What causes you the most stress?

[Stratos]

To the OP; writers block and a general lack of inspiration and creativity when you have papers to hand in.

[Bungleau]

What the heck do you think you're doing, Stratos? Trying to bring this back on topic? Sheesh!

I can relate, though...

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Actually, I was speechless when I read that!

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by VulcanRider I agree with most of Cerek's advice, except for that last line. I would NEVER tell a supervisor I'm going to give the company less than 100% effort. (I might do it, but I'd never say it.) Anything you say may be used against you someday. Maybe at next year's review your boss could say "you did ok, but we feel you could've given a better effort, especially after what you said last year", and reduce your raise/bonus/whatever based on that.

Ok. I stand corrected on that one. MY thought process was that Variol has been consistently been a Top 10 producer for the company. So I could see where telling his manager "If my bonuses are cut, you will get what you pay for." might carry some leverage. As Bung correctly pointed out, companies may bitch and whine about some of the salesman's tactics, but they also realize the effect their best salespeople have on their bottom line.

Still, VR is right. It's perfectly fine to DO it, just don't TELL them you're doing it. When your numbers (and their sales) take a sudden nosedive, they'll get the message.

[Bungleau]

One of the worst things a company can do is to tell a salesperson that the company isn't going to pay the salesperson's commission because it's too much. Hey... you set the target, and good salespeople will not just hit that target, but shatter it. All that means (as Variol mentioned) was that you need to adjust the target for the next time.

BTW, it'd be a good time to read through that employee manual about things like noncompete and nondisclosure agreements. That might become useful information in the near future...

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

I am calling the HR person who decided this at 2pm Atlantic time (1pm EST).
If y'all could post some questions for me to ask, I would appreciate it.

[Bungleau]

Get your manuals first. You need to read the policies and be aware of them beforehand.

Remember... HR folks are not business folks. Their job is to keep the company moving along, not to make it money. They live and thrive on policies and procedures, so they could care less about your profitability, sales record, revenue generation, and so on. Sad, but often true.

Then... from what's been listed here...

1. What exactly is the policy?

2. How has it been measured and traced in the past?

3. What is the real intent of the policy?

4. What is the proper procedure to follow for this kind of situation, according to the policy manual?

5. What is the outcome the company would like to see?

IMHO, you've got to walk a line between arguing your position and attacking the manager / company. I believe that a conversation along the lines of "help me understand why this is, why it happened, why it happened now, etc.). Casting HR in a helping mode will benefit you more than putting them on the defensive by attacking.

Gotta run... I'm sure more ideas will come in.

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Bungleau IMHO, you've got to walk a line between arguing your position and attacking the manager / company. I believe that a conversation along the lines of "help me understand why this is, why it happened, why it happened now, etc.). Casting HR in a helping mode will benefit you more than putting them on the defensive by attacking. Gotta run... I'm sure more ideas will come in.

Well, my first question was going to be "How did you get your head so far up your a$$? Doesn't that make it hard to breathe?

But since Bung told you to play nice, that's probably not the best approach to take.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Here's a piece of the reprimand, they just sent me.


Also, please let me know if I should "not" post this.

Edit: It does have the customers name in there, so i better not post it.

Here's a piece of it though:

[Bungleau]

That appears pretty cut and dried. However, two things strike me that should be clarified:

1. What are the exact sales and productivity metrics related to your job?

2. What is the definition of "during the fraudulent activity"?

Note that it says commission, not bonus. Those be two separate and different things. Bonus is untouched.

Are there a series of dates when this happened? Do they/you have multiple documented cases of the alleged fraud? If so, then you'll be looking at the commission earned on those dates... not the dates in between the first and last. If there's only a single case, then the commission from that date is what would be up for grabs.

That being said, I go back to your earlier comments, that this started from a customer forwarding on an email that was system generated and contained a phrase like "thanks for talking with me today". Do you have the ability to edit those emails before they are sent out?

Messy, messy, messy... be looking for any non-compete agreements. Sooner or later, it may be time to ask Cerek's question
At this point, without knowing anything else, you