BACK TO REALITY... Same ole, same ole (Part 165j)

BACK TO REALITY… Same ole, same ole (Part 165j)

Among other things on my mind was that my three year anniversary with the bank was coming up. The way the salary committee handled salary reviews and subsequent salary increases was to do it on a quarterly basis. At the September full Board meeting anyone with an anniversary date in the following three months would be presented and, hopefully, approved. I was in that group. For raises I was responsible for taking the individual reviews done by an employee’s supervisor and applying a formula to it to come up with a dollar range for an increase. My work was then turned over to the salary committee who, in turn, would present it to the Board for approval. I certainly wasn’t going to do my own and, with my recent run-ins with Jerry, was concerned with what was in store for me. I’d managed to keep myself calm up to this point but with the meeting the next day I couldn’t avoid thinking/worrying about my raise. It was another long long night of tossing and turning.

At work I found that Joanie was “on loan” to J J. Without Lynn who prepared the mortgage applications for the weekly mortgage committee meeting he’d looked to Joanie’s replacement, Bea, to do it. However, for whatever reason, he’d not checked up on her work until just before he left for home Tuesday evening and found she’d totally screwed up. She'd gone for the day so it had to be redone. With the full Board meeting that day it would’ve been a major embarrassment to have the wrong material presented. So, without asking he just called to her downstairs and told her to come up to his office. With J J being an officer Joanie wasn’t about to protest. I think I set a new time record for going up the stairs on my way to his office. He, in title was senior to me, but he didn’t have the authority to pick and chose who he wanted to do different jobs. I arrived to find the door closed but I was PO’d enough to just barge in. Joanie was sitting in the side chair with J J hovering over her pointing to some papers she was holding. I don’t remember exactly what I said but it wasn’t complimentary with the gist of it being that I’d had enough of his BS. He feigned shock but I’d been through this sort of thing with him in the past. I understood the rationale for needing Joanie as she was the only employee there who had any experience preparing the mortgages for the meetings. But his high handed approach really pissed me off. She now had the responsibility for preparing for the monthly Board meeting and all the reports that went with it. I really wasn’t worried because Trish was there to do it but I wasn’t about to let him ‘off the hook’. Wound up, just a bit, I went after him and his choice to replace Lynn telling him that I had serious doubts about her abilities and that I was going “on the record” about it. Recognizing that I had him ‘back on his heels’ a bit ‘went for the jugular’ telling him that since it was only a temporary position I had authority to hire the most experienced person for the job. I don’t remember what he said as I walked out the door but knew he wouldn’t take the attack lightly.

Hobie’s area was right under the stairs and as I reached the bottom he’d just settled in at his desk. He could see I was agitated and I’m sure he expected it had to do with Jerry. I’m sort of laughing as I write this as he was in absolute shock when I told him what J J had done and he realized it had nothing to do with Jerry. I also have to admit that as petty as the whole situation sounds his first question was about the preparations for the materials he needed for the Board. When I told him Trish would have it ready he relaxed. Then he said he’d speak to Bert (the president) about J J... again. It wasn’t the first time and was actually part of a continuing pattern. With that bit of information I headed for Trish’s desk and told her what I’d just told J J. She didn’t believe I’d call the lady who’d been there the previous day to tell her not to report. I told her to just watch me make the call.

My call was quick and I really did feel badly. But, plain and simple, she didn’t have the skills to fill the position. I told her that we’d keep her application on file and promised we’d call when we had a vacancy that didn’t have those specific skills. I expected some push back but there was none. The next call went to the lady with experience. She was so excited she said she could be there within the hour. I laughed and said that the next day would be better. Trish was in shock and as soon as I hung up the phone she was at my desk. I remember her exact words… “You’re unbelievable!”. Then, with a smile, wanted to know what I thought J J’s reaction would be. I was counting on what Hobie had told me that he’d speak to Bert about J J so I told her I didn’t think he’d have much to say. All I could do was hope it went that way.

If there was one good thing about that little skirmish it was that it got my mind off what my review/raise would be. I wasn’t worried that the incident with J J would play any role in it. In truth, I was counting on Gee, the Trustee/attorney, standing up for me. I’d found out that it was Gee who’d put me up for the position on the Personnel Management committee with the banking association. In any case, it was out of my hands and, anyway, I wouldn’t get the word until my actual anniversary date. I hated that policy and was working on getting it changed. It didn’t save the bank any money and just created more work for the accounting department.

Trish got Hobie’s reports and the minutes from the last meeting done in time for the meeting. Joanie struggled a bit with the mortgages because she’d actually only done it a few times when Lynn had been on vacation. I made a point to go upstairs to get her back as soon as the Board meeting started. J J had gone into the meeting to present the mortgages so there was no confrontation. Joanie let me know right away she was very happy to now be working downstairs in the operations area. I couldn’t resist asking her what happened after I left his office. She had a hard time trying not to smile but made the comment that J J was not very happy and told her “I’d pushed his button one time too many” or something like it. When I asked if he’d tried to take his anger out on her she said that he never got a chance as he was called into Bert’s office. That brought out a big smile from me. Hobie had come through and it was a nice feeling to know he had. Now, what was going to be very interesting was J J’s reaction to the lady he’d somewhat disparaged her looks as she reported for work the next day.

Bret had been at the branch (in place of me) so hadn’t been a part of any of the ‘action’. Although Bret didn’t have that much interaction with J J he resented the fact that he lauded his position over both of us. The funny part of that was J J was a constant source of ‘chatter’ in his own department with employees making  comments about the way he carried himself. They resented the fact that he had favorites and somewhat ignored the rest. So, when I told him what had happened he just shook his head and made a comment that the visit to Bert’s office wouldn’t really change anything in the long run. I couldn’t disagree but was happy to have “won” that day.

To be continued…