untouchable managers

Rosemary is back home being a stay-at-home mom after six months of working in a high pressure, high stress job with a manager who pushed her around like she was a bit of dirt and she's so upset by the experience that right now she's not sure how long her 'between jobs' period is going to be.

"I suppose that manager treated me badly because he thought that with my qualifications I would be coveting his job one day," says Rosemary, "and I suppose I was - that's natural - but when I couldn’t bear it any more, I was in a dilemma about the correct protocol for resigning."

"We all know what the employment gurus advise about resigning," laughs Rosemary, "but all that crap about a desire to expand one's horizons and regret about leaving such a wonderful job with wonderful managers and co-workers - is absolutely and totally anathema to me."

"Because of this admonition to tell lies and protect future career prospects," says Rosemary, "nobody will ever know the truth about why people quit jobs and nothing will ever get done about removing the problems that cause resignations."

"Why are these lies perpetrated? asks Rosemary. "Why is it not okay to tell the truth?"

Rosemary makes the point that when relationships come to an end, it is very rare that two people have anything good to say about each other and that is perfectly acceptable.

"If the two people still liked each other, they would not be splitting up, would they?" asks Rosemary. "So why is it unacceptable, for instance, to resign a job on account of 'irreconcilable differences' with one's boss or co-worker?"

Rosemary feels that irreconcilable differences is a wonderful explanation for job quitting, expressing a perfectly understandable human condition, without getting down and dirty about the specifics.

"The employment gurus say that you will be branded as someone unfit for teamwork - and will not find another job easily - if you even hinted that you had an interpersonal problem at your last job," says Rosemary, "but I reject this."

"I cannot believe that employers and their HR departments are so naive that they do not understand that just about everybody resigns a job because of some interpersonal problem."

"If it is not the main reason," says Rosemary, "then it is definitely a very close secondary reason."

"Basically," says Rosemary, "jobs are relationships. Forget about the product, the pay, the building and other window dressing. It is the people you will be working for, and with, that make or break a job. And, it is far more apparent now than it ever was because of the increasingly competitive job market."

"These days," says Rosemary, "both staff and management work in team structures and individuality is no longer a prized characteristic. With shared tasks and sometimes being within elbow's reach of adjacent co-workers, we must bury all that primitive individualism that once separated us from the apes."

Very few people are naturally and overwhelmingly 'people' persons - team players - and Rosemary is one lady who knows only too well that it is a very thin veneer of civility that we affect in order to get through the day at work.

Eventually that veneer cracks.

"Most people are smart enough to keep their cool and plan their resignation," says Rosemary, "but it is not always possible to find a new job before an explosion occurs."

Rosemary agrees that married women like herself, with a working husband, are greatly advantaged in being able to quit lousy jobs while they are ahead and still in control of their faculties.

"I have single friends, especially single working mothers," says Rosemary, "who are badly disadvantaged in the workplace because employers and co-workers know that they can't quit jobs easily."

"Some people get a real kick out of making life hell for the poor single mothers," says Rosemary, "and when workplace scenes do occur it is often some poor single woman breaking under the strain."

"There was a single mother who ended up in hospital in her first week at my old workplace because she was too stressed by one of the stinking managers to attend to a medical problem," says Rosemary, "and when she returned to work he continued to harass her - because he knew how desperately she needed the job."

Rosemary admits that she has never yet come across a person who did not resign a job under suspicious circumstances.

"If honesty were a prized characteristic in the workplace," says Rosemary, "then irreconcilable differences would become as common and acceptable in resignation matters as it is in divorce and there would be no more suspicious circumstances."

"The reason for resignation is a stock interview question for both parties," says Rosemary, "and it’s about time it was dropped. Pick up most interview preparation books and the guru will tell you to rehearse the following silly scene:

'Why did you resign your last job?' asks the Interviewer.

You dutifully reply: 'I needed to broaden my horizons.'

Then you ask: 'Why did the person resign this job I'm applying for?'

The Interviewer dutifully replies: 'Ms Smith needed to broaden her horizons.'

It is an utterly ridiculous question for both parties to ask and someone has to stop this madness."

"When interviewers say that the previous person resigned because she wanted to work overseas, or spend more time at home, or broaden her horizons," claims Rosemary, "the truth is that very few people quit a job for the reasons they state."

"Some people may actually go overseas on an extended holiday to justify giving 'working overseas' as an excuse to quit a job," says Rosemary, "but I know from asking around that everyone’s main reason for quitting a job - not the only one - is that they were being harassed by a manager or co-worker."

"Enough of these lies!" screams Rosemary.

"Does it not occur to management that one bad apple - even within its own management team - is often the cause of many good workers quitting?

"If a three-strikes-you-are-out policy were adopted in workplaces - for both management and staff - then these bad apples can be removed legally from their jobs."

"When staff members do not tell the truth about why they are quitting, these bad apples are given carte blanche to continue their bad behavior," says Rosemary. "They thrive and bask in our lies to the point where they may actually believe that they are 'wonderful' managers and co-workers."

"I refused to perpetuate this madness," says Rosemary. "My resignation letter stated 'irreconcilable differences' and if my next employer doesn't accept that reason as being good enough then I'll find one who does."

"As you can tell," sighs Rosemary, "I'm very upset by my experiences in that job and I'm going to need as much time as necessary to recover from it. I can't apply for another job when I'm so stressed out, so it looks like my time 'between jobs' is going to be weeks if not months and that means money lost and this makes me angrier than ever because that jerk of a manager is still raking in his dough."

pressured to perform

Rita is 43 and has a husband earning a six-figure salary but claims that it does not make life any easier for her when she is under constant pressure to perform at work.

"We are working people with bills to pay, just like everyone else," says Rita. and I'm working because I have children to educate, not because I love my job."

Actually, Rita is beginning to hate her job.

She was recently given an ultimatum to meet a quota or lose her job.

"This ultimatum has put me under a great deal of pressure," says Rita. "but I appreciate that it's happening to more and more sales staff these days."

Rita says that to take this type of ultimatum personally -- as a reflection of our worth, or as an act of discrimination, rather than as an economic reality reflecting the current cut-throat competitive market -- only makes the situation worse.

"If we were no good, they would have fired us outright," explains Rita.

However, having the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads puts Rita and her sales crew in an emotionally charged situation that is likely to affect their ability to meet any sort of quota - and this could lead to their being unfairly discriminated against.

"It is additional pressure in an already highly pressured job," says Rita, "and with all the traumas involved in raising children and having a husband who really doesn't want me to work, my life has become very messy."

She appreciates that in order to remain in business companies have to sell sufficient numbers of a product or service to meet costs.

"Looking at the competitive global economy, management would have to be a bunch of nitwits in order to fail to understand that sales are down primarily because competition from China is tough," says Rita, "and not because the sales staff is performing badly."

Rita and the sales crew feel that because the product they’re selling is hard to sell at the best of times, their company would do better to start diversifying rather than holding out and making life tougher for everyone by adopting a fire and retain policy according to performance.

"Because Annie and Olivia have always performed under par, they were fired outright," says Rita. "Myself and Carrie were put on warning because we have always just met quotas. Joe and Bill have always exceeded quotas, and were retained."

By firing Annie and Olivia the company cut costs, but this put a lot of extra pressure on the remaining sales staff.

Rita and Carrie were put on warning with words to the effect that if sales don't improve, their jobs are next to go; and things were not looking much better for Joe and Bill either.

"In these circumstances," laughs Rita, "Annie and Olivia were the lucky ones!"

Rita appreciates that the company is not in business to provide jobs for her or anyone else. It is in business to sell a product and if nobody is buying then jobs have to be sacrificed.

"This sort of lay-off is not an underhanded way of boosting profits," says Rita, "and as hard as it was to farewell Annie and Olivia nobody blames the company for doing what it has to do."

"What does constitute unreasonableness in this situation," says Rita, "is an expectation by management that sales quotas remain unchanged. With strong competition from China even the top performers are not going to meet the old quotas. So, if the quota does not change to reflect the times then it would appear that management is slave driving us for no good reason."

Rather than working her guts out trying to meet an impossible quota and being fired unfairly down the line as an incompetent saleswoman, Rita might well decide to quit while she is ahead and take her chances elsewhere - or maybe just stay home and be a housewife for a while.

Obviously, if the product is hard to sell in good times then in tough times it is going to be even tougher to flog the stuff.

"Rather than maximizing profits, I feel that management should aim to break even by setting a minimum sales quota," says Rita. "It would be appropriate, too, for management to take a salary cut. If Annie and Olivia had to be fired then it does not look good if management hangs on to its fat cat status. In tough times everyone buckles up, and if management is sincere then it will make sacrifices, too, but it doesn't look like that's the case."

Rita is doing some serious thinking. Her job is on the line. All of the remaining sales crew are critically analyzing the product they are selling and asking themselves whether their heart and soul is in it.

Do they believe in the product? Would they buy it themselves? Would they recommend it to their mother? Is it something people need?

They are also critically analyzing the company they are working for. Is it a good company? Does it pay well? Does it look after its employees? Is it well managed? Has it been in business long? Is it able to diversify?

Then there's the new quota. Is it one that they can reasonably achieve in the current economic situation? If they tried just a little bit harder could they actually make the numbers? Is there a market they have not yet explored? Can they do it? Do they want to do it?

And finally they are critically examining the economic situation and world affairs - short-term and long-term - paying particular attention to what jobs are available and are likely to remain in demand. Do they have the skills to do them, or can they easily gain such skills?

Depending upon the analysis, Rita should have a very clear feeling about what she needs to do.

"If I need to move on," explains Rita, "then it's better to do it early before the stress and strain of meeting impossible expectations wears me down."

Women like Rita, who have a lot of pressure and responsibilities at home, just can’t cope with increasing pressure at work and they may very well resign their jobs on this account only.

Being told to meet a quota or lose your job is, in itself, a pressure that few people can tolerate.

The option to quit, of course, is a luxury that married women can exert more easily than a single woman - especially a single working mother.

"In that respect," laughs Rita, "I suppose I am very lucky."