Anchorage Daily News

Q. I work in outside sales as the only single working mother in a predominately male environment. I like the 18 guys I work with and hold my own, dealing with client and co-worker sexist jokes because I have to. I have no desire to leave my job.

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Four months ago, our sales manager left for a job in another company. Our corporate management promoted one of my peers, "Jim," as the new manager. Jim had no management experience. He had done well as a salesman though he wasn't as successful as I am. Although Jim wasn't one of my favorite co-workers, I thought he and I had a good relationship.

Jim met with me Dec. 2. He asked that I keep our discussion confidential and I agreed, not knowing what was coming. He then told me I wasn't meeting my goals and would be replaced if I didn't improve by the end of this month.

I was floored. I'm one of the highest producing sales reps and often receive bonuses. I asked Jim what was going on and he listed how he believed I was deficient. I know that in every one of these areas I outperform most of my male peers but I don't know how to prove it.

I don't know who I can talk to. The previous sales manager made it clear I outperform most of my peers. I haven't sought help from anyone in upper management or HR for fear it will give Jim the ability to fire me for going over his head.

Since this meeting, I've been so shaken that it's hurt my productivity. I can't concentrate on prospecting new customers when I'm afraid I'll be out of work within two weeks.

Can I really be run out of my job regardless of my performance?

A. You have two weeks to develop and implement a game plan. First, you need to consider what created this crisis.

Is the problem you and you don't realize it?

The picture you paint describes you as an individual who rolls with the punches and achieves strong results for her company. From this perspective, Jim lacks any sound reason for his actions.

What have you left out of this story? Despite your results, do your work habits or attendance patterns frustrate your new supervisor? Did your former bonuses stem from favored treatment?

If so, perhaps your former sales manager gave you a false sense of entitlement, leaving Jim a mess he needed to clean up.

If the problem is you, and your past and current conduct gives Jim a reason to fire you, fix the problem before you lose your job.

Is Jim the real problem?

Occasionally new supervisors attempt to eliminate rivals -- which you might be -- without realizing the dangers.

These risks include: losing a results-producing professional who easily handles the special challenges of the job, damaging morale by unfairly terminating a popular team member, and inviting a wrongful termination or sex discrimination lawsuit by unjustly firing someone who can potentially go after her company for sexist jokes.

If Jim fires you for bogus reasons, he harms you and foolishly exposes your company to liabilities.

To fix this, you need to learn and use your options. Start by reviewing your employee handbook or personnel policies. Either should outline the grievance process you and other employees can use to redress wrongs. Normally, companies invite you to talk confidentially to human resources or to take your grievance to a senior manager.

If your company lacks personnel policies, you can still exercise these options. Given Jim's stated intentions, you take on more risk by not seeking upper management support or human resources intervention than you risk by going over his head. If you wait until Jim fires you, your options reduce to suing to fight a termination. Take action now and you can ward this off.

The sooner you act, the better. Your shaken confidence erodes your productivity, one of your key areas of strength.

The bottom line is that Jim doesn't control this situation, you do. Jim can't fairly fire you for performance issues that don't exist. If he fires you for phony reasons, you can take him to court -- but let that be your last resort. Your first -- stop him.

Lynne Curry is a local management trainer, consultant and syndicated columnist. Her advice and opinion column appears Mondays. Questions for her column may be faxed to her at 258-2157 or mailed to her c/o Anchorage Daily News, P.O. Box 149001, Anchorage 99514-9001. Her e-mail is lynne@thegrowthcompany.net.

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