Would you fire someone who made your uncomfortable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sympathize, OP. I used to be an admin for a Type A personality (I'm definitely Type B). I am not lazy and always got things done. BUT, boss was a SUPER micromanager and would frequently email me and then come out of his office to ask if I'd received the email. Very frustrating.

In the end, it was demoralizing and I left the job. Type A bosses are the WORSE if you aren't programmed similarly.

This is OP.

Some of the way I have been treated due to minute and petty issues is insane. I have met all deadlines and met all their project requirements. However, I don't do things THEIR way. If I don't respond to an email in 30 minutes, I am in trouble. If I say, "Let me finish x and then I will start y" I am in trouble.

Its awful. Now my boss is building a file with copies of invoices I have paid 3 days after receiving them versus within 24 hours that she demands, etc.

If you aren't paying invoices within their timelines, you aren't meeting deadlines. If you are told to complete y immediately and say you won't until you're done with x, then you aren't meeting deadlines OR requirements. Do your job and do it the way you are told or get a new one. Seriously.

[Anonymous]

Doing it THEIR way IS your job. You sound extremely self centered and self righteous. You will have a hard time fitting in with any employer with that attitude. You get PAID to do exactly what your bosses tell you.

[Anonymous]

I would find a new job asap. Right or wrong, you have made a very bad impression on your boss, and you should leave before you get fired, so that you have a chance a getting a good recommendation from your company, instead of a bad one.

[Anonymous]

Are you the OP of the thread that got the PIP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes but it's illegal.

??? How? Firing because of race, sex, disability, etc is illegal. Type B personality is not a protected class. For an at will employee, you can fire for a good reason, bad reason or no reason-- just not an illegal reason (so said my long ago employment law professor). There is no reason to believe OP is not at will. So she can be fired because she drinks morning tea, and the boss wants coffee drinkers only. Or any other BS reason. (And not meeting the boss's expectations is not a BS reason).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes but it's illegal.

??? How? Firing because of race, sex, disability, etc is illegal. Type B personality is not a protected class. For an at will employee, you can fire for a good reason, bad reason or no reason-- just not an illegal reason (so said my long ago employment law professor). There is no reason to believe OP is not at will. So she can be fired because she drinks morning tea, and the boss wants coffee drinkers only. Or any other BS reason. (And not meeting the boss's expectations is not a BS reason).

I'm an attorney who handles a lot of employment matters. You can absolutely fire someone whose working style makes you uncomfortable. You cannot fire someone because their race, gender, disability, religion, etc. makes you uncomfortable. Terminating because an employee is not performing the way you want to her to is perfectly acceptable from a legal standpoint.

[Anonymous]

This isn't the job for you. Not all bosses are the same, I'm sure you can find one where there is a better fit, for both of you.

[Anonymous]

I think some of you need to cut the OP some slack. I agree that if OP is not meeting stated deadlines and requirements, then OP is the problem. However, the issue (though admittedly it's difficult to tell from the scant information provided) may be that OP has a micromanager who insists on the OP do his/her work a certain way. Every single employee in the world is going to have his/her own work style. Some of us prefer phone, some of us prefer email. Some of us work four straight hours on a project; others prefer to work two hours on one project, then switch to another for awhile, then return to the first project with a fresh eye. Some of us are fine eating lunch at our desk every day; some of us need to get some fresh air and sunlight on their lunch break to most productive in the afternoon. If you are meeting deadlines and doing good work, it should be your business how you get work done. Managers who insist that you do what they want you to do every minute of the day are awful to work for. They sap morale and productivity (because they inetrrupt constantly to find out if you've done X yet - when the deadline to finish X is in two weeks) and create anxiety and resentment.

I don't know whether that's the situation here or not, but if it is, then OP has a legitimate problem. The only solution may be finding a boss who gives their supervisees some breathing room and trusts them to achieve their work targets according to their own work style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some of you need to cut the OP some slack. I agree that if OP is not meeting stated deadlines and requirements, then OP is the problem. However, the issue (though admittedly it's difficult to tell from the scant information provided) may be that OP has a micromanager who insists on the OP do his/her work a certain way. Every single employee in the world is going to have his/her own work style. Some of us prefer phone, some of us prefer email. Some of us work four straight hours on a project; others prefer to work two hours on one project, then switch to another for awhile, then return to the first project with a fresh eye. Some of us are fine eating lunch at our desk every day; some of us need to get some fresh air and sunlight on their lunch break to most productive in the afternoon. If you are meeting deadlines and doing good work, it should be your business how you get work done. Managers who insist that you do what they want you to do every minute of the day are awful to work for. They sap morale and productivity (because they inetrrupt constantly to find out if you've done X yet - when the deadline to finish X is in two weeks) and create anxiety and resentment.

I don't know whether that's the situation here or not, but if it is, then OP has a legitimate problem. The only solution may be finding a boss who gives their supervisees some breathing room and trusts them to achieve their work targets according to their own work style.

After the OP's follow up, I can understand why she's annoyed, but I still disagree that this is her boss's problem. If the OP knows that her boss expects her to pay invoices within 24 hours of receiving them, then the obvious solution is just to pay them within 24 hours. My boss and I have an understanding about his travel expenses and client invoices that they will be sorted out within 2 weeks of him returning from the trip or us receiving the invoice - or within the current billing cycle, whichever is shorter. I agree that if the work is getting done, that is the main priority, but it sounds like the OP's boss does not believe that the work is being done as instructed or expected. Presumably people like the OP (and me, for that matter) were hired so that our bosses did not have to be concerned about payment of vendor invoices and reimbursement of travel expenses. If the way that the OP (or I) am doing those things is causing her boss (or mine) to spend time being concerned about those things, what is the point of hiring someone?

In any case, this is clearly a situation where the OP should find a workplace more suited to her style, but I don't think that her boss is wrong for expecting an employee to conform to supervisor's standards, particularly if those standards have been communicated already.

[Anonymous]

This is insubordination. Either get it together or find a new job.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am trying to get someone like you fired, for all the reasons you stated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sympathize, OP. I used to be an admin for a Type A personality (I'm definitely Type B). I am not lazy and always got things done. BUT, boss was a SUPER micromanager and would frequently email me and then come out of his office to ask if I'd received the email. Very frustrating.

In the end, it was demoralizing and I left the job. Type A bosses are the WORSE if you aren't programmed similarly.

it's frustrating to send someone an email and have no idea if they're working on it. when i get an email from someone with an assignment or request, I respond so they know that I've got the email and am working on it. i expect the same.

[Anonymous]

I am dealing with a "type B" employee and she is driving me nuts. She gets the work done, but does just enough to get by and procrastinates on every project causing the rest of the team to react in crisis mode.

I probably won't fire her since she usually meets deadlines. But I will never promote her. She has been given numerous opportunities to improve. I've provided coaching and training. The truth is, you can't coach lazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sympathize, OP. I used to be an admin for a Type A personality (I'm definitely Type B). I am not lazy and always got things done. BUT, boss was a SUPER micromanager and would frequently email me and then come out of his office to ask if I'd received the email. Very frustrating.

In the end, it was demoralizing and I left the job. Type A bosses are the WORSE if you aren't programmed similarly.

it's frustrating to send someone an email and have no idea if they're working on it. when i get an email from someone with an assignment or request, I respond so they know that I've got the email and am working on it. i expect the same.

I hope you've expressed that expectation to others. I think it a very reasonable one and it's how I personally operate, but not everyone works the same way so not everyone will do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you fire someone whose work ethic or style or working made you uncomfortable? Say you're a super organized type A performer. You have an employee who is a type B performer. Her way of working has been going fine but you are so nervous she will miss something.

I feel like this is why my boss is trying to fire me.

If this is truly the ONLY issue then No I would not fire you. If I did, then I as your boss need to learn how to be more resilient and understand that the world and the work place operate most efficiently when there is balance. Yin and Yang. Without it, creativity would be lost. There are many roads that lead to Rome, hers/his is just one of them and yours is another.

Also OP, if you have any kind of decent HR department they should step in as well. It would be hard for your boss to actually fire you for this reason. If she did, I'd sue!