Work Woes

I have been having some issues at work for the past few weeks. I had been avoiding posting on it becuase I didn't know who all read my blog that were not official followers. But I am at the point that I do not care.

ABout 5 weeks ago, a new girl was placed in my department at work. She was a full time employee and was instantly thrown into the complexity that is coverage at Faber and Brand. Typically all employees hired go throught he mail room before being placed in departments to learn about what the office does. You are usually stuck in the mail room at least 10 days. Well, with the full time people hired that wasn't the case.

Before she came, I was told that I had to be nice and welcoming. As the leader of my department, if I was nice and welcoming, then the rest of the people would follow along. Well, I have tried and I am to the point where I cannot pretend to be nice anymore. I was left solely in charge of training her. I hate training people. I am not patient enough for that. But I try. I get frustrated easily and do not understand when people ask me the same question 10 times.

Well after she had been there approximately 3 1/2 weeks, I was consulted by the officer manager how I thought she was doing. I gave my honest opinion. Though I was somewhat blamed for her not picking up, I tried to remain calm. I was asked to give thorough life of a file training and explain all about lawsuits in general and lawsuits through our office. It was a terrible afternoon. Since then I have had to make a detailed list of everything I teach her, tell her and work with her on. I have to check all of her work and give a daily update on everything she is doing. I did that all last week and even today while I was at work.

Last Thursday, I was called into a conference with the officer manager. He thanked me for my daily reports and was beginning to see the full picture. He appreciated my working with her in extra training. I thought we were making progress and I left work that day feeling pretty great. Apparently Friday, the girl went up to talk to the manager, admitting that she knew she was having problems, but wanted desperately to fix them. The few items that she completed in the last hour were sufficient.

This morning when I get to work, there are items in incorrect places - and bad incorrect places. Like major mistakes. Then several things that she did today were wrong. The manager came up to me this morning to tell me that he was going to give her congrats for getting 9 items correct Friday. Um, hello, you should not get praise for doing a job you are supposed to be doing. That is just stupid. Giving positive reinforcement yes by telling her what she did was right, but to give extra praise for it. No. This is not needed.

I sent in my email this afternoon before I left work at 1. Apparently, he told my department manager that I must really hate her. That he could tell that I was being so diligent in my reports because I hated her. Ok, a few things about this.
1. I am diligent in everything that I do. Everyone who knows me knows this. After working at a company for over 4 years, I would expect you know this too.
2. I don't hate her. I just don't want to work around her. I don't like that she has talked about me behind my back, I don't like that she blames me for her making mistakes (today, she actually tried to tell me that I told her the wrong place to put things - yeah, that makes sense) and I don't like people who don't pay attention to what they are doing. Her mistakes fall back on me at this point anyway.

I also have a hard time grasping why I am being blamed for her poor work or why people are trying to defend her instead of looking at exactly what is going on. You have to look at the big picture. I have been at this place for 4 years. I have been one of the best employees the firm has ever had. I have been loyal and done anything I was asked to do, even going above and beyond my duties. Then for them to tell me that I am wrong and that I am being vindictive? Not okay.

For the past five weeks, I have been miserable. Doing my own work has been slow becuase I have had ot constantly watch someone else and check over everything. I have to fix mistakes and give repeated instructions. I have so much stress in my life right with with the anticipation in graduation in a few months, taking the bar exam and then planning a wedding. I do not need stress from work. I am a damn good legal secretary with Rule 13 certification to practice law on my own.

As much as I would hate to switch jobs with the last few months that I am here, I am considering the possibility of quitting. I don't want to be miserable for the next 9 months that I am in Columbia. I love my department manager and the rest of the people that I work with. I don't really want it to come to this, but I will not stand for what is happening. Just becuase someone has had a rough patch in life doesn't mean we need to baby them.

Thanks for reading my rant. Hopefully things will look up and I will become happier in the next few days.