#WorkplaceIssues #EmployeeSupport #CareerGrowth
Hey there, everyone! I wanted to share a situation I found myself in and get your thoughts on it. 🤔
So, after discovering that I had let my certification expire, I went to my supervisor for help. I was super anxious; I knew I had messed up. But he reassured me that it wasn’t a big deal and mentioned steps I could take to fix it. I even asked multiple times if I’d get in trouble, and he confidently said no. Fast forward to my next shift, and suddenly it feels like the ground has shifted beneath my feet!
Another supervisor approached me about disciplinary action, and I’m left wondering: what just happened? Here’s why this feels so incredibly **excessive** and **demoralizing**:
- Open Communication is Key 🔑: I thought coming forward was the right thing to do! But now I’m questioning if being honest is even worth it if it leads to punishment.
- Mixed Signals 🙃: My supervisor assured me there would be no consequences, and now his actions speak the opposite. This inconsistency only adds to my frustration.
- A Culture of Fear 😨: It seems like mistakes could lead to punitive measures, which might make team members feel like they have to hide their slip-ups instead of owning up to them and learning.
In my opinion, it would be so much better if organizations could create a safe space for addressing mistakes without the fear of severe consequences. Perhaps implementing a coaching approach instead of disciplinary action would encourage learning and growth!
Now, I want to hear from you! Have you ever faced a similar situation? How did you navigate it, and what suggestions do you have for fostering a more supportive work environment? 💬 Share your experiences and tips below!
Well, it is only two years if you keep working for those jerks. They have given you an incentive to leave.
What kind of certification are we talking about here?
Next time. Fix it yourself and stfu.
Discipline is not always up to the sole discretion of your immediate supervisor. Sometimes what happens is that they speak before they know what the policy is because they don’t think things are a big deal and then they look stupid when HR or a higher up manager says that there needs to be some discipline on file.
So, they value $130 more than the employee’s integrity and motivation? What a bunch of idiots.
It’s happened to me before, I told an employee it’s fine no worries. I documented and sent it to the boss above me and next thing you know he was getting wrote up. I felt like a douche. I apologized to that employee. Lesson learned, know facts before speaking.
This is not “100% on you” by a long shot. You were inadequately trained and have done your best to comply with policy and be conscientious in your approach.
I would respectfully refuse to sign anything until you can have a more thorough discussion of the actual problem. You need to advocate for yourself in that conversation. Supervisor 1 assured you this was not a problem. He took partial blame for not seeing it. All of a sudden Supervisor 2 (or some HR asshat) overrides him and insists on disciplining you? What gives? You made a mistake, yes, but it sounds like the org is not being fair or consistent here. Blaming you for this and writing it up as a formal reprimand for your record is poor leadership. Surely there is another solution here.
Chances are your supervisor didn’t see it as a big deal, but there is company policy that’s out of his control. For him, it’s better he do his job and report it.
This happened to my assistant.
She mistakenly shredded a customer’s check (paid off a loan).
She was truly remorseful and told me immediately.
I had to report it because my locations numbers would be off.
The next day, my district manager arrived.
She was fired and I was written up.
Corporate didn’t care that it was an innocent mistake.
They would not even allow me to get the customer to write another check.
I started updating my resume that day.
Sorry this happened to you.
If my job it’s up to the managers to set up trainings and certifications.
I can’t tell what you even do by this post but you should quit.
Your supervisor is a dick!
Annual review:Doing fine keep it up! No issues, no problems!
HR After reporting: we need to talk about your certs being out of date by 2 years
You: strange it was not mentioned in either annual review I had certs that were required? Where’s your performance discrepancy paperwork?
HR: Hold on we will get back to you.
You: Updating resume!
In my experience working for companies that have formal disciplinary procedures, there are typically two categories of infraction. Typically if you violate a safety rule or a procedure that is explicitly written in the employee handbook then your manager probably has no choice but to write you up. Pay attention to how they deliver this write up. If they seem apologetic, and are clearly trying to keep you happy and keep you around then you are good to go. Just learn from the mistake and move on. The second category of write ups are completely discretionary. These are the sorts of infractions or mistakes that people make every day and the manager just arbitrarily gets to decide which employees get a slap on the wrist and which employees get written up. If you end up under a manager who goes straight to formal disciplinary procedures with you and tends to let other employees get away with murder, my advice is to work on getting out from under this manager as soon as possible! You deserve to work under someone who believes in your potential, wants you to be happy, and wants you to stick around. Write ups are a way to build a case for letting you go. If your manager is starting down this path, run.
Thank Goodness I haven’t worked for a*shats like this. What I would suggest is get everything IN WRITING. you cannot even allow the legroom with any company no matter how nice they seem. B/c 9/10 they will cover their own a*s first. Email every request. And if you didn’t initially email, follow up the convo with an email.
It really does depend on the certification. If this is some kind of mandatory cert that puts your company out of legal compliance then your late renewal probably put an incident in motion.
In some fields, that would be plain negligence on the part of the certified employee. In other fields, the certification is meaningless and it would be inconsequential. Either way, your supervisor obviously shouldn’t have promised you wouldn’t get written up and you’re right to feel let down by him.
>All this does is make employees hide their mistakes instead of learning from them.
Well, potential consequences always do encourage some people to hide mistakes. But you can’t have an amnesty for everything.
I’ve learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished.
To succeed in corporate you must deny deny deny.
Never rat yourself out.
Most likely when your supervisor went to take the steps to register you, someone higher up got involved.
Nothing wrong with being demoralized. Feel what you feel.
I get the impression you’re implying that because it made you feel bad, it was a bad managerial decision. That’s weird. Sometimes you feel bad. That’s just life.
Probably because it’s the policy. If the company lets it slide then everyone would be forgetting.
It’s good you admitted your mistake but you still have to suffer the consequences. That’s what makes it commendable to turn yourself in.
It is quite likely that this discipline is required. A position that requires certification is also one where your company could face fines or worse having someone uncertified doing work. It’s possible you’re not the only one facing discipline for this being so out of date.
Depending on what you do, everything you’ve done since your cert expired could be considered invalid.
Do you have a union or other representation?
Separate idea: write up a simple plan for calendaring recertifications needed by all employees so that everyone has at least 60 days notice for all recertifications with automatic email reminders to the employee and the team leader.
Then send the plan to your bosses boss and the boss of the HR person.
Let us all know when you get a promotion. You seem very conscientious and rational.
It would be a pleasure to work for you.
This is exactly why people don’t come forward with mistakes. They’re fostering a culture of fear and secrecy.
Hide your mistakes is the lesson being taught here.
Because human beings understand the situation and a corporation is a machine for molding your behavior. It’s also a technique to keep an employee where they are. Preventing transfers, etc…
He may be required to report is per company policy.
There’s a chance your supervisor was also written up as well. You have to remember that managers are directly responsible for how well they manage.
It may be required for them to report it, and the action taken. Depending on what the certification is for, it might cause real problems for the company
If the certification is required for legal or regulatory purposes, there should be two cross checks. You add it to your calendar, and HR /legal adds it to theirs. Many companies are disorganized and track that stuff in spreadsheets, and a lot gets missed. They all need to do better.
When you talk to HR, explain that you didn’t get a proper onboarding and that your manager took partial responsibility in your conversation. Then tell them you’re adding your annual reminder to your calendar, but you would like to know what they’re doing to track it as well. Ideally, they should be reminding you if they need it registered somewhere by a specific date. My guess would be that you’re not the only one who has missed this renewal in the past.
I would also consider checking out other employers if you can’t access any career opportunities moving forward because of this.
This is more of a liability thing than anything. I’m not sure if they get audited on stuff like that, but I would imagine they need some sort of documentation that the action was addressed and corrected. It has less to do with punishing you, and more to do with creating a CYA paper trail imo.
I’d be interested to know how your next interaction with your supervisor goes. Hopefully this gets smoothed over by him!
I got fired for this once. I reported to my immediate supervisor where I had filled out the wrong form a few times. The next day I get pulled into a meeting in a room with the lights off and two supervisors. They fired me for stealing from the company even though I am the one that pointed it out and asked how to fix it.