(no subject)

[vicarz]

I just got my 4th email about my travel voucher error. I'm thrilled that in this time of fiscal crisis for the Agency, that this GS-15 can make it her nit-picking mission to spend more than a day on a travel voucher. 2 14s and a 15 all get to juggle one travel voucher. During the same time, a tenuous settlement agreement was delayed over a day.

I could, should, shrug it all off. I'm being picked on and I don't know why. Well, I know some of the reasons. This is an uneducated secretary who is a master of detecting typos, clerical errors, page margins that don't fit the style manual, and the like. She's not dumb or lazy, but I'm amazed that after working her way up from mail clerk that she hasn't reprioritized at some point. I understand that I'm stuck in the middle of a couple of wars: Labor Relations had their ability to conduct hearings taken away and given to the Hearings and Appeals Branch, and they want it back. The Director is unable to find fault with my educated boss, and she actively attacks everyone in her span of control that has a degree (she must have a chart somewhere). I also have a degree, which is bad, but her real mission is to find clerical errors in his work since we keep winning cases and showing the faults of other parts of her division.

But I'm tired. I don't know why, but I can't shrug off the picking. I can't not take it personally. I think she should be follwed and stabbed. I'm turning in applications for other jobs. I came to this job because of an uneducated woman who did the same thing. It's weird, you're never in trouble, never written up for conduct, never affecting your rating...but you constantly get this pick, pick, pick...henpecking. You can't strike back, just block, defend, block, defend, all day every day. You wind up spending more time defending, documenting, and sorting emails to fend off attacks than doing your job. You are never rewarded for being right or doing good for the Agency, there is never an apology when their attack is misdirected or simply inappropriate. It's a constant battle to find something wrong, and if you prove them wrong...it's just time for them to rally their forces on something new. Is it something I'm doing that I found 2 people like this? Maybe I'm making them this way? Maybe nitpicking insecure people wind up in charge? Why not a confident intelligent person who can prioritize?

I have noticed that arrogant but insecure people surround themselves with incompetent underlings. It makes the head cheese feel secure, and they always look good on their island as being less incompetent than their gaggle. I wonder why other leaders don't notice that they keep selecting twits.

Comments

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

This is an uneducated secretary who is a master of detecting typos, clerical errors, page margins that don't fit the style manual, and the like. She's not dumb or lazy, but I'm amazed that after working her way up from mail clerk that she hasn't reprioritized at some point.

what's it called? The Peter Principle? LOL:

http://www.answers.com/topic/peter-principle

Peter Principle

Theory that people rise in their career in every hierarchy to the level of their own incompetence; based on the book The Peter Principle and Why Things Always Go Wrong by Lawrence J. Peter. Work in organizations is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.

[I don't know if this was in the book, but a federal gov't further elaborated with the following: "the peter principle is when people get promoted to the highest level of incompetency and then are encouraged to apply for higher-level jobs in other departments so that the first dep doesn't have to deal with them anymore"]

i.e, befriend these folks and give them info on better-paying jobs...

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Problem is she isn't incompetent per se. She "gets" the work, it's just her personal problems seem to be a handicap. She has driven off every secretary since I've been here - about 7 now in 4 years. Her boss' secretary helped out for a while, and specifically requested never to have to work with her again. However, the AA likes her for some reason - rumor is he likes white women in particular. He does seem to ahve ties with a bunch of them, all uneducated. So is he incompetent? I can say he's an autocrat and abusive, but I don't know much about his technical skill.

I should buy more lottery tickets.

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

my bad. I thought the admins were GS13s (i have a verrrry low opinion of the federal gov't, but i know that many of the AO's at NIH are GS13s. Granted, they help run entire institutes and i don't know your institute's hiearchy/organization)

our admin is great with my boss and he's black. He's not a Yessir, though; he's a bit of a smartass who knows the women in every department of the uni. Actually, you'd probably think he was quite the lady's man. I know he's dating another admin here.

after learning my own computer crap and hr-related stuff, i can empathize with you. We don't even have someone to do webwork and it's embarrassing; after the last email criticizing my lead times, i've lowered my standards and I refuse to learn webwork. i'm not working OT here... the money's not good enough.

can you request a meeting with her and explain your concerns? if you're getting kickbacks on the forms, there has to be some standardized way of learning how to complete them?!

i ask people to call me when they're completing forms. I much prefer that method. It's fun walking people through forms. Actually, my friend is a beaurocrat, too. He's going to come see me personally one of these lunches to help me with my retirement bullshit. I can't seem to fill out the correct form and HR won't help anymore ("we never carried that form" -- argh, i can't stand our HR woman). Apparently investment firms will hold onto your assets for as long as possible unless you know exactly who to call and what to say? I've received a bounce-back form and three phone calls later, I'm still waiting for someone to get back to me! So, my friend the financial planner will help out.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

The forms are just clerical work - it's a waste that I'm asked to do them at all. I made an error, and put the travel fee in "misc" instead of "air fare." You have to understand it's not about getting it filled out right - it's about finding fault. They're doing this to many people across the board - the clerical work is just the easiest to point to. The labor relations issues take longer to explain.

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

You have to understand it's not about getting it filled out right - it's about finding fault.

Are you sure? Our HR office was recently audited. And I do mean, audited. An internal audit was done in preparation for any sort of IRS audit.

I work with compliance issues and can understand the importance of certain fields. The God Complex that ensues... I can't understand. If you're talking about the God Complex that beaurocrats have, then I can understand your issue.

I would like to google that quote on Fidel Castro that was given in a recent movie... hm, memory's not so good... something like "the clerks and the bookkeepers put Fidel Castro in power. The civil servants."

and, one of your Friendslist folks: "don't piss off the secretaries."

At the same time, our HR rep gave me attitude for something and I threw it right back. I sat in her office right next to her desk with a pen and paper in hand and wrote down everything she said, documenting very carefully, and made NO movement to leave until she'd given me everything I needed to know. Basically, I squatted. That's what folks do to me in order to get accountability - sit in my office and take up one hour of my time until I'm practically begging them to leave. Believe it or not, it works. Squat.

Book and appointment with her, ask her if you need to bring anything, & when she says "no", bring an appointment book, a pen, your HR binder, & anything else she's ever given you, then sit at her desk and write everything down until you're completely satisfied.

Don't forget to repeat everything she says as you write it down. Stay. For. At. Least. One. Hour.

[vicar.livejournal.com]

Doesn't work. I've actually proven her wrong repeatedly - usually on more important issues, and it is to no avail. She has recently supported the LR Branch chief when documents were pulled out (surprise!) in a meeting which flatly proved her statements incorrect. Despite this, her word was taken over the documents. It's just bizarre.

Even if there was some importance to the travel voucher, or the TPS report, it didn't merit the 4 emails (now 5, btw, because I responded). It's one easy to note aspect while there are many other simultaneous fronts.

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

eck, I'd book an appointment. You want your money back, I know. My landlord does travel voucher stuff, though, so I can perceive her POV (point of view)

[vicar.livejournal.com]

I've known her for over 4 years. Your suggestions would be good in many other situations, but I'm not sure this is the one. I'll think about it though...right now I'm pissed.

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

also -- make sure the pen doesn't work so that you have to borrow one of hers. And if she doesn't have a clipboard for you to write on, put your papers on top of the papers on her desk and begin writing.

If she actually doesn't have an attitude, crack jokes the entire time and make her laugh.

I prefer disorganized beaurocrats with a sense of humor over disorganized beaurocrats without one, but I'm finally okay with HR because the two people I've pissed off are balanced by the one person I adore. Plus, I'm working on adoring our admin so that I can work his network and he makes me work for it, but I don't mind. He just burned me a copy of "Bobby."

and don't forget, Administrative Assistant's Day is Wednesday, April 25th! I've already bought my card, it has this awesome magnet that our Admin Assistant can put up behind him on one of the filing cabinets.....

[lightbringer23.livejournal.com]

Heh, the Banishing Blessing.

[kuanyin00.livejournal.com]

yup, but they keep coming back because when you get one out, another comes in... I can see vicar's point.

[lightbringer23.livejournal.com]

Even if you're competent and aggressively active, if you get enough competent assistants, the powers that be might decide that it's cheaper to just have them.

For example...

[pangia-fallen.livejournal.com]

mmm travel expense reports. Commercial or gov't per diem? If it's the latter, the nitpicking is justified (or deal with fines or having your company not reimbursed by teh manz)