I've been employed at a local company for about 8 months now, and this week I moved from reception into advertising. I liked my job on reception - I had great friends, a lot of work and good pay and hours. I moved into advertising though because I thought it would be more stimulating than reception. It is mostly quite boring so far (although I've only been there four days, so we'll see over time) but all I've done this week is ass kiss and apologise to people!
That's not my problem though. My problem is the HR Manager. I hate him. Seriously, I do. He is not at all qualified for the position, and he has no social skills whatsoever. Let me begin by outlining my history with him................
He interviewed me initially for the reception job, and during the interview I remember thinking what a nice man he was - he seemed very charming and caring. When he rang to tell me I was hired, he was lovely again, and I looked forward to working with him. However, when I arrived for my first shift, he had gone on holidays and failed to arrange any sort of introduction for me. Luckily, a girl who is now a wonderful friend (and who had only started two weeks before me) took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. When the HR Manager returned four weeks later, he didn't so much as even smile at me when I approached him to say hello.
One day a friend was eating her sandwhich at reception, and he walked past and said "everytime I see you, you're eating. All you must do is eat, sleep, and..........." and then he walked off laughing. That is not at all professional HR conduct.
When I applied for the position in advertising, he didn't even attend the interview. Instead, he handed me all the paraphernalia (ie, my CV, application letter, position outline, and questions for the interviewer to ask me) 5 minutes before my interview was scheduled. After the interview he asked me if I really wanted the job or not. He is so UNPROFESSIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There has been a number of other incidents showcasing his inept nature and poor management skills, but the clincher for me was yesterday. I was on the phone to a client when he walked into my office and said (while I was mid-sentence) "you have to find new footwear. I was with the Work Safety inspector today and we saw you walking around the office in thongs (flip-flops for the international readers!). Get some new shoes." My client heard everything, and I was very embarassed that they had to witness such unprofessional conduct.
When I had finished speaking to the client, I called the HR Manager and asked what the exact problem with my footwear was (because nearly every other girl in my building wears thongs to work - we're Aussies!). He told me, and his EXACT words were "if you go outside and land on your ass, I'm stuck doing paperwork all day. Get some new shoes. I don't want to be filling out forms all day." Zero concern for safety, he is only worried about having to do some actual fucking work. It's funny that he should care so much about footwear considering that when I worked in reception I was required to load and cart, up a slight incline, a trolley full of papers that at times would exceed 100 kilograms. And expected to do all this in heels and office wear. Further, the reception team of girls is required to unload all deliveries of stationary, and boxes of envelopes are not fun to lift.
I really dislike the man. He turns a blind eye to actual health and safety discrepancies to single me out for wearing a pair of fucking thongs. Okay, okay, maybe I'm just pissed because I can no longer wear my lovely comfy thongs. But I find him soooooooooo unprofessional.
On another occasion, I complained to him about a team leader's consistent rudeness to me, that culminated in her calling me the wrong name and me cracking the shits. I went to him and outlined every instance of the team leader's rudeness, and explained how it made me feel low and unappreciated in the workplace. His response was "Steph, it's Monday, it's hot, and the team leader's dog has recently passed away (it died a month previously, and I know I'd still be reeling but I wouldn't be rude to people because of it). How about we make a photo board of you and put it on her desk? Would that make you happy?" He was so sarcastic and nonplussed about my genuine problem with the team leader. She did subsequently start saying hello to me, but I don't feel like the HR Manager had anything to do with that, other than running and telling her that I had dared to complain about her.
And there is no one else I can go to in order to complain. Plus I don't want to lose my job. I really enjoy working there, and my new position will get more exciting. I just can't stand HR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
