Articles

Whispers
by Dr. Lynne Curry

Question:
I started working for my company in January. Two weeks after I started, a co-worker pulled me aside in the parking lot and said, "Watch your back." When I asked, "What do you mean?" she said, "Watch out for Andy. I’m not going to say more, just draw your own conclusions."

I didn’t know what she meant. Andy seemed very nice, talented and was always willing to help. I found his perspective useful in explaining some of what was going on between our department and the sales department. I hadn’t had anyone to confide in for a long while and I told Andy about some of the difficult things that happened to me in my last job and some of my concerns with my new supervisor. Both Andy and I have a technological background and together we discussed how to move our department forward into a more streamlined, efficient office.

Last week, my three-month probation period ended and I had my first job review. My new supervisor told me my views toward "management" and the sales department caused him concern and that I seemed to have brought with me a lot of baggage from my last job. As I sat there stunned, he mentioned an incident I’d shared with Andy only days before. He also told me Andy had shared with her that he was spending a lot of time coaching as I seemed to be having a hard time "catching on."

I feel totally set up and am now afraid my supervisor has the wrong perception about my abilities. It never dawned on me that until now that Andy and I have a lot of the same background and he might have seen me as a threat. I confronted Andy and he looked hurt and said, "I don’t know how he could have gotten that impression from anything I said." He tried to make me feel my supervisor had an issue with me and was slanting "casual, positive" comments Andy had made about how much he enjoyed "mentoring" me. What do I do? This job represents a real step forward for me.

Answer:
If you want to keep your new job, you need to repair what you and Andy have done. As a new hire, you can’t afford a bad relationship with your supervisor.

Ask your supervisor for a follow-up meeting. In this meeting, tell him you appreciate his candor and feel sorry you got off on the wrong foot. Let him know what you like about your job and how hard you plan to work. Then, put your words into action. You can undo your supervisor’s initial negative impression through hard work and positive interactions.

In the next several weeks, maintain good relations with everyone in your department and don’t let yourself again be sucked into private "coaching" sessions with someone who has the potential to sabotage you. If you have concerns or questions, ask your supervisor. You want him to get a sense of your willingness to learn and your efforts to get up to speed quickly. If you fear he may lose respect for you because you have questions, you fall into a common new employee trap. Rather than admit they need help, many new employees either flounder or ask questions of everyone but their supervisor. As a result, they miss the opportunity to get information "straight from the horse’s mouth" and to build a pipeline of two-way communication with the person who most controls their job future.

Next, neither seek out nor avoid Andy. Andy clearly excels at office politics and if you carry an obvious grudge against him, you give him further ammunition. In the future, however, limit how much you share either your past or concerns about others with him – unless you intentionally want him to broadcast the information. Further, if your concerns about the sales department rest on the background information Andy provided, wash your mental slate clean.

Finally, your supervisor can learn from this situation if you ever get the chance to tell him the "rest" of the story. New employees feel like strangers in a strange land. As a result, they seek out the first ready source of apparently friendly information. Occasionally, those information sources have agendas that strongly influence the picture the new employee gains. Supervisors save themselves further heartache when they spend substantial time with new hires or give each new employee a "buddy" to go to with questions.