I wish that headline was a joke. Let me add some context (TLDR at end).
I work pretty much a sales position, where I travel across a region and give presentations. That's all I do (I'm considered hourly part-time), so I'm at home if I'm not scheduled or picking up extra supplies from the office.
I received a text from our HR person this afternoon about an hour before I was planning on leaving for my gig today asking if I can come to the office in (at that point) 55 minutes for a “meeting”. I live 42 minutes away from our main office and was not dressed for work at that point. I asked what the purpose of this urgent meeting was; they replied “to discuss your roles and positions with [company]”.
Instant panic, right? Obviously I'm getting fired at this meeting.
So I tell them I can be there within the hour, change into work clothes, and head towards the office in dead silence because ??? what in the actual fuck is happening.
I get there, go straight to the HR office, and, 25 minutes later, the gist of the meeting was that I am full of myself and “too bossy”.
Some of my favorite paraphrased quotes:
– “we understand that you're very intelligent and have an advanced degree, but so do other people here”
– “when you interviewed for full-time positions” – positions I interviewed for the first week of January after this exact HR manager called me on NYE to set up the interviews for the following week “to get a jump start on hiring” and they STILL haven't hired anyone for the position, they just keep telling myself and others “we're still interviewing” – “you didn't come off prepared or professional, you were sitting on a couch with blankets behind you and you didn't submit a cover letter.” Customary fuck cover letters
– “there have been complaints from staff that you are very bossy; instead of having a 'how can I help?' mentality, you have a 'i need you to do this' demeanor”
– “you need to make sure you're respecting tradition and know that you're still new here”
– “you need to make sure you're showing respect to your bosses and those that have been here longer than you and don't have candid conversations with them”
And my personal favorite quote, because I was SO confused so I asked for an example: “during your interview you asked 'why should I take this position', and, you know, that really rubbed the interview committee the wrong way because it came off like you were owed this position, like you already had it.” Appalled, I asked her if an interview is not supposed to go both ways, i.e. you find out if I'm the right fit for the position and I find out if you're aligned with my future goals, etc, and THAT tripped her up.
Interestingly, despite the implied urgency of the meeting, there was no formal disciplinary action mentioned. My friend mentioned that I need to send a follow-up email confirming that this was indeed a “coaching session” and not something disciplinary, which I intend on doing tomorrow.
So, after all that,
TLDR: Has anyone ever been called into an urgent, in-person HR meeting to be told they're “too bossy”?