Hi Boss
Further to our meeting of 09-12-22, I am writing to acknowledge your offer to "take the weekend to consider whether you want this job" & want to confirm that I am just as interested in this job, & making a success of it, as I was when I accepted it.
During the meeting, you said you had some concerns, but when I tried to respond to you with specifics, you shut down my response by telling me not to "play the victim." This was disconcerting, as victim-hood is not my style: I prefer to deal with any problems in an honest & forthright manner. Unfortunately, given the tone you set in that meeting & with that remark, I felt temporarily unable to defend myself from what felt like an unwarranted personal discourtesy.
To recap what you described as concerns:
You said - verbatim - that you "expected me to hit the ground running" & feel "disappointed" that apparently I have not. I do not find this a constructive approach, as it is impossible to respond to, or attempt to remedy, non-specific, vague criticisms.
You then mentioned the specific points ABC & XYZ, asking why they were not done by now, which was startling as this is the ONLY time you have mentioned ABC & XYZ to me. It's not possible for me to work on topics you have not told me about, so this also left me feeling bewildered & unsettled.
Your next point was to tell me off for asking questions in meetings. As a new starter, asking questions is exactly what I need to do, in order to perform the required role. When I attempted to explain this to you, you cut me off with the "victim" comment above.
You also criticised the fact that I sit at a desk, implying that I spend too much time at it. When not in face-to-face meetings, a large part of my role involves desk-based research, so I am puzzled why you felt I am doing anything wrong by basing myself at a desk while in research mode.
Finally, you said that "other people have been asking what you do all day." This is another vaguely-worded criticism, & I also take issue with bringing unnamed third party opinions to a meeting, & talking about them as if they are substantive facts. It felt to me as if you were presenting your own opinion in the guise of belonging to other people. Obviously I have no idea what - if anything - has been said behind my back, & if it was a management technique, I can only say it's not one that I have ever been subject to previously, or would use myself.
I have attempted to raise several issues of my own to you previously, but you would not discuss them & have not addressed them, so I will lay them out below for clarity:
- I have no desk, & need to cast around for one each morning, wasting time & diminishing focus.
- 7 weeks in, I still have had no formal induction process, despite asking about it many times.
- I still have not been given any list of objectives, specific tasks, or broader goals - & in our meeting, you used exactly that lack of documented direction to berate me for not being up to speed on objectives, tasks & goals. Anybody would be dismayed to be presented with a 'Catch-22' situation like that.
I'm aware that I was not your first choice for this job, but I accepted it in good faith & intend to discharge my responsibilities in good faith. It is disappointing to have been given the impression that you would like to manage me out by vague insinuations & not-very-subtly coded invitations to resign. I would prefer to address the 3 primary concerns I bulleted above, & make a success of this job, working for a manager who gives me the direction & support any new starter needs. If you do not wish me to do that, I prefer that you deal with that honestly, & either stop making baseless insinuations, or allow me to report elsewhere within the management structure.
I hope that something productive & professional can be salvaged from that negative meeting last week. Please let me know if you wish to continue acting as my line manager, or prefer to hand my management to a colleague to progress with.
Regards
Kittifer
cc: HR