which will be useful if I wish to get my MBA. I suspect pursuing an MBA would also show the sort of manegerial initiative they are looking for. So I'm going to seriously start looking at my options there, that I was just playing with before.
posted
Oh yes, and as far as interactions with my boss goes. He was going to holler at (well gently reprimand) me for not starting a test this morning and to get on the ball. I got to tell him that the tests were all completed because I did them last night!
He's generally a good boss and I suspect that now that his negotiations with the company are over he will be in better humor.
posted
CT as far as bosses go, mine is pretty darn good. His only real drawback is the fuddy duddyness that comes with age. And he tries, he really does. It is kind of like working for a father figure that you can occasionally cuss around and don't have to respect quite as much.
The other thing that was fun was last week. We have been having problems with a supplier, and called them in to have a smackdown. We buy enough product from these people (in the top five of their customers) that they should have been far more accomodating when we said that we were having a quality control issue with their parts.
I've been working on this problem since late January and it really should have been fixed by now. I have pages and pages of data to support our claims that they were screwing up.
Anyway my boss decides that we need an agenda and calls a pre- meeting 90 minutes before the actual meeting. Then he tells me I've got a half hour to type the agenda up. I do so according to what the agreed upon plan was. I make it to the meeting 2 minutes late from printing and making copies of the stuff he wanted me to do. Then he tells me that I'M runing the meeting. So I do.
I wanted to call the sales guy on a couple more of his wishy washy falsehoods than I did, but the co-worker (other than my boss) who was supposed to help lay the smack down had a personal issue and couldn't be there. So I let a couple of things go in the interest of the final goal. We want them to fix stuff, we don't want to destroy the 10 year working relationship we have with these people and we really want to fix the problem, not send them packing and having to find a new supplier.
The manager who was my go-between to the director was also at this meeting. He and my boss backed me up when I needed it and drove home some points so I didn't have to, but that manager also seemed pleased with what I had done.
And I admit I did get a little bit of enjoyment out of making this sleazy sales guy squirm.
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