custodian says we have fleas but we do not, and more — Ask a Manager

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Here are five updates from past letter-writers.

There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day.

1. Our custodian says we have fleas but we do not (#2 at the link)

I wrote in asking about how to deal with the alleged flea infestation that only our custodian could see.

Around the same time I wrote to you, Flea Man [in my head I say this the same way one would say He-Man like from the 1980s cartoon] met me at the staff door as I came in to work. He had waited for me specifically so he could show me evidence of the fleas.

He had drowned several fleas in one of the library toilets and had left them there intentionally so I could see there really were fleas in the library. I told him that although I did indeed see the drowned fleas, that no one else had reported any flea activity at all and even our exterminator hadn’t found any evidence of fleas.

He apparently decided I wasn’t taking him seriously enough and left a note for our business manager, explaining again that he thought we had fleas. His letter ended with the line, “My hair can’t take that chance.”

Because his work was so poor and his absenteeism so frequent, we fired him shortly thereafter and he and his fleas have not been seen again in our building.

2. I heard alarming information from a coworker’s old manager — should I tell our boss? (#3 at the link)

Thank you for replying to my letter! I did apply your advice regarding tone, but thankfully, the situation worked itself out regardless.

To clarify something that came up in the comments: I had left this out for brevity, but Juan actually texted Emma himself to tell her he was working with me. So: he commented on her post, I asked how he knew her, and he texted her like they were friends. Then I got the call from her, which is why I found the whole thing particularly odd.

Shortly after your post, my boss’s role was split into two. Although Juan and I were still on the same projects, we had different roles, so Juan got a new boss while I stayed with mine.

I learned from my boss that Juan’s new boss had immediately flagged these issues and put him on a Performance Improvement Plan. There were even complaints from clients about him. My boss asked me to keep an eye out for any issues Juan might cause and let leadership know immediately, which gave me a chance to casually share my concerns. I told him I had it on good authority that Juan had had similar issues before and had even been fired over them. My boss was unfazed and just said, “Oh, I’m sure he has.”

Juan was let go a month later, on good terms.

Here’s the funny part: a few days after that, Emma called me again to say Juan had reached out to her, asking if she knew of any openings! (The very person who let him go—I’m honestly bewildered.) Emma was really concerned that he might have jeopardized my job as well by trying to shift blame onto me or generally make me look bad, but fortunately it wasn’t.

Juan is still liking and commenting on all of Emma’s posts—and now on posts from my company’s leadership, too. It seems like he’s over-representing his connections just as he does with his technical skills, or maybe he just lacks self-awareness. In any case, I’m glad it all resolved with minimal drama.

3. My company let me buy a house, then laid me off — then pulled the rug out from under me again (#2 at the link)

Ultimately, the move worked out in the end. I had moved in part for more opportunities and one came up for an internal transfer to a different department. I got a decent pay bump and some other incentives, enough so that I ended up in a better position than if I had taken the original position. I was a bit concerned about the transition since it is to a new department — and moving to a customer-facing role, when my prior team was internal-only — but I’m working on a lot of the same projects and regularly asked to consult on questions about the old team and their processes. There’s been a lot of adjusting to what is an entirely new role, but the trial period went through fine and my new team is thrilled to have me. We work a lot with my former team on projects, and my operational knowledge has helped speed some things along that they had been struggling with for months). I’m also quite happy with the move. I had reasons to move states beyond the job, the biggest being the political climate, and I probably would have moved regardless of the work situation.

The biggest factor for me in deciding whether to stay or look elsewhere was thinking about prior experiences. I also considered some of the comments that suggested it might have been something that Sara was fighting for and other managers or higher ups ultimately made the final call over her objections. I still don’t know exactly who made the call or when, nor when Sara knew officially. But before everything that happened in July, management and I had a great relationship. I had been promoted and assigned some major projects. There were some extra development opportunities that I was selected for. This was really the first time being blindsided at work. And in the aftermath of the first position falling through, Sara arranged for me to start some new projects that ultimately are how I got referred to this new department. I’m more willing to write off what happened in July as a bad judgment call — they didn’t want to share bad news until it was final, even if I really needed to be in the loop before then. Certainly something I will keep in mind if I ever find myself in a managerial role.

In retrospect, I’m even somewhat thankful the first position fell through. I’m in a better position now at work, and my new team is well managed. Moving departments has allowed me to train on new subjects and get some new opportunities, and I’m still early enough in my career that I can afford to move around. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, the first position had (and still has) a lot of growing pains and the manager overseeing it still hasn’t quite worked out what they want it to be. I get a sense as well from the stories I’ve heard that this manager is not the most organized or considerate.

4. Navigating small social/networking circles as a manager (#4 at the link)

Thank you for reassuring me I was reasonable in my decisions and didn’t need to feel guilty. Iris didn’t invite Petunia and I’ve kept going as often as I can to the dinners. Petunia’s home challenges has continued though and she’s back and forth on reconciliation vs divorce all of which is very stressful for her and affecting her mood at work. I feel for her and as a manager have offered appropriate support, but am still deeply grateful I can keep my outside life dinners separate.

5. My employer wants us to list our dietary restrictions publicly (#3 at the link)

I emailed the person who set up the catering privately to share my concerns, and they recorded my dietary needs privately. We haven’t had another catered meeting since so I’m unsure if the procedures changed, but I got my needs across without having to share them in public.

Now if only I can convince them that cross-contaminated utensils and a single salad isn’t enough gluten-free food…..