As the Worm Turns
[The following post has been UNLOCKED and redacted circa 10/23/10]
You know shit is serious when I have to resort to locked posts.
I will try to make this as short a short version as possible. So about a month ago, I got a really bad mid-probationary evaluation which came out of nowhere. They use a 0-3 scale, and it was essentially all 1s even though I had been exceeding the Unit average in both time (23 minutes vs 28 minutes) and accuracy (less than 2% error rate), had a more-or-less perfect attendance record, and so on. The review required a narrative to justify the numbers, and my supervisor essentially had to pull bullshit from everywhere, including private conversations I had with her back when I didn't let my concern for employment override the Truth (e.g. Atlas Shrugged made me [more of] an asshole). There was still a possibility that I was ran over the coals to spur improvement in my attitude or whatever, which I most definitely have in the meantime. However, as confirmed by a Union rep yesterday, my only option was to either walk away from this job or agree to a SEVENTY-FIVE DAY probation extension, ending October 12th. The extension doesn't make any real sense though, since there is nothing for me to improve.
It is at this point, today, where shit got serious.
There was some unplanned meeting between my supervisor, three other managers in the department, and Crystal Method (my boss's boss), and the topic apparently had to do with me. How do I know? Two off-the-record sources, in fact, although neither of them really told me why a meeting was necessary. All I DO know is that my supervisor has been sick with stress/worry all day today, and a little birdy was telling me that my supervisor is not actually the enemy; the birdy, in fact, stressed the apparent fact that my supervisor was "pushed into a corner over this" and "actually fought pretty hard for you." Who is the enemy, little birdy? Someone over at the 855 building? Nod.
KANEDA!!!. That, KANEDA!!!.
Apparently, she disliked me so much after that meeting, that she applied pressure all the way down to my supervisor to "dig up stuff" in order to get rid of me. She may not have actually disliked me that much at the time considering it was nearly four months ago, but I imagine it came to quite a shock for her that I was A) still here, B) up for formal hiring, and C) actually doing my job. My supervisor was sick with worry today because she believes - either because of the manager meeting or because I am staying or both - that I have enough of a case to file a grievance against her over the evaluation. Unnamed sources have corroborated this account, which was amusing considering I had not thought of filing a grievance until they told me my supervisor was worried about one. On the one hand, if my supervisor gave me that fucked up evaluation out of pressure from KANEDA!!!, then I have no hard feelings about said supervisor. On the other hand, pressure or no, that evaluation was fucked up. In fact, I also found out today from HR that the evaluation itself would be a factor in any future employment with The Job positions that are related or otherwise similar to the one I have currently. That is to say, if I don't pass the extended probation or otherwise bow out, I will essentially be blacklisted because of the evaluation. Which is a matter of public record, by the way, and could haunt me for quite some time if future employers were so inclined.
The irony in all this, is I have never felt so... rekindled about the position than I do right now. If KANEDA!!! wants me out, then I want in. This is not some kind of isolated incident either: KANEDA!!! hates the Crystal Method, and the feeling is mutual the other way, not to mention the power-plays amongst the other managers. I even get the feeling that the Union hates KANEDA!!!, considering they told me how much they have been fighting the whole Task Log deal and making everyone's employment revolve around quotas and numbers, which were purely KANEDA!!!'s invention.
Although it has been somewhat dwarfed by the present drama, I do want to state that, for the record, I had came to the decision to stay at the job and accept the extended probation BEFORE all this shit hit the fan. It's a posh job when you compare it to what 90% of everyone else is doing, and all of the stress is completely manufactured when you get right down to it. The drama is complete bonus, as it tends to be when you finally pop over the wave before it crests and crashes into the shore.
"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid."
-Friedrich Nietzsche
You know shit is serious when I have to resort to locked posts.
I will try to make this as short a short version as possible. So about a month ago, I got a really bad mid-probationary evaluation which came out of nowhere. They use a 0-3 scale, and it was essentially all 1s even though I had been exceeding the Unit average in both time (23 minutes vs 28 minutes) and accuracy (less than 2% error rate), had a more-or-less perfect attendance record, and so on. The review required a narrative to justify the numbers, and my supervisor essentially had to pull bullshit from everywhere, including private conversations I had with her back when I didn't let my concern for employment override the Truth (e.g. Atlas Shrugged made me [more of] an asshole). There was still a possibility that I was ran over the coals to spur improvement in my attitude or whatever, which I most definitely have in the meantime. However, as confirmed by a Union rep yesterday, my only option was to either walk away from this job or agree to a SEVENTY-FIVE DAY probation extension, ending October 12th. The extension doesn't make any real sense though, since there is nothing for me to improve.
It is at this point, today, where shit got serious.
There was some unplanned meeting between my supervisor, three other managers in the department, and Crystal Method (my boss's boss), and the topic apparently had to do with me. How do I know? Two off-the-record sources, in fact, although neither of them really told me why a meeting was necessary. All I DO know is that my supervisor has been sick with stress/worry all day today, and a little birdy was telling me that my supervisor is not actually the enemy; the birdy, in fact, stressed the apparent fact that my supervisor was "pushed into a corner over this" and "actually fought pretty hard for you." Who is the enemy, little birdy? Someone over at the 855 building? Nod.
KANEDA!!!. That, KANEDA!!!.
Apparently, she disliked me so much after that meeting, that she applied pressure all the way down to my supervisor to "dig up stuff" in order to get rid of me. She may not have actually disliked me that much at the time considering it was nearly four months ago, but I imagine it came to quite a shock for her that I was A) still here, B) up for formal hiring, and C) actually doing my job. My supervisor was sick with worry today because she believes - either because of the manager meeting or because I am staying or both - that I have enough of a case to file a grievance against her over the evaluation. Unnamed sources have corroborated this account, which was amusing considering I had not thought of filing a grievance until they told me my supervisor was worried about one. On the one hand, if my supervisor gave me that fucked up evaluation out of pressure from KANEDA!!!, then I have no hard feelings about said supervisor. On the other hand, pressure or no, that evaluation was fucked up. In fact, I also found out today from HR that the evaluation itself would be a factor in any future employment with The Job positions that are related or otherwise similar to the one I have currently. That is to say, if I don't pass the extended probation or otherwise bow out, I will essentially be blacklisted because of the evaluation. Which is a matter of public record, by the way, and could haunt me for quite some time if future employers were so inclined.
The irony in all this, is I have never felt so... rekindled about the position than I do right now. If KANEDA!!! wants me out, then I want in. This is not some kind of isolated incident either: KANEDA!!! hates the Crystal Method, and the feeling is mutual the other way, not to mention the power-plays amongst the other managers. I even get the feeling that the Union hates KANEDA!!!, considering they told me how much they have been fighting the whole Task Log deal and making everyone's employment revolve around quotas and numbers, which were purely KANEDA!!!'s invention.
Although it has been somewhat dwarfed by the present drama, I do want to state that, for the record, I had came to the decision to stay at the job and accept the extended probation BEFORE all this shit hit the fan. It's a posh job when you compare it to what 90% of everyone else is doing, and all of the stress is completely manufactured when you get right down to it. The drama is complete bonus, as it tends to be when you finally pop over the wave before it crests and crashes into the shore.
"At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid."
-Friedrich Nietzsche