YOU are NOT my supervisor!

[daisyslegs]

This morning was horrible! I have ranted about the situation before that our supposed IT person, who is actually just in charge of the shop, shutting off all Java and active X features in our computers because in 16 years, 1- count it 1! computer got a virus. Talk about cutting the arm off because the thumb has a splinter!

I was told I was getting a new computer. YAY! Mine was sooooo sloooooowww, I looked forward to it! They installed it last Friday evening.

I entered work today to come face to face with the shop guy playing part time IT telling me that I had activated java on my old computer and if it happens again I WILL be suspended.

Excuse me??????? No, I did NOT reactivate ANYTHING on my old computer and YOU Sir, have no place threatening me!

I was so pissed off I had to take it to my boss and explain how inappropriate it was. I even told him I have no idea what I did to piss this guy off, but he seems to have it out for me. Every single thing i have to do that will involve this guy ends up being an issue. He puts up road blocks every time I make a move. He has acted childish and petulant every time I am involved. He winds up looking foolish, but this is costing me and my customers time and money.

My boss laughed about it and said he "believes it will resolve it's self".

What is that suppose to mean? the boss is going away for 6 weeks due to a pre planned surgery. OMG! Don't go! The jackass will run rampant! It becomes a kindergarten when he is gone!

I love what I do, it's very specialized. I cannot look for another job in the field since it is such a small field and non compete agreements....

How do I deal with this idiot?

[Latiam]

Originally Posted by daisyslegs

I was so pissed off I had to take it to my boss and explain how inappropriate it was. I even told him I have no idea what I did to piss this guy off, but he seems to have it out for me. Every single thing i have to do that will involve this guy ends up being an issue. He puts up road blocks every time I make a move. He has acted childish and petulant every time I am involved. He winds up looking foolish, but this is costing me and my customers time and money.

My boss laughed about it and said he "believes it will resolve it's self".

What is that suppose to mean? the boss is going away for 6 weeks due to a pre planned surgery. OMG! Don't go! The jackass will run rampant! It becomes a kindergarten when he is gone!

I'm pretty sure it means one of two things:
1) The guy is going to get fired
2) The guy is going to run rampant, making an ass of himself, and get fired.
It could also mean
3) The slackwit is getting transferred somewhere else
What he said is executive speak for "I don't have to do anything more."

Of course it could also mean those things for YOU, but I thinks that's highly unlikely.

[woohmom]

Gotta agree. That's the response I want when I make a complaint.

[Plurabelle]

Is he an IT guy or playing one? How would he even know you activated Java on your old computer, or what consequences it may or may not have?

From your boss's comments, sounds like he's being penned up in one way or another--not sure of the circumstances of your job, but right after the big financial downturn, in my office there were a couple of guys who had accepted that they were about to be fired (at will employment, professional businessmen, crappy performers) who spent their remaining days in the office slagging off on the rest of us. Funnily most of us are still here and working out great thanks.

What department is this guy in and how vital is he to you? It sounds like you rely on him a good amount due to the number of your interactions but just in case your boss' reassurance doesn't pan out, it helps to have a plan for dealing with individuals like this. I've been in the position as a manager where I've been promised by a peer manager that a roadblock employee was going to be spoken to, reassigned, let go, etc, and had it not pan out at all so a plan B is a good idea.

What does this jerk really do? Who is his supervisor versus yours? IME, sales (you work in sales, yes?) complaining of lack of support from other departments gets attention quickly. If it does not, it's pretty easy to make a case, given the economic climate. Perhaps it's even possible that your employer simply doesn't realize the necessity of enabling certain web controls? We had our own software blocked for a bit before we could get the point through to IT & PTB that our web-based app requires flash...for all users, including the operators.

[Just Jocko]

I also agree that your boss's comment sounds to me like the "IT" guy isn't going to be a concern much longer. I'm guessing his behavior has been duly noted (and you're probably not the only person he's been pissy with) and management is prepared to deal with it. Either he's going to get fired or it's known that he's job-hunting and going to leave on his own.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by Latiam

I'm pretty sure it means one of two things:
1) The guy is going to get fired
2) The guy is going to run rampant, making an ass of himself, and get fired.
It could also mean
3) The slackwit is getting transferred somewhere else
What he said is executive speak for "I don't have to do anything more."

Which is exactly what I thought. Execuspeak for "he's outta here."

[BoKu]

Originally Posted by Just Jocko

...or it's known that he's job-hunting and going to leave on his own.

Yeah, like Mordac is looking for help these days...

[daisyslegs]

I'm a little bit more stuck with him than it sounds. My boss and his wife own the company. Wife's daughter is in sales with me, being groomed to eventually take over the company. This guy I am ranting about is her fiance. They are getting married in December. He runs the shop. He is NOT the actual IT person, but has been playing one. He tells our new IT team what he wants, I.E. limited abilities because he is sure that is what caused a virus.

Tell ya truth, I know as much about computers as he does. Enough to be dangerous.

Sadly, not EVERYONE in the company has had their computers disabled. I'm sure you can gather what that means.

And no, strangely enough in this economy, we are expanding! I suppose there is a slight chance he may be moved to as new facility when it opens up, but that day is still many many months away if it does actually happen.

*sigh* I HATE Nepotism!!!!

[snapdragonfly]

I have issues with nepotism too - actually Mr. SDF does, but that means I do too, cause I have to listen to it. I don't think I can go into it on a public board but I wish I could!! It's frustrating.

[daisyslegs]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

I have issues with nepotism too - actually Mr. SDF does, but that means I do too, cause I have to listen to it. I don't think I can go into it on a public board but I wish I could!! It's frustrating.

Name no names, name no company. I'm probably saying more on a public board than I should anyway. Frustrating is the word, but not the only one! The main boss (wife) also hired her niece to be her admin assistant. We're all really unclear as to what this girl does other than some paper work, being out sick and wedding planning....

The last two mornings have involved family members chatting away about what they made for dinner, clothes, pets, mutual friends and family for a couple of hours. Both in front of other staff and behind closed doors. We can only hope the behind closed doors "conferences" are something productive.

[Christie]

Originally Posted by snapdragonfly

I have issues with nepotism too - actually Mr. SDF does, but that means I do too, cause I have to listen to it. I don't think I can go into it on a public board but I wish I could!! It's frustrating.

I'm not sure I agree that it really is nepotism in a family owned business when family members are hired. If I own a bookstore (as an example) why shouldn't I hire my husband, son, daughter etc if I want to? To me nepotism is more if I'm the manager of BigBoxBookstore and proceed to hire my family and friends. The latter, usually, is not allowed and for good reason. The former though, well, why shouldn't a small business owner get to hire his/her own family? Especially if said family members will one day inherit the business.

[Salamander]

Originally Posted by daisyslegs

I'm a little bit more stuck with him than it sounds. My boss and his wife own the company. Wife's daughter is in sales with me, being groomed to eventually take over the company. This guy I am ranting about is her fiance. They are getting married in December. He runs the shop. He is NOT the actual IT person, but has been playing one. He tells our new IT team what he wants, I.E. limited abilities because he is sure that is what caused a virus.

Tell ya truth, I know as much about computers as he does. Enough to be dangerous.

Sadly, not EVERYONE in the company has had their computers disabled. I'm sure you can gather what that means.

And no, strangely enough in this economy, we are expanding! I suppose there is a slight chance he may be moved to as new facility when it opens up, but that day is still many many months away if it does actually happen.

*sigh* I HATE Nepotism!!!!

If you're expanding then it could also mean they're going to get a real IT person.

Oh... and don't give up on the idea of the owner ditching the bf/gf or fiance of their child from the business. I saw it happen at two different stores I worked at while I was in retail.

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by Christie

why shouldn't a small business owner get to hire his/her own family? Especially if said family members will one day inherit the business.

There's a fine line there. It's one thing to hire family members for your own business, but if you're going to hire any non-family members then you better make sure the rules are the same for everyone. In Daisyslegs' case, if the boss refuses to do anything about the roadblock employee (or "resolves" it by getting rid of Daisyslegs), that's clearly nepotism.

Frankly this sort of stuff is why I won't work for family run businesses anymore.
There's always a relative around who does nothing.

-RB

[kitap]

Originally Posted by Christie

I'm not sure I agree that it really is nepotism in a family owned business when family members are hired. If I own a bookstore (as an example) why shouldn't I hire my husband, son, daughter etc if I want to? To me nepotism is more if I'm the manager of BigBoxBookstore and proceed to hire my family and friends. The latter, usually, is not allowed and for good reason. The former though, well, why shouldn't a small business owner get to hire his/her own family? Especially if said family members will one day inherit the business.

I worked for a family run (several families owned it, to be honest) business, and one family got one of their children a job and said "we got it for you. Whether you keep it or not is up to you; we're not coddling you. If you want days and holidays off, you go through your boss. If your boss fires you, you're not getting the job back. " Another family got their kid a job but coddled the kid; she would rarely show up weekends due to her drinking sprees, for example, and never got talked to or anything. No surprises who turned out to be the superior worker.

The first kind of nepotism is fine. The second? Not so much.

[daisyslegs]

This morning he told me I had been fired, didn't I get the memo? Jeeeeeeese! Talk about hiding your personal feelings.

The thing that is getting me most right now is the roadblock situation - and I am not the only person getting treated this way- ONE other person and it is the only other sales person besides his fiance and I. Things that have been done the same way with excellent results for the past 3 years gets kicked back saying they want changes because of "this" or "that". Um.... no, I want the same thing this 1/2 million dollar customer has been ordering for the last 3 years! And he says NO. He wants changes to the prints or the part numbers.

I sure hope I don't sound paranoid, I know dang well what is going on, and our support staff (the order processor and shipping dept) see it too, but he has run tyrant all over them too. *sigh* There is no law against a bully in the work place.

Talk about making a great job uncomfortable. Now we sit there with each other going over orders just *looking* for SOMETHING he can try to nit pick out to refuse the order.

I had a 15K order sitting in limbo for over 18 working days because he could "not find time" to deal with it. Rather hard to swallow when other orders were pumped out in the standard 5 day for drawings and 5 day manufacturing. It will be a total of 26 days before it ships if he does not find something else to nit pick apart, he has found 2 details not of my order, but reason to delay... My Customer is having a COW! Considering it is for parts we have been making for about 8 years...... this type of nonsense is VERY hard to swallow when the boss is breathing down your neck demanding orders orders orders! And with the economy like it is and people not buying that much.....

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!

[rhiandmoi]

I would have a private meeting with your actual boss, and find a way to not involve this weirdo in any of your orders. Get all your sign-offs from your actual boss or something, just work around this guy.

[Menolly]

Rhi, her boss is out--will be out for another five weeks or so. Pre-planned surgery. Daisylegs, is this right? Your boss is already out for his surgery?

My words of wisdom are to document everything that has been causing a delay, causing bad business relationships between the company and your clients. People seem to listen better to things that affect the bottom line, and the income, of a business.

Sadly, I don't know who you could turn to to get any help while your boss is out.

[vanilla]

Originally Posted by rhiandmoi

I would have a private meeting with your actual boss, and find a way to not involve this weirdo in any of your orders. Get all your sign-offs from your actual boss or something, just work around this guy.

Agreed. You are working in a difficult position where IT guy is semi-part of the family that pays you, but his tactics need to be shown to the people who actually need the business to thrive. Right now, he is hampering your abilty to do your job, is irritating clients, and in short, if allowed to continue acting like this, will start costing the firm business.

When you are stuck between doing your job and being hampered by someone (X) who has your boss' ear, you can't just barge into the boss' office and caterwail about how horrible X is. You need to tread carefully and make sure you have supporting documentation to support your claim of unfair treatment or of sabotage. In your case, I would start out by talking to your boss about the "you're fired joke" and how you didn't find it funny, but rather you feel that you are being set up for failure and here is why: you have a client that has been waiting for parts for 26 days when your lead time has always been five days and there is no reason for this order to be sitting on hold. The fact that this is not the only order being slowed down and then show bossman how your orders have been entered on time and then were slowed down in processing or wherever IT is on the chain. Be apologetic - perhaps there have been some changes to the order process you have not been made aware of and what can you do to make sure you are no longer left out of the loop. Try to keep X's name out of the conversation as much as possible (except for the "you're fired" reference) so that you do not come across as finger-pointing which will cause your entire argument to fall on deaf ears. If X is truly sabotaging you, his acts will become glaring errors to your boss without you having to point them out.

Right now you need to make a stand for your job before X gets his fingers in the boss' ear and gets you fired for incompetancy and losing clients when the real person to blame for those losses is X. From your post, it appears to me that X wants to get rid of those he dislikes and your only way to ensure that doesn't happen is to make sure boss knows that you are doing your job as well as you can and that any losses are not caused by your end.

Good luck. It is a very hard place to be in (I've been there in my own way) and an even harder one to try an navigate and still be happy and comfortable in your job afterwards.

ETA: If bossman is out of the office, then document, document, document. Make copies of all orders you have filed (new ones as well) and the shipping receipts (if possible) to show that your part of the job was completed timely. Also, keep copies of X's reasons why things could not be shipped timely and how they go against how orders have been processed in the past (ie before bossman went to surgery).

[daisyslegs]

yes, the boss is out of commission for awhile due to a pre-planned surgery. I'm covering my rear constantly - at LOT more extreme than usual, (I'm very detailed) and it seems that others - including the boss know what is going on. I just wonder about his comment "believes it will resolve it's self".

Please please please please resolve! And yes, I document everything! I have to; it's part of my job. I love my job, I really do. I hate this stupid nonsense. Yes, the guy has helped a TON, but now his help is NOT help, it's petty BS for some reason I cannot divine. I wouldn't mind making peace and growing the company together - he just doesn't want to. he prefers to look like a fool and cause unnecessary problems, delays, issues, total BS.

The order entry person, shipping and other sales person are all of the mind that we are competition to his fiance. I don't figure that as she is family, therefore, even though we have all been there longer than her, SHE is the one set to be the "big boss" due to birth unless she totally flakes out. Then who knows. no one has tried to make her look bad, I just don't get it.

[Just Jocko]

daisylegs, it's time to do more than merely keep documentation for your own files, it's time to be proactive. Start sending him emails about the delays he's causing, copying the higher-ups (whoever is covering for your boss or one step higher than your boss, since your boss is out)? Start out innocuously, "innocently" asking why the order is being delayed, as it's been longer than the standard time for this customer, this order has been placed before and the customer wants to know why there's this long of a delay this time. If he answers you via email with a BS answer, then call him on his BS in another email, and so on and so forth. If he comes to you in person (or by phone) with an answer, then send him another email (again copying the higher-ups) summarizing what he told you, with an "have I got this right" question at the end. Keep doing this until the order is processed and sent out. And keep doing it with every single order that he tries to delay for any reason (even if it's a legitimate one). Keep copies of all emails with the order, so that you can instantly refer to it if needed.

The basic idea is that you will only communicate with him via email and will summarize all conversations in an email, which forces him to acknowledge in writing his BS answers and answer to someone higher on the food chain. It gives the higher ups the ammo they need to fire him, if that's their intention. It also serves the purpose of covering your arse if he (or anyone else) tries to pin the delays on you.