My Friend in HR

Episode 9: Written up at Work: From Write-Up to Right Path

• Njsane Courtney, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

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Handling discipline in the workplace requires finesse and fairness. Through illustrative scenarios, I emphasize the importance of accountability, warning against the dangers of favoritism. Hear real-world examples that highlight the need for clarity and proper communication to resolve misunderstandings. Discover how documentation can be a tool for both protection and improvement, ensuring that employees and managers alike act on complete information. This episode promises to be a guide to equip you with the tools to navigate write-ups and improve workplace dynamics.

Speaker 1:

This podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered formal legal advice. Please note that the policies of your company and laws in your country may vary. Also, the views expressed by the host or his guests do not necessarily reflect the views of any other company or entity.

Speaker 2:

Welcome everyone to the my Friend in HR podcast. My name is Jasani Courtney, your friend and your guide through the elusive world of human resources and your path to career fulfillment. Just like last month, we're going to begin this episode with responding to a couple of emails from you, the my Friend in HR community. Our first question comes from Steven from Seattle Washington. Steven asks I've been working at my current company for about five years and have yet to be promoted. Asks I've been working at my current company for about five years and have yet to be promoted. I'm thinking about looking for a new job because I'm beginning to feel unappreciated for all of the hard work I do. What do you think my next steps should be? Well, stephen, I can totally understand the frustration that comes from working at a job for half a decade and not being rewarded or promoted during that time. However, I'm going to start my response by asking you to take a moment and look within and be brutally honest about what has actually transpired. So what does that mean? Well, first, did this frustration come from you applying for a position that you wanted and not getting it, or did it come from you feeling as if you've not been recognized for all the hard work and your contributions.

Speaker 2:

Let's start with the ladder scenario. If you listened to my previous episodes, you may have noticed a reoccurring theme about being proactive in your career journey as you move up the corporate ladder. Have you and your manager had any discussions about your career and your professional desires? I know this may seem like a silly question, but you'd be surprised about the number of times I've talked to people about a similar situation when they have not even talked to their managers about wanting to be promoted and assuming a larger role. Unfortunately, managers are not mind readers and some of them aren't even observant enough about those who really contribute to the results of the team. When it comes to your own career journey, you need to be proactive and deliberate. I'm going to assume that your company, like most others, has some sort of annual performance appraisal period. During this discussion, have you mentioned about your desire to move up within the organization? If not, this is probably the first thing that needs to be addressed. If not, this is probably the first thing that needs to be addressed. As employees, we should never, ever, assume that just because we work hard that our manager or supervisor will recognize this as an effort to move up the ranks Now should they Absolutely, but not all managers are created equal. So my first piece of advice is to make it clear that you have the desire to move up and take on a larger role.

Speaker 2:

If there's an actual position that is posted online that you want to be considered for, the first step, of course, is to apply. Don't just fold your arms up and just say, well, if they don't give me this job, I'm out of here. That is a very immature attitude to take. By applying for the position, you make it clearly understood that you are looking for a new challenge. You also take all of the guesswork out of trying to determine whether or not your manager knows that you have greater ambitions and plans for yourself within the company. There are way too many situations where employees just sit at their desk, complain to their fellow colleagues, complain to their spouse and tell everyone that they're frustrated, that they're not being looked at for a promotion. They tell everyone, except for the one person that might actually be able to do something about it, which is their manager, and then they're surprised when they never get promoted.

Speaker 2:

Here at my Friend in HR, we are going to be victors and not victims. We're going to take control of our career and leave nothing to chance. So if you have not had that conversation with your manager and made it clear, then I suggest you set up a meeting and do so Now. What does that meeting look like? This meeting is absolutely not a session for you to give your boss an ultimatum saying that if I don't get promoted, I'm out of here within the next six months. Giving an ultimatum to managers and supervisors is never a good idea, but you do yourself a disservice if you don't actually say the words that I want to do more. If you start the meeting off showing that you have a chip on your shoulder, you're only shooting yourself in the foot in your quest for bigger roles and bigger rewards. You automatically start this as a me versus them scenario, and in all dealings with your employer, you should always do what you can to keep the discussions as professional and as positive as possible.

Speaker 2:

Now let's take the scenario of whether you've applied for a position and not getting the role. I've mentioned in earlier episodes that I myself went through a very similar situation. I was completely devastated because I knew deep down in my heart that I was completely qualified for this role. When I was informed, I didn't get the opportunity. Saying I was upset would be an understatement. However, I knew better than to immediately respond, because at that time, my emotions were running high, and there are very few situations where acting off of impulse and emotion is a good thing. I waited a few days and then set up a follow-up meeting with my supervisor to get a better understanding of what skills I was lacking to make me a viable candidate.

Speaker 2:

Here's the catch, though when you ask this question, you need to come from a spirit of actually wanting to listen and understand. You shouldn't come at this question ready to be combative over every single comment that was made. If you do this again will put you in a me versus them scenario, which is not the best stance to take when you're asking someone for something. Now, let's be clear. I'm not saying that you should not know your own worth and be proud of that. However, you need to get as much information as you can about the reason you weren't selected, so that you can make the best decision for you and your career If your manager says that there were certain skills that you were lacking.

Speaker 2:

Have an open mind, even if you have a differing opinion, if you have a different opinion about your capabilities, it's okay to bring up the reasons why you feel that you have that experience, but I implore you to look at it objectively. If you indeed do not have the level of expertise in a particular area, then your next step is to have a discussion about getting the development opportunities that you need to close that gap, so that the next time a similar position is available, you will be considered as a viable candidate. You also have to be open to the notion that sometimes, you and your organization may simply have a differing opinion about you and your capabilities. However, listen to what they say and then determine if what they say makes sense. Let me say that again, stephen Listen to what they have to say and then determine if what they say makes sense. Acknowledging what they say makes sense is different than just agreeing. You have to look inside yourself and determine whether or not you're willing to accept the feedback that you're getting, because walking around the organization bad-mouthing the manager because you weren't selected definitely will not get you where you want to be. In the end, though, if what they say makes absolutely no sense and this has happened multiple times then sometimes the answer may lie outside your company. Even then, I will ask that you don't make a hasty decision. Take time to truly evaluate the feedback that you get, or the lack thereof, and then decide from there.

Speaker 2:

Our second question comes from Alyssa from Tampa, florida. She says hey, friend, I want to say that I'm really enjoying your podcast and I've already been able to take a few nuggets from your episodes and apply it to my current job. My question is related to the concept of at will. A close friend of mine at work was recently terminated and the reason the company gave was because we were at an at-will state and the company can decide to terminate with or without notice. This really seems unfair and I wanted to know if companies can actually do that. Well, alyssa, seeing that you're from Tampa, I do want to start off by saying that I hope you and your family are doing well. You guys have been hammered by a number of serious storms over the last month and I hope that you and your family are safe. Getting back to your question, the short answer is unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Speaker 2:

Most states in the United States do have an at-will ability which allows them to terminate an employee with or without notice. Now that I've said that, let me give a bit of warning to managers who want to use that at-will as a reason to just start firing people left and right for no good reason. Just because your state is an at-will state does not exclude you from the potential of being sued for an unlawful termination. Honestly, as an HR professional, I challenge managers hard when they want to release an employee on the basis of at-will. Call me old-fashioned, but I personally believe that if you're going to impact a person's livelihood and potentially their family situation, you need to at least have a decent reason for doing so. Things like attendance, bad performance, insubordinate behavior are all valid reasons for terminating an employee, but just not liking a person and then claiming at will just so you can get rid of a problem is never a good strategy. Rid of a problem is never a good strategy. I do have a caveat in my answer, though, alyssa, by saying that by not knowing the specifics around the termination, there may be more to what was said during the discussion that you may know about. It's very easy to take a friend's side against the evil corporation, but very rarely do we ever get the full story from folks.

Speaker 2:

I do want to take a moment to let the listeners know that at-will works both ways. You, too, can resign from a company with or without notice. I know giving a two-week notice or, in the case of Europe, a 30 to 90-day notice, is pretty typical. However, in the United States, there is no law requiring you to give any notice at all. With that being said, there is a such thing as being professional about your exit.

Speaker 2:

Developing a reputation for leaving your company with a 24-hour notice is simply not a good practice, folks. Also, you want to be professional about your exit because you never know what the future may hold. I get that the new job is all bright and shiny and they have all promised you the moon and the stars, but I've known countless employees who've left their job only to seek reemployment months later because the grass simply wasn't necessarily greener. On the other side, even if your employee has less than a desirable environment, I normally recommend to friends and colleagues that their lack of professionalism does not dictate yours. If you can give a two week notice, then you should do so and help with the transition. Now you know, I typically always have a caveat, so here's another one. Sometimes a situation happens that is so toxic and negative. When it's time to go, it's just time to go, but I would use that strategy far and few in between.

Speaker 2:

Do not create a reputation for yourself for just up and leaving a job, or, as what's being commonly referred to nowadays as ghosting your employer. What makes for a good TikTok video doesn't necessarily make for a good career journey. Even if you work in a large city, you would be surprised how small the world is, and who knows who? The manager you just up and abandoned may be the drinking buddies with your next boss, and when you start your next opportunity, you want to do everything you can to make sure you start off with a positive footing. Thanks, alyssa and Steven, for your questions, and if you would like for me to answer one of your questions during our next episode, feel free to send your questions to myfriendin__hr at gmailcom.

Speaker 2:

And now on to our main point. So this episode is going to be a pretty serious one. Picture this You're sitting at your desk answering a few emails and your boss asks to see you. You walk into their office and, lo and behold, is your manager, with your friendly neighborhood HR representative sitting next to them. After a couple of minutes of awkward banter, your manager slides you a piece of paper stating that you're being written up or placed on a performance improvement plan.

Speaker 2:

Being written up is never positive. 99% of the time, employees who are in this situation will immediately get emotional, aggressive, defensive, sometimes violent, and sometimes all of that rolled into one. And while I'll never excuse violence, I totally understand the heightened emotion behind it. After all, this is personal, and why shouldn't? Here you are in a room with one or more people telling you that you're a bad employee. They're outlining every single mistake that you've made and putting it on freaking paper. When it's all said and done, you're experiencing almost every emotion except for joy.

Speaker 2:

So now that this has happened, what should you do? Well, first things first, when you get back to your desk, breathe. Do your best to calm down and just breathe. Now I'm going to start by telling you what you should not do. First, you should not immediately grab all your coffee buddies and start telling everybody that you just got written up. Why not? Because you know misery loves company, right? Because it does absolutely nothing to help your case. It does nothing to help your situation and nine times out of ten, you're only going to get bad advice. You should also not become a disruption in the office, and by disruption you know what I mean Walking around the office telling folks about how evil the company is and how crappy your boss is and then refusing to do any work and stage your own personal revolt, revolution. And here's why it does nothing again to help your situation. In fact, if you're written up for bad behavior, acting this way only reinforces why you're written up in the first place.

Speaker 2:

So I'm going to take this from two different vantage points. Let's say that there's actually some truth to what they have said, but you don't feel like being written up is justified. This could come from a perception that well, everybody else does it. So why the heck am I being singled out? When I hear this, I kind of chuckle internally Not out loud, but yeah, a little bit internally.

Speaker 2:

Why Remember back when we were kids and we would get in trouble because we went along with the group? How many times did you participate in something and you were the only one that got caught? If your parents were anything like mine, they gave me the good old comment Well, if everyone jumped off a bridge, does that mean you would as well? Now, let's be clear. My parents use some other colorful language. I cleaned it up for the purposes of this podcast, but you get my drift.

Speaker 2:

Let's look at that scenario from a bit of a more extreme point of view. Let's just say you had five roguish friends and you decide to rob a bank. Yeah, I told you that this was going to be a bit of an extreme example. Just kind of bear with me. If you and your five friends robbed a bank and you were the only one that got caught and the other four got away, does that exclude you from the wrongdoing? Let me help you out. The answer is no. So if you were written up for attendance and you feel like this is unfair because you know everybody else in the office does the exact same thing, then you don't really have much ground to stand on by saying well, everyone else comes in, why am I being singled out?

Speaker 2:

Now, for you managers out there, I want to warn you If you're going to discipline an employee for something, you need to make sure you don't have two different standards of behavior for different people. It is just crappy management to hold employees that you don't like at a higher standard than the employees you do like. Continuous bad management such as this can land you in a heap of trouble. Continuous bad management such as this can land you in a heap of trouble, and, heaven forbid, the group of folks that you try to hold accountable are minorities or female or part of some other protected class. If that happens, you could be in trouble for a number of discriminatory practices.

Speaker 2:

But back to the employee. If you were in fact, called out for something that you know you've been doing, my recommendation is to just own it. On the back end of that, though, you should see clarity from your manager about the specific behavior that they're expecting to see, but don't use this as an opportunity to get down in the weeds and start going tit for tat, and you know what I mean. There are some employees that love nothing more than to talk about every single ancillary thing that has very little to do with the actual conversation. They start pulling on threads, talking about every little scenario the whole time, knowing that they are guilty of what they're being accused of.

Speaker 2:

So, again, I'm going to go back to that example of attendance. If you're an adult and I'm going to assume that most folks who listen to this podcast are adults you know you need to be at work on time. Don't start playing these immature games where you clock in at 8.02 and you know you're supposed to be at work at 8. Don't do silly things like come in at 7.55, hang out by the coffee machine until 8.05, go to the restroom and then you don't start work until 8.30. With that being said, every company is a bit different. 30. With that being said, every company is a bit different.

Speaker 2:

If you work in an office full of salary professionals where most employees aren't punching a clock and hours aren't being aggressively tracked, this behavior may be totally acceptable, but for many folks that are hourly employees, what time you show up in the building is not the same time as when you start working. If that environment is at your office, then that's the environment at your office. Do not stage your own personal revolt and try to nickel and dime the system. I chose attendance as an example because it's one of the most straightforward issues when it comes to discipline that most employers deal with. If you know you're supposed to be at your desk until 5 pm and you know your office manager watches that clock religiously, don't leave until five.

Speaker 2:

One of the things I often hear is that I sound very pro-employer and honestly, it's not that I'm pro-employer, I'm just pro-maturity. If your employer is paying you a salary to do a certain amount of work over a certain period of time and your company is the type of company that tracks productivity by the minute, let me help you out by saying you're not going to be the one that finangles the system and comes out on top. If it's more of a casual work style that you prefer, then you need to find an employer that allows that level of flexibility and autonomy. So let's take the scenario where you feel like you're not guilty of any of the violations that you're being accused of. In this case, you do need to get specific. After all, managers are people too, and there are a lot of times where they simply just get it wrong.

Speaker 2:

There are also situations where managers may react from hearsay or third-hand information. Another pro tip for managers out there I highly discourage you from writing up an employee based off of third-party information unless there's documented evidence of it. Getting information from a third party and taking action off of that without any proof can land you in so much trouble, especially if you found out later that you weren't getting the full story. There was once a scenario where a manager wrote up an employee for poor attendance. Now, this specific manager traveled a lot and wasn't always in the office, so they tended to delegate day-to-day management to one of the team leaders. Upon his return from a month-long trip, one of his other team members told him that a specific employee had been showing up to work late every day for the last three weeks Now. Normally that manager would have just talked to the team lead who he left in charge, but they were on vacation shortly after the manager got back charge, but they were on vacation shortly after the manager got back. In fairness, before the manager wrote the employee up, he did check the employee's time card and in fact he did see that they had been arriving late for about the last two and a half weeks. He felt he had appropriate documentation and immediately wrote the employee up. But after all was said and done and the team lead returned from vacation guess what happened? You got it. He found out that the employee in question had actually notified the team lead that their babysitter would not be available during their normal time for the next couple of weeks. So they had to drop their children off at their parents' house, who stayed on the other side of town, which would cause them to come to work late for the next two weeks.

Speaker 2:

This was an example of where the manager took some third-hand information and acted on it. Now, to be fair, the manager took some third-hand information and acted on it. Now, to be fair, the manager did do some research, but really they got it from third-hand information. Who wasn't the person who was left in charge and missed out on some valuable information that would have changed their outcome. Since the manager left the team lead in charge, they should have either gotten in touch with that person or waited until they got back, instead of just going off and writing the employee up. In the end, they ended up losing a good employee because after that happened, the employee simply felt like they weren't trusted and the relationship simply eroded from that point forward.

Speaker 2:

But if you feel like you have not done what they're accusing you of, you should definitely ask for specifics. The challenge with this is that, in order to have that conversation, you have to be logical and calm, and being logical and calm when you feel like you're being falsely accused is one of the most difficult things to do. Chances are you're listening to this podcast after this has occurred, but for those of you who may face this in the future, it may be best to simply take the document and ask if you can meet about this at a later time. Now, many times, hr will try to get you to sign the document then and there, and you are under no obligations to do so. Just remember that refusing to sign the document then and there and you are under no obligations to do so Just remember that refusing to sign the document doesn't really do much for you. To be honest, they can still place it in your file without your signature. Now I realize that most people will feel like well, if I sign this, then I'm simply agreeing to what's on the document and I don't feel comfortable doing that. Sign it, don't sign it. It's up to you. But I do want you to know that whether or not you sign the document doesn't really matter in the long scheme of things.

Speaker 2:

The main point here is to come back later and get specifics on what the deficiencies are. If it's attendance, then that issue is pretty straightforward In my opinion. Either you're on time or you're not. However, there are a lot of situations that are not as clear cut, such as behavioral matters. I've seen a number of situations where an employee is written up for being insubordinate or disrespectful to their manager, where the employee simply feels like they were only pointing out obvious things and the manager just didn't like being challenged. As adults, we know that tone, demeanor and context matters, especially in subjective issues like behavior.

Speaker 2:

How you choose to communicate either with your manager or with colleagues can be seen as bad behavior, depending on the scenario. One of the main leadership points I preach to managers is that when you bring an employee on, you should be clear about your managerial style and what I like to call the rules of engagement when it comes to interacting with them, their team, other team members or even clients. Another key point is that, hopefully, before you accepted the job, the culture and the environment of the team were clearly laid out. What does that mean? If you work in a customer service oriented business, where how you communicate and how effectively you communicate are key components of your job, mouthing off to your manager every time you disagree with them can be seen as being disrespectful. Now, let's be clear. I'm not saying that you have to agree with your manager all the time, but your manager is just that. Your manager and they were put in a position of authority to lead and manage the results of the team.

Speaker 2:

In a lot of the subjective issues and dynamics within the team, they dictate what good looks like and what subpar performance is. If it's expected that you talk to internal and external clients in a friendly demeanor, then you should do just that. Refusing to do so, because that's just not who you are, isn't a path to success. I might also add that you really need to know yourself before you accept a job. If it's expected that you have a cheery disposition in talking to customers and clients and you know that you tend to have more of a dry, introverted demeanor, you may really need to take a look at this job and determine whether it's really right for you. Otherwise, you may constantly find yourself not measuring up to expected performance. I'm going to say this again as a manager, they get to dictate what good looks like. As an employee, you do get to decide whether or not the environment and culture or expectations are what you want to do as a professional. If you find yourself constantly at odds with this, then my best advice is to find a role that best suits your skills and gifts.

Speaker 2:

Although I've talked a lot about communication styles, this does not mean you have to be everybody's buddy. It doesn't mean you have to go out to happy hours if that's not your thing. But if you're being told that your communication style or behavior is causing issues, I would first ask that you take a hard look at what's being told to you, because at the end of the day, it does come down to that manager's perception of your performance. I said earlier that not every manager is created equal and unfortunately it's not illegal for a manager to be a total jerk. Just like in school, we had nice teachers and we had difficult ones. We had the teachers that everybody wanted to be in their class, and then there were others that folks avoided like the plague. The same thing goes for managers and supervisors. I'm going to constantly state that, while the manager ultimately decides what good looks like, you do have a choice in terms of environment in which you choose to work, and sometimes what that manager may be asking of you may not be in alignment with your gifts and skills. So at that point you do have a choice to make Either make the changes to that behavior or look for another opportunity that's more in alignment with your normal professional style.

Speaker 2:

However, you should always ask for specifics and ask for examples. If the manager is writing you up for something, they should be able to clearly state examples in which they saw that behavior. It's not fair for you to be written up for having a bad attitude when they can't even tell you an example of what that bad attitude was. The manager does not get to do that. After all, if they can't explain the behavior that's in question, how did they expect you to change that behavior? If the manager does provide specific examples, but your perception of that situation is completely different, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sharing your side of the story. Again, we are all flawed human beings with our own biases, and it's really easy to get situations such as these wrong.

Speaker 2:

I do have to say that by the time the documentation phase starts, it's really hard to change the minds of managers. However, this does not mean that you should not at least try to explain your side of the story if there is a good reason. I've seen situations where a manager was disciplining an employee, but after the employee explained the situation, the manager did agree that there was a misunderstanding. I do have to admit that this specific manager did have a high level of emotional intelligence and was able to admit when they were wrong, and they were able to salvage the relationship and move forward in a positive manner. The sad fact is that many managers don't have that level of emotional intelligence to engage in such a back and forth discussion without taking it personal or as a challenge to their authority. But again, do not let this stop you from asking for specific examples. So what happens after they've given specific examples? You provided your rebuttal during the discussion, but they still want to proceed with the write-up. Well, again, emotions tend to be very high at this point and again I recommend that you don't make any hasty decisions right then and there. I recommend that you take the document and ask for a chance to review at a later time.

Speaker 2:

During that time, again, you got to do some soul searching. Is this a situation that you really want to resolve? Do you really like your job and do you really want to try to get things on the right foot, or do you think the manager is completely off their rocker and you feel like you need to look for a new job? This, unfortunately, is where a lot of employees fall flat. Many of us, myself included, when faced with a situation of conflict initially go to the mindset of wanting to be right versus working towards an amicable situation. If you want to debate and prove that you're right, I got to be honest I have not seen a lot of scenarios where that ended up well for the employee. Honest, I have not seen a lot of scenarios where that ended up well for the employee. Most of the time, the situation continues to escalate until finally we end up in a termination discussion and you are forced to part ways.

Speaker 2:

What you should do is make sure that, upon your next meeting, ensure that you have clear guidance in terms of what the expectations of good performance looks like. Actually, to be honest, those things should be laid out in a document, especially if it's a performance improvement plan. I also recommend that you take it upon yourself to set up monthly meetings to do your own self-checkup with your manager to ensure that what you are doing is actually what they are looking for. Again, if the manager knows what the heck they're doing, this should be part of the performance improvement plan to begin with. If not, you need to take the initiative, set these meetings up so that you can be sure what you're doing is in alignment with what they need. Now there may be a situation where you try to set up these meetings and your manager either cancels or doesn't make themselves available. This is where you need to go to your friendly neighborhood HR person and get them involved, because if you are doing everything you can to ensure that you're going to meet the success criteria but your manager isn't making themselves available to provide follow-up guidance, that is a no-go. After all, this is your job we're talking about.

Speaker 2:

I feel that if a manager feels that the situation is serious enough to document, then it should be serious enough to follow up so that they can ensure that you have all the tools you need to be successful. One of the things I often hear from employees is that they feel that if an employer writes you up, they're just simply starting a paper trail so they can ultimately fire you one day, and unfortunately, sometimes that's true. Hr always recommends to managers that if you have a performance issue, you need to document these discussions to show that the organization is doing everything they can, doing all of their due diligence, to provide every opportunity to correct the behavior of the performance issue before we even get to a termination discussion. Remember earlier when I said just because a state is at will doesn't exclude a manager from being exposed to unlawful terminations. So HR always recommends to managers that if you have a performance issue, you need to document it. It doesn't mean that the next step is automatically going to be a termination discussion, though Often it's to protect the employee as well.

Speaker 2:

Many times a manager does not do their due diligence to talk to the employee about the issues I think I've mentioned this before on another podcast that most individuals in the world are so conflict avoidance. That means that even at work, managers and other employees will find every single reason not to have an awkward conversation. That may be fine in the short term, but eventually the problems will continue to add up, frustrations will grow and then finally the manager will decide that they've had enough. I will say as an HR professional that if a manager comes to me and says that they want to terminate an employee for bad performance and they can't show me a single email where they've counseled the employee on the corrective behavior, they will rarely get an approval to terminate from me. To all of you managers out there, the HR golden rule is if you didn't document it, it didn't happen. So what am I trying to say here. Essentially, if you get written up at work, you have a few choices to make. But regardless of the choice that you finally decide upon, you do not help your case by throwing a temper tantrum and being disruptive and starting your own one-person revolt.

Speaker 2:

If you feel that your manager is completely out of their mind and their expectations are completely unreasonable, you do have the options to take your concerns to their higher manager. Just understand that even if it gets resolved, that may not create the best working environment going forward. You could also go to your HR person. Now. I know in these scenarios, folks see HR as the enemy and after all, they were in the room when the manager delivered this document. But HR really is meant to be a facilitator in the process of getting the best out of people. Part of this means ensuring that every employee has the opportunity to grow and evolve in order to do the best they can for the organization and, when there are missteps, ensure that they get the best opportunity for development and guidance to correct that behavior, because, after all, that's what's best for both the company and the employee. There is nothing wrong with taking your concerns to HR after this meeting and get their advice as well. However, just like my favorite basketball player, lebron James, you could always take your talents to South Beach. If you feel like your manager is being completely unrealistic, if you feel like you're being unappreciated. You always have a choice, and that's what this podcast is all about. It's about giving you the information so that you have a choice, so that you can blaze your own path to your own journey and career fulfillment.

Speaker 2:

Getting written up is not a good situation to be in. If you was, almost every negative emotion within the human spectrum. Hopefully, throughout this episode, I've given you some level of guidance in terms of how to deal with this situation. Well, that's going to wrap up this episode. I know this topic isn't easy, because many of us have faced this situation in our own careers, but one additional nugget I want you to take from this is that there is life after a write-up. You just have to ensure that this situation does not define our professional journey, and if we handle it with professionalism and maturity, we can make the best choices for us and our professional future choices for us and our professional future. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at myfriendin__hr at gmailcom. You can also follow me on Instagram, at myfriendinhr, or LinkedIn under Jasani Courtney. And until next time, remember that your job is meant to support your life. Your life is not meant to support your job. Until next time, my friends.

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