Employee uses a paper trail to set the record straight when their petty supervisor begins to “performance manage” them out of a job: ‘I responded with facts and data. No response’

It's surprising just what people, namely HR and upper management, will believe simply because there is a paper trail saying so, even if none of it is true and is all conjecture. The narrative is what the record shows, even if it's not actually how things happened. Truth—the actual truth—takes a backseat to documentation.

When you're professionally placed in a position where a superior just doesn't like you, the worst thing you can do is be passive and let them build a case against you. Conversely, being reactionary and retaliatory also doesn't work; they'll only use any outburst against you to further prove their "case." No, you have to be careful, crafty, and methodical, systemically beating them at their own game by creating an undeniable paper trail of each step that defends your case. 

This is colloquially called "CYA." You can't let them control the narrative; you need to maintain a paper trail that makes their argument fall into question or straight up fall apart under scrutiny. In the end, if the manager is part of the inner circle or a straight-up nepotism hire, they'll probably quietly pay you off to make you go away. That or the manager might even be sent packing.

When this worker found themselves facing vague criticism and suspected their manager was trying to "performance manage" them out of their job, they began to set the record straight against them.

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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employee employment-discussion job malicious compliance work employees overworked-employees workplace Horrible Bosses workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace
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