seeking33
Member
I work in a small office part time with about 5 other employees. My supervisor seems to enjoy playing the favorites game among us and has totally humiliated me in front of other co-workers and customers.
It all started this summer, when we were trained to use a new computer system and hired a new person to work in the office. Yes, people made a few innocent errors learning the new system, and the new person naturally made mistakes as she learned the ropes. But for some reason, my boss has taken to using me as the office scapegoat--anything that goes wrong, she assumes I did it. I've been blamed and lectured for mistakes other people have made, especially the ones she considers her friends. When I explained to her that I wasn't even around when the mistake occurred, she still lectured me about it like I was a stupid little kid and blamed me.
Last week, the **** hit the fan. I don't consider myself a perfect worker and having witnessed other, more experienced people make mistakes, I believe that I make no more mistakes than anyone else. Last week, i made a small error in detail. The first thing the next morning, my boss called me and unleashed her anger on me, yelling at me for what i did. She told me i was to come in at once (an inconvenience on my day off when i had important plans) and call the customer I had dealt with the night before on the phone and explain to her the error... I told her that I could come in later because i had something to do that day and she said, "If you don't come in, I'll call them myself and tell them you made the mistake."
So, I ended up coming in, and she shoved a piece of paper with a phone number on it in my face, and yelled at me in front of everyone within hearing distance. At this point I felt pretty low, but called the party concerned and left a message. After that, I left, and trying to save face and to show it hadn't affected me, I smiled myself out the door.
I guess that wasn't good enough for her and she wasn't done with me yet. The next day I came in to work, and she confronted me as soon as I set foot in the office. She said, "___party said they'd come in and rectify the error. But I want you to get on the phone, call them again, give them your name and tell them you were the one who waited on them and you were the one who made the mistake." I was blown away by this. Have you ever recieved a call from a company saying, "Hi, this is so-and-so, I screwed up?" Once again, she said this in front of all co-workers to hear.
I asked her when i should call, and she said, "I don't care. Sometime today." So i waited until she left a few minutes later, then called again, saying that yes, an error had been made, but I didn't specify what and by whom. The customer on the line got aggravated and said she had promised to come in, she was tired of having my workplace calling her, and hung up on me. Apparently, my boss had called this customer earlier, so there was no real reason for my needing to call again, except to make an idiot out of me.
Basically, I'm at the point where my self-esteem and confidence in myself as a worker has eroded to where i don't trust myself to to a good job anymore. I feel like a stupid idiot when i'm at work, like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm always so afraid of screwing something up that i have a hard time concentrating on my work, which inevitably leads to an error being made or a detail overlooked, which brings my boss down on my head, which starts the cycle all over again. I've done as much as i could to improve, I've only worked there one year part- time with few hours and i don't have as much experience as most of the others yet. But when I approach my boss with questions, or if I ask for feedback on my performance, she answers me with what's becoming her standard answer-- "I don't know." Earlier this spring, i asked her how my performance was doing and what i could improve upon, and she said, "Oh I don't know. I haven't worked with you that long." I ran smack into a brick wall. I still feel like i'm runing into a brick wall without her communication. She's my BOSS! What does she mean she doesn't know? She knows enough to blame and humiliate me, but she's at a loss when i want to communicate with her.
How can I get through to her?
It all started this summer, when we were trained to use a new computer system and hired a new person to work in the office. Yes, people made a few innocent errors learning the new system, and the new person naturally made mistakes as she learned the ropes. But for some reason, my boss has taken to using me as the office scapegoat--anything that goes wrong, she assumes I did it. I've been blamed and lectured for mistakes other people have made, especially the ones she considers her friends. When I explained to her that I wasn't even around when the mistake occurred, she still lectured me about it like I was a stupid little kid and blamed me.
Last week, the **** hit the fan. I don't consider myself a perfect worker and having witnessed other, more experienced people make mistakes, I believe that I make no more mistakes than anyone else. Last week, i made a small error in detail. The first thing the next morning, my boss called me and unleashed her anger on me, yelling at me for what i did. She told me i was to come in at once (an inconvenience on my day off when i had important plans) and call the customer I had dealt with the night before on the phone and explain to her the error... I told her that I could come in later because i had something to do that day and she said, "If you don't come in, I'll call them myself and tell them you made the mistake."
So, I ended up coming in, and she shoved a piece of paper with a phone number on it in my face, and yelled at me in front of everyone within hearing distance. At this point I felt pretty low, but called the party concerned and left a message. After that, I left, and trying to save face and to show it hadn't affected me, I smiled myself out the door.
I guess that wasn't good enough for her and she wasn't done with me yet. The next day I came in to work, and she confronted me as soon as I set foot in the office. She said, "___party said they'd come in and rectify the error. But I want you to get on the phone, call them again, give them your name and tell them you were the one who waited on them and you were the one who made the mistake." I was blown away by this. Have you ever recieved a call from a company saying, "Hi, this is so-and-so, I screwed up?" Once again, she said this in front of all co-workers to hear.
I asked her when i should call, and she said, "I don't care. Sometime today." So i waited until she left a few minutes later, then called again, saying that yes, an error had been made, but I didn't specify what and by whom. The customer on the line got aggravated and said she had promised to come in, she was tired of having my workplace calling her, and hung up on me. Apparently, my boss had called this customer earlier, so there was no real reason for my needing to call again, except to make an idiot out of me.
Basically, I'm at the point where my self-esteem and confidence in myself as a worker has eroded to where i don't trust myself to to a good job anymore. I feel like a stupid idiot when i'm at work, like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm always so afraid of screwing something up that i have a hard time concentrating on my work, which inevitably leads to an error being made or a detail overlooked, which brings my boss down on my head, which starts the cycle all over again. I've done as much as i could to improve, I've only worked there one year part- time with few hours and i don't have as much experience as most of the others yet. But when I approach my boss with questions, or if I ask for feedback on my performance, she answers me with what's becoming her standard answer-- "I don't know." Earlier this spring, i asked her how my performance was doing and what i could improve upon, and she said, "Oh I don't know. I haven't worked with you that long." I ran smack into a brick wall. I still feel like i'm runing into a brick wall without her communication. She's my BOSS! What does she mean she doesn't know? She knows enough to blame and humiliate me, but she's at a loss when i want to communicate with her.
How can I get through to her?
