Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Maybe you are not a great employee in areas that can't be defined by metrics, but your manager is also not a great employee so he doesn't know how to explain that, so he BS's the metric stuff to make that look bad. My group has both managers and employees like this. It's why we have alot of bad employees. Only hopefully now some of these people will get let go.

I have had only one 1:1 with my manager during all of 2020...

Hate to hear these stories. Very lucky. My boss is one of my very best, if not the very best friend I have. Absolutely amazing to work for and with.

Your manager is an id–t. He/she has no idea what he/she is doing from and employee standpoint. Maybe he's been getting c-appy reviews and has no idea what to do to get better except push blame down hill.

If he/she makes it through the spans and control layoffs then update your resume and be prepared to get whacked in one of the reductions. I'd be looking anyway.

Clueless manager – he would probably not understand the Peter Gibbons ("Office Space"classic comedy) absurdity of the workplace. Your manager sounds not much brighter than the Milton character – does he have a red stapler? Ask him “Did you get the TPS report?"

Ahh, your Manager is a terrible jerk. Your response is "Of course, I am engaged. I look for new challenges.. ya-da-ya-da..."

Your manager does not want candor – he's trying to use your own words against you. Act surprised "Disengaged? That's ridiculous. Many people I'm the most engaged employee they every worked with" the 1:1 is not a therapy session; it's hand-to-hand verbal combat.

I always get asked to basically write up my reviews which my manager then reworks into their own words for me. This has been going on 7 years and started with this position which was a step from hourly to exempt. Everyone else in my group does the same thing and yes, we all hate it but it's life.

You should come up with an honest way to answer the disengagement question. Admitting to not knowing "I don't think I am, but there are lots of distractions and this has been an unusually stressful year. So yes, at times I'm having trouble focusing, but I'm working on it." can be used to your advantage. Frame it that there are challenges but you're attempting to rise to the task.

Your situation could be read negatively or positively.

Negative: Boss is trying to figure out if they should cut you.
Positive: Boss is trying to figure out if you're willing to put in the work to rise above average justifying an attempt to protect you.

You sound engaged in the process just from your message I would echo others comments to be very careful what you say. I’d make sure your boss knows you are engaged, working every day to make improvements , etc.

I might be as bold to ask your boss straight up if they are trying to find a way to let you go. The reason is if they say yes, then you know exactly what you need to work on. If they say no, they’ve boxed themself in. Yes it’s a bold question but if you can’t have an open and honest discussion with your boss in what’s really going on, then it’s time to move on.

Good luck tomorrow!

I'm sorry this happened. A few years ago I was blindsided with a piece of performance feedback – DESPITE having weekly 1:1s. This same boss had pushed me to manage a so-so performer out of the company ONE WEEK after a reorg when I became his manager, despite her having given him 3 performance ratings up to that point. (Um... I was supposed to fire someone I'd only just met, who was meeting all objectives? Needless to say, I declined.)

When she picked a random thing not on my MBOs to ding me for, I understood she was doing the same to me and started looking.

You clearly see the writing is on the wall, so no reason not to have your LinkedIn and resume up to date etc. I've been laid off, and it's so much harder if you start flat-footed. It can also really help your morale, because you are taking back some of your power. Control what you can control.

You are wise to be cautious in your response. It's tempting to tell the boss off, which will feel good for all of.... 5 minutes, max. Instead, I'd reinforce your openness to feedback, your willingness to work hard and improve etc. Then just keep your head down, and do the work. In this environment you NEVER KNOW what could happen. Maybe your boss will be kicked to the curb, and you'll be saved. (He/she definitely sounds pretty stressed out.) Don't burn bridges, or give any ammunition for the boss to use against you later.

Embrace Candor

Be as open and honest as you can. Ask your manager if this was their review and they are you, what they would do to correct the issue. I take my performance seriously and extremely personally, so I always annoy my manager for feedback. I don't like surprises in reviews.

Your clearly on your way out the door. Just say what you need to get through the meeting and in a month or two you will be laid off with a package.

Most people I know are disengaged as well. My opinion it’s a way to speed up attrition. Wells Fargo may be forgetting that if your employees don’t trust you, your customers won’t either.

Do not worry about it. Being fired for performance issues will not affect your ability to collect unemployment. Have fun with the guy.

Tell him/her to buck off.

@kbl+16S2zEH8 is correct. Agreeing with his assessment gives grounds for firing for cause, which may keep you from being able to collect unemployment. Ask for specific dates and examples. If he pushes, push back with the fact leadership (him) is providing no clear path forward and is ambiguous in their requests. Never admit to anything, even if it's true.

It's so weird to me that there are so few 1-1s. I've seen it happen (prior to a recent re-org, I had roughly 3 1-1s with 4 different bosses over the course of a year) and I just don't get it. I'm a manager and I want to know what's going on with my team. I want to get to know them. I want to know if they have struggles at home. I want to know where they want to be in 3 years, especially if it's somewhere up and away from my team. I try to have weekly 1-1s, which isn't always possible, but outside of someone taking extended PTO, I can't imagine going 3 weeks without a 1-1 with any of my people. How can a manager lead if they don't know their people, where they want to go and what they're facing on a day-to-day basis?

It is pretty bold to be this specific, no?

Threaten to beat his a–. Don’t take any sh– from these scumbags if they are going to lay you off anyway.

I would respond when asked whether I was disengaged or distracted, by asking him, “what do you mean by that?” I would then follow up by asking him to please provide specific examples and dates that would lead him to asking such a general, subjective question.

D–k with him because he’s dicking with you. Have fun with it because there is a target on your back, career be d_mned at WF.

Thanks for the laugh Peter Gibbons. You’re a real straight shooter with upper management potential. Hopefully a stock option/equity share program will do something for you

How are you a manager and don’t know how to deal with this. You tell your boss what they want to hear. This stuff is all politics at end of day. Sounds like you’re not skilled in that area and perhaps management

Maybe you can find inspiration here:

Peter Gibbons: You see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care.
Bob Slydell: Don't... don't care?
Peter Gibbons: It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my a– off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime. So where's the motivation? And here's another thing, I have eight different bosses right now.
Bob Porter: Eight?
Peter Gibbons: Eight, Bob. So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that, and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired.

Wow. Sounds like nursery school. How horrible American corporate work is.

Look up articles on diversity/inclusion and your departments goals. Use every keyword you can with joining words like us/we/our. He may be building a case against you, but you need to build a case in favor of your work. For things like email, you may even want to create a log of how long it took you to reply to each email.
Document every success and if possible, get your peers to start sending recognition. Don't delay, you need to play harder than you ever imagined.

This is OP. Great advice! Thank you!! I even appreciate the comic relief from @tvy.

I’m a manager, as well. I’ve always tried to use 1:1s for coaching and development which is what they’re intended for. It’s not a workflow meeting. I’ve never felt so dismissed and demeaned by a manager.

Ignore the disengaged question

Tell your manager that it’s very easy to get distracted in today’s work environment with so much uncertainty and the pandemic complicating all aspects of life. Semi-apologize for any non-specific episodes of distractedness.

How is it that people meet with their managers only 3 times a year. I meet with mine every other week, sometimes more if something pops up. Whatever the details are around your lack of contact with your manager, you may be able to turn this into a factor if they have been avoiding meeting with you.

Your manager is a pathetic excuse for a leader. Sadly, this place is full of them. Its his job to help drive TM engagement. He sounds like a chickenshit bully. I probably would not let him clean out my garage.

Okay. At this point you want to be laid off, not fired. So your job now is to play the game.

So you say what your boss wants to hear.

I’ve given it a lot of thought, and realized that I have let myself get distracted by lay-off rumors and the resultant anxiety. The best way to deal with that is to focus on the work so going forward that’s going to be my goal. Do you have any suggestions to help me do that?

I know. Puke City. But .... keep your eye on the ball. In this case it comes wrapped in a severance package.

I recommend answering his question of whether you were disengaged and distracted with

"I apologize but you asked me a question and I totally forgot what it was. Let me follow up with"