Unreasonable...

Thanks so much Toni and Sev for your messages.......

I had my 'review' on Thursday,
it was several hours of nit picking, and blowing things out of proportion. I was in tears AGAIN several times (only when she kept mentioning Small Man) - I'm not good with people in my face going on and on and on...make your point and be done with it.....feel sorry for her kids.......Once again I'm thrown into turmoil and unnecessary stress, probably for her enjoyment.

I have been set an unreasonable target - to achieve what we call 'area coverage' - I have averaged 40 - 50% over the last 12 weeks, closer to 50% in the last few weeks - I have to achieve 70% in two weeks - or she will remove 5000 households from my area, that's 1/4 of the district. If then in another two weeks it hasn't been achieved, she'll take ANOTHER 5000 households - so I'll lose half of my earning potential, and half of my team.

She accused me of not training my people properly, just because one had to ring her with something that I couldn't help them with, and asked a simple question (which he has been shown how to do lots of times, he must have forgotten).
She said "How much training have you done with ... - think VERY carefully before you answer" - so rude and condescending.

She reckons I get paid too much - I work for commission only, so my pay is a reflection of my teams sales - if I get a good month, it's because we've done well. Also because she left her husband, I heard all about how SHE doesn't have a partners income to fall back on etc etc - so what punish me because I can hold a marriage together!!!

She kept bring up the fact that Small Man has been sick 'for a very long time' - really? Gee I'm so glad she pointed that out, I wouldn't have known otherwise.

Also - I won't be getting paid for the person she talked into being an area manager (actually told her she had no choice).
I went to the CEO over this but ultimately it's her call - she won't budge on it - she would never have allowed this to happen to anyone else (she likes the other DM in Tassie) - talk about poor management - I was never given the correct info on this.....

One of my SD's had a few boxes of stock to send back to head office - it should have been done weeks ago - I didn't think to check up on it with him - as this have been pretty hectic, I have been looking after immediate issues - WELL - didn't I get the lecture on that one, she went on like we'd stolen stock or something - she actually said "so who do I sack? 'AW' or you?"

At the end of this I got the whole "I don't want you to be out of the area...I need you" need me for what? to take her frustrations out on? I said "I'd like to be able to get along with you but you make it hard".

I'm having an emergency meeting Tuesday with my SD's - we are going to have to pull out all stops to make this work. One big problem is that a couple we have that work in Exeter have to take 2-3 months off, he has to have hip surgery - they drop a lot of books per week, and this will really affect our coverage....I am hoping they can get someone to help them (or help the one that isn't having the operation) - they have done such a good job, I would give them the time off, or at least let them do what they can, as good people like them are hard to find. The Almighty's answer to this was "well, they might not have an area to come back to" - she's unbelievable.

The thing is, she hasn't set us this as a challenge, or as motivation, she has set me up to fail.
I'd love to know what her problem is with me, I have nothing in my life she can't have.......

She apparently has some health problem - she won't say what.
I am hoping she will decide this is all a bit much, she is creating a very hostile environment amongst the managers in the state. I don't wish ill of her, but I think she has done enough damage.
I just need her to back down - a lot. And actually help me rather than see things build up, wait for a review and then hit me with it, for hours, and it was nothing that warranted the way it was dealt with. I would have mentioned it a few weeks ago, and said you'll need to have these few things sorted before the review, as these are the things we are focusing on at the moment. That's what our previous manager would have done, but then he wasn't setting me up for failure either.
I'll admit there were a few little things I didn't check, didn't finish, but it was like two things!!! I spoke with her about one of them to let her know it hadn't been done and she said "That's fine"...

My situation with Small Man prevents me from resigning and getting something else, I know he will be better soon, but I don't know when. I also don't want to leave, I'd be happy to see her go though...

What do you think her problem is?
What can I do to stop her treating me like this? I am not an 'employee', so none of the usual regulations apply...

Can you recommend a spell for me Sev?

In the middle of all of this mum rings to say "I'm bringing Grandma up to your house at 6pm" - Grandma's sister is dying, days/weeks to live, so Mum took her through to Ulverstone to spend the day with her. It all happened so quickly, as these things often do.
It was nice to have Grandma here for a few days - but awkward too because I really needed to be on the phone getting a plan together for the latest crisis the Almighty has put us in....that's o.k. though I did a lot in my head! Grandma is awesome, she isn't like a fussy old lady that has to have everything done a certain way, she goes with the flow and enjoys being here!

This is getting long,
I'll write about Small Man, and my other news later.....yes there's still more....

Thanks for listening,
I know this is long and complicated, but that seems to be how everything works at the moment,

G
xx