I work at a large multinational corp for 15+ years now. I've been in my current role with my current manager “Beth” for two years. There are eight of us working for Beth and we are all getting really sick of her.
She is constantly sending us all on wild goose chases at the drop of a hat just so she can look like she is doing something. We're all like “chill, we have MONTHS to figure this out.” But she has to stir the pot. She cares more about what it looks like than what it actually is.
Now at our company we have an actual written policy that everyone (incl managers) are always expected to act with Integrity in their daily interactions.
At the beginning of the year our Sr Manager “Tammy” sent out a list of 6 Initiatives that she wanted everyone under her to work on progressing this year. My role, and many on my team, rely heavily on IT to deliver on these Initiatives. However IT was cut to the bone over the pandemic and has not been staffed back again. Every time I approach IT to work on any of these things they just say they don't have time to look at it.
In at least two team meetings I told Beth that these Initiatives are not achievable due to lack of IT support. She agreed that it would be difficult, but that things might open up.
Now, next Friday our Sr Manager has scheduled an all hands (50-60 people) meeting for everyone under her. Guess what the topic is? Yes, everyone is to take 1-2 minutes and talk about how they are progressing on the 6 Initiatives.
Everyone on my team agrees this is a complete whitewash. But Beth, as usual, has to look good, and is working with each of us to spin stories that make it sound like we're all happily making progress. I don't think this shows integrity. Since the beginning I have been pushing back that the Initiatives are not achievable with the resources we have. For me to send any other message feels dishonest.
On Tuesday I sent Beth my talking points. What I wanted to say is that the users of my system will actually be negatively impacted due to a product feature that will be removed in August due to technical issues. I said that in terms of the 6 Initiatives we are actually moving backwards. Beth replied that I should talk about something else. I guess she thinks it would make her look bad, even thought its perfectly factual.
Wednesday Beth emailed me to work out some logistical items with the meeting and I just replied to her that I thought we needed to have a call. She called me later in the day, and I said I'd like to take a vacation day on the upcoming Friday, the day of the big meeting. Now my daughter has been ill recently, and Beth asked if I was taking the day for that. I said no. I came out and said that I wasn't comfortable with the message I was being asked to deliver. I don't think we're making progress on the Initiatives, and for me to send any other message feels dishonest. We talked back and forth, and she said she was disappointed in me that I didn't want to present, but she eventually agreed to the vacation day. (Which she approved via email).
Now Beth's vacation policy is that all of us are supposed to talk with each other about our vacation days and coordinate to make sure daily business runs smoothly even if one of us is out. So on Thursday I text chat my team members each individually and tell them I'm taking the day off and I'm completely open to WHY I'm doing it. They all agree that the meeting is a snow job, and that they understand my feelings about it.
Later Thursday I have a one-on-one with Beth and I'm worried that she is going to badger me about this meeting, but she actually waits to the end to bring it up. She asks if I'm still taking the vacation day, and I confirm that I am. Then she comes out and says that she was talking with her boss, Tammy, about the meeting and the topic of my vacation came up. Then Beth tells me that she told Tammy that I was taking the vacation day to “deal with family issues”. Then Beth says to me quote, “I covered for you on that one”. I was just completely floored.
She is certainly not covering for me, but is only covering for herself to maintain her image.
There it is. In a company with a written policy on Integrity my boss just told me flat out that she lied to her boss. Should I go to HR with this one?
I certainly don't trust Tammy to do the right thing. I told my teammates exactly why I was taking off, so there is a chance of it leaking out to Tammy eventually. I feel like I need to get ahead of this.
However, I have kids in college, a spouse, and a mortgage. I would really like not to get fired. I'm a middle aged male, and I don't think job hopping is an option for me even in this climate.