I would like to ask some questions of you regarding issues that I am having with my sales manager. This person started here in February of this year. Since that time, he has not been in the office for more than three days at a time, ever. I, along with others in my office have had countless issues with him being non-responsive to our needs. I am speaking in terms of not answering emails, not signing documents, and just basically being MIA. When this gets to the point of holding up the progress of the sales cycle, I have had no option other than to go over his head, or to go around him to get things done. When this happens, he angrily confronts me and berates me for going over his head. The second time he did this, he asked to meet with me. I asked that His boss, the regional manager also be present (as a protection to me). At that meeting, I had with me numerous examples of emails that were never returned and issues that he never addressed. I thought we worked things out, and that from that point, he would be more responsive to me, as well as others under him. Things only amplified. From that point, he was even less responsive to me. He has treated me poorly, and been somewhat verbally abusive to me. In retrospect, I had no problem handling that. I figured I would do my job and try to avoid him whenever possible.
I understand that if a salesperson is a poor performer, you need to not only work with them to improve, but also, look very closely at what they are doing. Let me say that that is not the case with me. Currently, with one quarter to go in the fiscal year, I am at 181% of my annual goal. I am far above the number two person in my department. So taking a hard look at my performance in a somewhat threatening way is at best unnecessary.
A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking with the other salespeople in my department regarding the difficulties we were all having with our manager. As the unofficial spokesman for my department, I wrote a letter to the DGM in my office detailing what we have been experiencing. He in turn forwarded that letter to the regional manager. As I understand it, the regional manager then met with my manager to discuss the issues I raised. Somehow, my manager got a copy of that letter. It was then that I believe I became the target of his wrath.
We had our weekly department sales meeting this past Monday. I, the rest of the salespeople in my department, and my manager, attended it. As I walked in I saw that he had a copy of the letter I sent to the DGM. In that hour-long meeting, he verbally attacked me directly. He then read aloud portions of the confidential letter, and berated me in front of my co-workers. He then threatened me. He said (this a quote as best I can remember it), "I can't stop you from going over my head." "I will tell you that it will accomplish nothing more than pissing me off, and you don't want to piss me off." I consider this a direct threat against me both professionally and personally.
Since that meeting, he has barraged me with emails requesting me to give him special reports as to what I am working on, what my sales numbers are, as well as when I expect sales to close. Some things he has asked for were sent to him, only to have him ask for the very same thing again the next day.
Plainly, he is harassing me, threatening me, and making it difficult for me to do my job. I am having trouble sleeping. I feel anxious every time I walk through the doors of my office. I need some help here. We should be able to come to work free of such harassment.
Could you please tell me what I can do about this? What are my rights as an employee? Can he get away with this?
I understand that if a salesperson is a poor performer, you need to not only work with them to improve, but also, look very closely at what they are doing. Let me say that that is not the case with me. Currently, with one quarter to go in the fiscal year, I am at 181% of my annual goal. I am far above the number two person in my department. So taking a hard look at my performance in a somewhat threatening way is at best unnecessary.
A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking with the other salespeople in my department regarding the difficulties we were all having with our manager. As the unofficial spokesman for my department, I wrote a letter to the DGM in my office detailing what we have been experiencing. He in turn forwarded that letter to the regional manager. As I understand it, the regional manager then met with my manager to discuss the issues I raised. Somehow, my manager got a copy of that letter. It was then that I believe I became the target of his wrath.
We had our weekly department sales meeting this past Monday. I, the rest of the salespeople in my department, and my manager, attended it. As I walked in I saw that he had a copy of the letter I sent to the DGM. In that hour-long meeting, he verbally attacked me directly. He then read aloud portions of the confidential letter, and berated me in front of my co-workers. He then threatened me. He said (this a quote as best I can remember it), "I can't stop you from going over my head." "I will tell you that it will accomplish nothing more than pissing me off, and you don't want to piss me off." I consider this a direct threat against me both professionally and personally.
Since that meeting, he has barraged me with emails requesting me to give him special reports as to what I am working on, what my sales numbers are, as well as when I expect sales to close. Some things he has asked for were sent to him, only to have him ask for the very same thing again the next day.
Plainly, he is harassing me, threatening me, and making it difficult for me to do my job. I am having trouble sleeping. I feel anxious every time I walk through the doors of my office. I need some help here. We should be able to come to work free of such harassment.
Could you please tell me what I can do about this? What are my rights as an employee? Can he get away with this?
