3.29.2004
Violated: Push-Me-Pull-You Contract Consulting
This past Friday, my contract-holder took me out to lunch to "celebrate" my 1-year anniversary with my current client. What I did not know was that they were also there to give me the news that the client no longer wanted my services. I was given no reason. I was asked to turn over my badge. When I asked about my personal affects, I was told that someone else would collect them. This did not set well with me. I indicated that I had a lot of items and they would be heavy. Again I was told that this was not my concern. Unfortunately, it was very much my concern.
After my half-eaten lunch, I decided to go back to the office and pack my own things. I had forgotten to give over my keys, and I was concerned about anyone else having to go through all my stuff and figure out what was mine and what was the clients. I also thought I would jot down an E-mail thanking everyone I could think of and saying goodbye. As I sent the E-mail, a system message came up saying my account was no longer authorized. They had already taken me out of the loop. Had I not sent that message, I would have just been another person who was there one Friday and gone the next Monday with no explanations.
As it turned out, the client was furious that I violated her orders. She called up the agency that held my contract and gave them hell for it. As a result, when I went to get my personal items the following Monday, I was told me I could no longer represent them as a consultant. The price I paid for valuing my personal effects. Nobody seemed to consider the idea of asking for a security guard to escort me to my desk so I could pack my own things. Like I want someone going through my belongings, let alone the fact that I had four boxes worth of items that were scattered amongst two desks. I do not feel it unreasonable to ask that I be allowed to pack my own things. If the client is too much of a coward to look me in the eyes when letting me go, then at least they should have the basic manners to throw me a bone here.
I put over a year in at this place. I gave it my heart and soul. Unfortunately, a "new regime" came in to power, and my supervisor requested a transfer out, leaving me exposed for all to see. Apparently, I had a lot of bad habits, like an over abundance of enthusiasm for helping my fellow workers, and a desire to do everything I could for the people "in the trenches," dealing with the public every day. I guess my desire to remain productive while at work was perceived as "too aggressive," for the mediocre bureaucrats who sat on their fat asses waiting for the day they could collect their fat government pensions.
On several occasions I told the "professionals" who held my contract that the work environment was difficult and ambiguous. They considered what I had to say as merely rants and raves, because of course I wanted the steady paycheck worse than I actually wanted them to pull me out of there.
I am no politician, nor do I wish to play "company politics," even when my employer happens to be a government agency. Might I be expressing some "sour grapes," here? Probably. I am frustrated that I put so much time and energy into a place and project where my efforts went unnoticed. I am frustrated that I got no guidance except when I crossed someone's "invisible line." I'm frustrated that others could send accusatory, degrading, and highly critical E-mails concerning my work to every member of the administrative team, and yet I was chastised for the times I defended myself. I am very angry that from day one, I was given no idea what my duties were, what was expected of me, nor how I should conduct myself. I was merely told to "stay busy," thus I became "self-promoting," finding ways to help people and make a difference. Officially over the course of a year and two weeks, I was directly given three assignments. The rest of my activities were left completely up to me.
Of course perhaps this is not the ideal environment for someone like me. I am a creative person. I thrive on challenges and live to solve problems using whatever I can scrounge. I do not like to sit and wait for someone to tell me what to do. I want to do whatever I can, while I can, for as long as I can. When the new department head took over, all of this began to change. Suddenly, my wings were clipped. I wasn't to go anywhere, E-mail anyone, or call anyone without getting the direct permission from my supervisor, who was always kept so busy; she had no time to spend talking with the likes of me. I was essentially "chained to my desk," but I couldn't conduct my projects from my desk. I have to have contact with the people I worked with. It just wouldn't work that way. Then my supervisor requested a transfer out, and I fell directly under the new department head.
The new department head seemed eager to "micromanage" everyone. I believe she perceived me as a "loose cannon," and the fact that I was in another office three blocks from her desk only served to increase her irritations in my direction. As a sub-contracted temp hired as a "Vendor," I could be employed indefinitely, but it appeared my time was over. Now I am unemployed, technically "fired," so no unemployment. I can't help but feel I fell victim to a Hostile Work Environment due to the factors that I was never given any guidance, never given any duties, subject to constant accusations and abuse by one manager, whose very presence only confirms the "Peter Principle," that administrators are usually promoted way past their level of competence.
I do believe the contract agency let me down more than once. They failed to create or maintain a relationship with the client. They failed to defend me when I needed it. They failed to really listen when I asked them for help. They failed to consider just how wrong it was not to find a way to allow me pack my own personal belongings. To add insult to injury, they abandoned me because they refused to defend my right to my possessions, and I insisted upon packing them myself, something I should have had every right to do regardless of the situation. If there was some sort of security policy issue, then send someone from security to remain present until I was finished.
I have tried several times to get in touch with my former department head to no avail. I did talk to the top Administrator of the client in question; all she did was wish me well in the future. I am terribly depressed and frustrated by what has transpired here. Even if some of it is my fault, I was unfairly treated by both sides.
The Consulting Company
The Client
© 2004, J.S. Brown
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After my half-eaten lunch, I decided to go back to the office and pack my own things. I had forgotten to give over my keys, and I was concerned about anyone else having to go through all my stuff and figure out what was mine and what was the clients. I also thought I would jot down an E-mail thanking everyone I could think of and saying goodbye. As I sent the E-mail, a system message came up saying my account was no longer authorized. They had already taken me out of the loop. Had I not sent that message, I would have just been another person who was there one Friday and gone the next Monday with no explanations.
As it turned out, the client was furious that I violated her orders. She called up the agency that held my contract and gave them hell for it. As a result, when I went to get my personal items the following Monday, I was told me I could no longer represent them as a consultant. The price I paid for valuing my personal effects. Nobody seemed to consider the idea of asking for a security guard to escort me to my desk so I could pack my own things. Like I want someone going through my belongings, let alone the fact that I had four boxes worth of items that were scattered amongst two desks. I do not feel it unreasonable to ask that I be allowed to pack my own things. If the client is too much of a coward to look me in the eyes when letting me go, then at least they should have the basic manners to throw me a bone here.
I put over a year in at this place. I gave it my heart and soul. Unfortunately, a "new regime" came in to power, and my supervisor requested a transfer out, leaving me exposed for all to see. Apparently, I had a lot of bad habits, like an over abundance of enthusiasm for helping my fellow workers, and a desire to do everything I could for the people "in the trenches," dealing with the public every day. I guess my desire to remain productive while at work was perceived as "too aggressive," for the mediocre bureaucrats who sat on their fat asses waiting for the day they could collect their fat government pensions.
On several occasions I told the "professionals" who held my contract that the work environment was difficult and ambiguous. They considered what I had to say as merely rants and raves, because of course I wanted the steady paycheck worse than I actually wanted them to pull me out of there.
I am no politician, nor do I wish to play "company politics," even when my employer happens to be a government agency. Might I be expressing some "sour grapes," here? Probably. I am frustrated that I put so much time and energy into a place and project where my efforts went unnoticed. I am frustrated that I got no guidance except when I crossed someone's "invisible line." I'm frustrated that others could send accusatory, degrading, and highly critical E-mails concerning my work to every member of the administrative team, and yet I was chastised for the times I defended myself. I am very angry that from day one, I was given no idea what my duties were, what was expected of me, nor how I should conduct myself. I was merely told to "stay busy," thus I became "self-promoting," finding ways to help people and make a difference. Officially over the course of a year and two weeks, I was directly given three assignments. The rest of my activities were left completely up to me.
Of course perhaps this is not the ideal environment for someone like me. I am a creative person. I thrive on challenges and live to solve problems using whatever I can scrounge. I do not like to sit and wait for someone to tell me what to do. I want to do whatever I can, while I can, for as long as I can. When the new department head took over, all of this began to change. Suddenly, my wings were clipped. I wasn't to go anywhere, E-mail anyone, or call anyone without getting the direct permission from my supervisor, who was always kept so busy; she had no time to spend talking with the likes of me. I was essentially "chained to my desk," but I couldn't conduct my projects from my desk. I have to have contact with the people I worked with. It just wouldn't work that way. Then my supervisor requested a transfer out, and I fell directly under the new department head.
The new department head seemed eager to "micromanage" everyone. I believe she perceived me as a "loose cannon," and the fact that I was in another office three blocks from her desk only served to increase her irritations in my direction. As a sub-contracted temp hired as a "Vendor," I could be employed indefinitely, but it appeared my time was over. Now I am unemployed, technically "fired," so no unemployment. I can't help but feel I fell victim to a Hostile Work Environment due to the factors that I was never given any guidance, never given any duties, subject to constant accusations and abuse by one manager, whose very presence only confirms the "Peter Principle," that administrators are usually promoted way past their level of competence.
I do believe the contract agency let me down more than once. They failed to create or maintain a relationship with the client. They failed to defend me when I needed it. They failed to really listen when I asked them for help. They failed to consider just how wrong it was not to find a way to allow me pack my own personal belongings. To add insult to injury, they abandoned me because they refused to defend my right to my possessions, and I insisted upon packing them myself, something I should have had every right to do regardless of the situation. If there was some sort of security policy issue, then send someone from security to remain present until I was finished.
I have tried several times to get in touch with my former department head to no avail. I did talk to the top Administrator of the client in question; all she did was wish me well in the future. I am terribly depressed and frustrated by what has transpired here. Even if some of it is my fault, I was unfairly treated by both sides.
The Consulting Company
The Client
TANSTAAFL!
© 2004, J.S. Brown
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