Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

DH thinks I need to relax but I am worried about my job. Some background:
- I have been at the company for 3 plus years. Over this time I have consistently been complimented on my performance and rewarded with bonuses
- the head of our company is crazy...seriously. All departments agree that he is not rational and his logic makes no sense. Our company is scared of him. He yells at people for no reason whatsoever.

Now onto me....it began almost a month ago. I became his target to sh$t on. He has a tendency to do this to other departments but I have never been the sole person who had to put up with this. Others have experienced it though.

I submitted a request for some barter (which we do regularly) for a really great opportunity. It is totally common for him to see barter requests from me. This one came at short notice and I needed approval right away. I know he hates when he doesn't get notice bit I used my judgment on this one. Well....as a result I was told

- I am unorganized
- was accused of playing the boy who cried wolf
- I am not showing our clients the work I am doing in this region

All of the above is untrue and I thanked him for his feedback and politely explained that I don't think that is the case and sited examples of why I think that. I was respectful, but just wanted to provide proof that contradicted his opinion of me.

It is three weeks later. One of my jobs is to plan events and so I submitted a budget pre approval to do one. The request was questioned and the guy does not want me participating because of a complaint on another event (the thing that was complained about were issues that were out of my control). Then on top of that, I was pulled off a project without being told. Alarm bells are going off in my head!

On the flip side, my company very very rarely fires people. I've seen two in three years. And also my line manager is happy with my work but at the end of the day she has no say.

Am I over reacting or do I have something to worry about?

Edited for grammar!

Message edited 8/22/2011 6:52:25 PM.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

I don't know if you necessarily have to worry about being "fired", however, it does sound like a very unpleasant working environment that has the potential to escalate to the point where you decide to leave out of fear of getting fired.


I have seen this kind of tactic pulled before.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Yea - more or less the entire company. I just counted, there are presently only 13 people globally who have been with the company longer than me. One year is about the norm.

I cannot come home crying on a regular basis. :(

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

I worked in a place like that. Company was about 50ish people, and I saw that many come and go in my time. They'd pick a "pet" person to torture periodically, and you either fought tooth and nail against it or quit. Many up and quit. I had to stay and give it back to them, there weren't a lot of jobs to be had at the time and I couldn't afford to have no income. They never were able to ding me on performance, so they would go after interpersonal things. I actually got written up for not being social enough and then for being too social a couple weeks later. Go figure! I failed 2 college courses when I had to miss the finals to work OT. Eventually they let me go when a client can canceled a contract under the guise of a lay off along with a couple other people.

Now? I am older and would move on before I went through that again. Coming home in tears, losing the $ on the classes, feeling stressed and beat up all the time..... But, jobs are tight again and the pickings out there are slim.

Maybe it's time to start looking around for a new opportunity, it doesn't sound like things will get better anytime soon there.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Geez I am sorry to hear you went through that Tara! It really stinks to be crying over work so much. Yesterday my tummy was hurting from the stress. I tried to minimize my OT a few months ago when I realized I would never be recognized for it or even appreciated.

What I really want to do is get out of corporate America and go to bikram teacher training in fall 2012. I am not ready yet but think I could be by then. It is so expensive though! Dh is v supportive and says we will make it work but I don't see how.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

I have to agree with the others, that it probably is not going to improve.

Most toxic environments will not because this behavior is so engrained, and they know that if people leave, they can easily be replaced, especially in this economy.

BKTT sounds like an awesome goal! I follow lots of bloggers and peeps on Twitter who have, or are planning to go to BKTT.

What about other hot yoga/yoga training? Are they all as expensive as Bikram?

I am pretty sure a few of the teachers where I go have not gone to BKTT but elsewhere.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Bikram teacher training is an intensive nine week course in Los Angeles. It is 11k inclusive of housing but exclusive of food. One of the teachers at my studio said you can finance it but still. Then there is the fact that we would be going at least two months with absolutely no income from me so living partially off savings and then once I am back it could take awhile before I have enough classes to make decent money. Dh says not to worry and we will figure it out.

I am nowhere near good enough for teacher training but I set a goal for myself of 3-4x of practice per week so I could hopefully be good enough a year from now. I am a work study at my studio and always ask tons of questions about it. It is really amazing how checking students in an folding towels makes me 100 times happier than my actual job.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Every employer or company has their faire share of "favorite" employees. Some years you are in, and sometimes you are "out"...From what it sounds like, they have a long history of cherry picking their favorites and then for whatever reason, try to get them to quit when they fall out of disfavor..

I was in a similar position a few years ago working for a mid sized firm, every 6 months the Partners would huddle behind closed door meetings and look at everyone's job performance and pick 1 or 2 people who they felt wasn't performing well, or just got on their bad side. It can be for absolutely retarded reasons (interpersonal crap like Tara above posted which I know happens a lot unfortunately) or they need a scapegoat to absorb overall poor performance for a particular department or unit.

My advice would be to (1) get that resume into the hands of a headhunter or recruiter/job agency that can start finding work for you, and (2) try to keep a positive attidude WHILE at the office..Don't let them know that you are upset and crying all the time, they want to see you break down but don't give them that satisfaction! Chin up and if they criticize your job performance or result on a particular project, tell them you will fix whatever "mistake" they 'claim' you made. Try to find a way to go above and beyond so that you are always showing you are a "team player" and 'willing to go the extra mile to deliver a great result on behalf of your company"...(large companies dig this type of motivational crap).

If it still gets worse, just keep at it..If they let you go, at least you will be eligible to collect unemployment..But whatever you do, DO NOT QUIT. The job market right now is NOT good and until you secure another job offer, you can't afford to walk away right now.

Re: Does this sound like I am being ousted to you?

Yeah I have just about given up. I am going through the motions but my heart isn't in it now. Such a shame too because i loved my job for a v long time.