This is a bit long so I'll try to keep to the pertinent facts.
I joined a training scheme at work, culminating in a professional qualification, mostly sponsored through work. It wasn't cheap in terms of both time and resources. It was bloody hard work, with lots of sacrifices on my part to ensure I attained the qual and so could use it to further my career, and to repay work with my new skills and experience.
Unfortunately, the goal posts had moved while I had my head down, and with my mentor backing off because of bullying issues (which I thought I'd handled really well by sorting it, getting an apology without involving anyone else), and crap line managers after I had recently qualified, I ended up with neither recognition or reward. I couldn't use my new qual as my grade was too low, and I couldn't get promoted despite it being implicit at the time of applying and an expectation to follow the same path of progress as others who had completed the course before me - a precedent if you like.
I went down the grievance route and was told there wasn't a legal obligation to promote me (but a moral one was neatly ignored). An appeal was dealt with inadequately. I put my concerns to a union lawyer who bent over backwards to find precedents to support the employer, to which on a few points I am bewildered, while others were ignored. I have to accept that the main bones of my arguments were incorrect, and that I didn't have a leg to stand on.
So instead of being a qualified professional I was placed in a dept where I had little experience but some knowledge. Despite being resentful that my hard work and qual was ignored, I have tried very hard to overcome my ignorance and be a good team player. I actually find the work challenging and occasionally rewarding, at others bewilderingly complex and mind numbingly boring. A bit of a dichotomy.
Now, the personal performance review (PPR) has recently changed. It's something like 20% of the workforce WILL be awarded outstanding, 70% satisfactory and 10% MUST improve. It is not just based on achievements but on behaviours.
At the end of July my husband and I made the awful decision to put our much loved dog, our baby of 14 years, to sleep. We were distraught, and although we had earlier decided not to have a foreign holiday, decided for our equanimity that we needed one pdq. The week after the awful event a senior manager (let's call her B) who I thought was a friend (we went way back and she was supportive in my quest for my qual to be recognised) was bombarding me with meeting appointments to which I kept answering 'tentative'. She came over to see me and said not to worry. I explained what had happened but with hindsight remembered her eyes glazing over. I quietly said 'the company can wait', implying that it wasn't personal, but as soon as something was sorted I could commit to her requests. I booked the holiday over the next few days, even accommodating all the dates suggested.
So, to the PPR. From what I can gather, senior managers were gathered in a room and asked whether anybody had showed negative behaviours. Apparently B said I remarked that "I was better than the company". Another manager said I had missed a deadline. The latter remark was later retracted; it was entirely untrue. But I fail to see how what I actually said to B, and the circumstances surrounding it could be so misconstrued. Not only do I have to defend myself and the reasons for my comment, but all the senior managers now have me marked down as having 2 negative marks against me when really I have none. My work achievement is adequate and has not been commented on.
All this behind my back criticism has severely knocked my confidence. The 'must improve' mark is a way for the company to get rid of people. They have to downsize by 15% over the next couple of years and I feel I have been marked as a trouble maker when all I wanted was justice and be able to use the skills, experience and the qualification I trained so hard for.
Where do I go from here? I'm being set up for a fall, aren't i?
Teeny.