ROCK <- ME -> HARD PLACE

[UrKillinMe2]

I am in an interesting perdicament, and wonder if anyone can make any suggestions. I have worked in a consolidated dispatch center for a little over a month now. The individuals responsible for training me have a good relationship with eachother; so much so that they hang out together outside of work. I have gotten the distinct impression from them that I am about as welcome to their clique as a fart in an astronaut suit. I catch scathing looks behind my back, they pass notes to eachother, and speak in code about me as though I am oblivious. I am painfully aware that they do not want any new person messing up their shift. They have spoken to me as though I am an imbicile over the course of training; frequently talking down to me and exhibiting other similar behaviors. I have not said a word to management lest I be viewed as catty or bitchy, futher exaserbating my situation. The last thing I need is for them to think I'm tattelling on them.
Evidentally, they have been making it seem like I am incompetent to management. They have indicated I have been performing poorly, and am "overwhelmed". This couldn't be further from the truth. I love this job so far; I think I would be great if given a fair shot.

My question; how do I even broach the subject with management that I think there is some latent problem between the trainer and I without coming across as a snitch or worse? Should I say nothing and risk getting canned? I think that a weaker individual would have run for the hills by now if they had to endure the bitch-fest that I have over the past month- I think the trainer I have will run off anyone they hire...

Please advise...many thanks

[MrJim911]

"Tatteling" is the age old cry of the bullly. There is no such thing. You are being harassed by co-workers and management needs to know because that is a hostile working environment which also is liability.

It amazes me that this sort of thing can even happen. Where is the training coordinator and why doesn't he/she know that the trainers are acting in this manner? What are the supervisors doing when they see this happenng? And if they are part of it then they need to be demoted.

You need to tell someone. If you do nothing then this will continue for you and all future trainees.

[MT911GUY]

I agree with Jim on this one. They shouldn't be doing something like that nor should there behavior be tolerated. You really need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse and if all else fails were hiring.

[missemm0720]

I know how you feel. The center I'm in felt a little like that when I started too. Over the last few months however it's been brought to the attention of supervisors that there was a problem and as a result we had 4 or 5 people leave our center. If you don't feel safe and comfortable at work you need to tell someone so something can be done about it, and if they won't do anything than basically it's a lawsuit waiting to happen. Good Luck!

[InTexas]

Please stay strong. There will be days it seems like it will never end but it will. I am so confused why people get treated this way in the communications center. We deal with enough stressful events. We shouldn't have to deal with our co-workers acting this way. I hope you get it resolved and don't think every place is like this.

Good Luck

[delta911grl53]

That whole situation is unfortunate. It's hard enough to be the new kid on the block and the stress would be awful. I hope things clear up and you can get on with the job of becoming the best dispatcher you can be.

We have at times had the opposite happen. A person will use the "hostile workplace" trump card to make a dispatcher look bad to management when it could have been taken care of by a talk between them. It's a very popular term when you want to cause problems. People who don't understand the workings of a seniority system and would like to be on the top of the heap without doing the years of work involved can be just a bad for a center as the other way around. When we were kids we called them whiners. Some people don't know how to be a part of the solution rather than the problem. That is where you have to develop a thick skin and be proud of the job you are doing.

No matter what "side" you fall on. try to keep your side of the street clean (sometimes hard--especially in the heat of the moment) and be the best you can at the time. Good dispatchers are hard to find and none of us walk on water.