Is this bulling? Could someone from HR help

[lemontree27]

Been working for the same company over 10 year. After my maternity leave I started working part-time but the workload seems the same...I do manage a small group of people, I like my team and believe everyone is working really hard
Recently we haven't been meeting our targets and my manager is giving me a hard time
he emailed me saying this is simply not good enough and highly embarrassing (actual words) I was also told to try to arrange a childcare to stay longer for the even that is coming up soon. He knows I need to pick up my son at 5pm. What shall I do? I would like to email back politely but completely don't know what to say and don't want to regret it. Please don't judge I had a very hard day and was shaking reading his email. I am very stressed and recently dreading going to work thank you x

Are you a member of a union?
It doesn't seem appropriate to expect people to stay late, any job should be doable in working hours.

Is it a single event he wants you to stay later for? As a planned one off, sounds reasonable. Also, surely he wouldn’t be doing his job if he ignored the fact your team is under performing.

it’s really hard managing a team part time. Often they start managing themselves when you’re not there. You need to work with your line manager, review the numbers and work out why you’re not hitting targets. If everyone is working hard then you need to be their advocate and promote a review of the targets.

It’s not bullying, just normal management stuff, but it’s hard when you’re feeling sensitive.

I would politely be saying sorry I can not stay longer as I have to pick my little one up. As long as your doing the hours your meant to do then it's the managers problem to sort it

I would like to email back politely but completely don't know what to say and don't want to regret it.

Bullet point the reasons for not meeting the targets.

Ask for any help necessary to reach them.

If you really don't want to stay late for a one-off event and nothing in your JD or contract says you must, I guess you'll just have to tell him you don't want to or can't.

It doesn't sound like bullying though.

Can you be proactive and suggest ways your team could hit their targets?

If you returned part time after mat leave have they employed someone else to do the other part of your job?
This is crucial to returning part time and why many people end up doing a full time job for part time pay.

What's happening in the time you're not there?

I'd agree with much of the above.
Especially, crucially, the hours/work...is there someone else/another team covering the hours you aren't there? Or has your workload effectively been compressed into the hours you are? (With or without your agreement? Ultimately, what was your part time agreement in relation to the job description based on? )

Is your team full time? What happens when you aren't there to monitor them?

I'd also agree it's not bullying.

Hope you find a solution.

So why do you think the team haven't met the targets? Is it because the targets are too high or are there other reasons? What happens when you are not in? Do the team work as hard?
Your manager is not unreasonable to pull you and the team up on targets. Maybe his wording is something to be desired. What is the reason for the request to work late? Is there a particular task or event?

I'd just write back factually along the lines of "thanks for the email, I am also concerned about why we've not been meeting the targets. I am intending to do xx and yy to address this and I will come back to you with a plan around this.
In terms of working late on that day, as you know my contracted hours are xx and I've made childcare arrangements around this and its not possible for me to adjust these. However I cam assure you that I will get yyy done that week regardless:

Is a meeting to discuss it a possibility? This doesn't sound like email is the best way to solve.

One late finish isn't an unreasonable ask either, not that it is compulsory.

It sounds like his expectations and what is possible are not aligned

Why are your team not meeting targets? What can be done to change this situation?

Regarding the event. If you were full time was this part of your role? If so then I don’t think it’s unreasonable of them to expect you to do these every now and then

Don’t use your child as a reason not to do things - this is not your employers problem

I'll be honest, in my experience a part time manager rarely works, as your team need you there when they are there! I think you need a face to face meeting with your manager to discuss how you can manage your team/workload on the hours you do.

Presumably you were already aware that your team was missing performance targets. What measures had you put in place to address this? Your response to your boss needs to acknowledge the issue and outline what you have been doing as a manager to fix it. It's a pity that you didn't get in there with a proactive briefing for him before he raised it with you, but there isn't much that you can do about that now.

Regarding the event...it depends on whether this is an essential part of your job and contractual expectations or not. If it's an essential part of the job, then I think you'll need to find a way of being there. If you're contacted to work set hours only, then it isn't unreasonable to want to stick to these... though given the issues with your team's performance, I would probably be looking for ways of being able to attend anyway!

Most contracts have a paragraph saying something along the lines of occasional work outside of your core hours may be required (it covers things such as EoY or ToY and events I suppose). I'm amazed at the amount of people who don't read their contracts fully then decide being asked to work late for a one off event is unreasonable.

Also I don't see the issue with him bringing up your team not hitting targets. He maybe could have worded it slightly better but he'd be a rubbish manager if he didn't bring it up.

It's not bullying though.

This is not bullying. Your team are apparently not delivering and your manager is giving you that feedback. It is never nice to hear but part of his job to raise this uncomfortable issue.

I am sorry OP but it is very telling that you do not know why your team are missing their targets. You say you 'believe' they are all working hard, you should know whether they are or not. My advice would be to delve into why the decline in performance is happening and give a detailed response including what you plan to put in place to reverse the decline.

As for the event, as a one off you should attend, especially if your team is not performing.

I agree that there is no indication of bullying, based on what the OP has said.

But ime, people often rush to the assumption of bullying as soon as performance concerns are raised, so the OP isn't unusual to wonder about this.

Op
You need to understand that work isn't a democracy. Of course your manager is going to call you out on poor performance. You don't get to send him back a polite email telling him to watch his tone
If there are mitigating factors , ask for a meeting to discuss.

If things don't improve he may decide that part time jn the role isn't working or worse, you need to get to bottom of this before you get put on a pp and managed out.

You have no hr case here .

Off he wants you to stay late on a very occasional basis you should be flexible, as they have with you.

Agreed, not bullying. You need to analyse why the targets are not being met and take action.

in my experience staying late for a one off event is expected of management.

Definitely not bullying. Asking you to stay late for a one-off event is reasonable. You need to address the reasons why your team aren’t hitting their targets.

It doesn’t remotely sound like bullying. He is raising issues with what I assume are specific and measurable targets. It sounds like your role cannot be performed on a part time basis, assuming nobody was hired to cover the days / hours you no longer work. I would try to keep this off email but have a face to face meeting to discuss ideas for improving team performance and in particular whether an additional management resource is required due to you being part time.