Company Loses A Client After Manager Takes Vacation And Doesn’t Check Her Work Email
What is the best way to avoid responsibility for your own fault – whether it be work, school or relationships? That’s right, put all the blame on the other person, and it doesn’t matter that this other one is completely not to blame for your own incompetence. The more furiously you insist and the more offended you look, the more effective this strategy will be in the eyes of other people.
Unfortunately, although we were completely joking, of course, many people use this particular tactic, thereby masking their mistakes or elementary laziness. Most often this happens in the workplace, and then there is what we used to call “office drama”.
One such office drama is featured in a post by user u/hollandaisecrabcake on the AITA Reddit community, which racked up over 29.7K upvotes and nearly 3.1K various comments. And, most interestingly, the tactics of the employee who made the blunder seem to have been quite successful. However, let’s talk about everything in order.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post works in a company where they are a supervisor to nearly 30 other employees
Image credits: faungg’s photos (not the actual image)
So, the author of the post works in a company where they are a supervisor for more than thirty employees. The Original Poster and their husband had planned a trip to the beach for a whole week, but the OP, being very prudent, took care about a week before the start of their vacation to ensure that their absence did not affect the work process in any way.
Image credits: u/hollandaisecrabcake
Before leaving for a vacation, the manager warned every subordinate in advance
First, the OP sent out emails to all colleagues that they would be unavailable for a whole week. Then they prepared special instructions for subordinates who were to take over the work with certain clients in their absence. Moreover, the OP specifically shared all the necessary information with each colleague, so they went to the resort in full confidence that everything would go perfectly.
Image credits: u/hollandaisecrabcake
After returning to the office, the manager found out that one of the clients was literally lost for the company due to their subordinate’s incompetence
Remember that famous Murphy’s law? “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” After returning from vacation, the supervisor found a bunch of e-mails from one of their colleagues who urgently needed files for an important client, and who could not find them at all.
Image credits: Nkulileko Masondo (not the actual image)
As a result, it cost the company that very client, and the blundering manager, trying to justify themselves, simply put the blame on the OP, whom they could not get in touch with for a whole week. The OP was indignant and stated that the colleague had a week before their vacation to find these files, or at least ask them where they are, and that they’d warned everyone in advance that they would not be available.
Image credits: u/hollandaisecrabcake
The employee blamed their supervisor for not answering work emails and calls throughout their vacation, despite being warned about this
The subordinate’s reasoning was, as they say, ironclad – as technically that lost client was the OP’s, and the blame, in their opinion, lies largely with the supervisor. Moreover, as the OP admits, nobody around even cared that the manager did not bother to collect the necessary files in advance.
Image credits: NEC Corporation of America’s (not the actual image)
Most people in the comments, however, sided with the author of the post, as they did everything they could in that very situation
In the opinion of most commenters, however, the OP is not at all to blame for this situation, since they had thought through in detail the transfer of information to subordinates in their absence. After all, it is impossible to foresee all possible ways in which a situation will develop. In any case, people in the comments are sure that the OP’s company needs a clearer and more thoughtful system for situations like this.
However, a certain share of the blame still lies with the OP, as a supervisor, some people in the comments are convinced. After all, the manager is there to make sure that the employees are efficient even when the higher-ups are not available for any consultation. Although the lion’s share of the blame in this particular case lies, of course, with the OP’s subordinate.
We are almost sure that you have already made up your mind about who is to blame in this story, and what you yourself would do if you were the Original Poster. So we are now looking forward to your comments, and if you also happened to end up in a similar situation, then your own tale will be most welcome.
The US work / life balance is very strange. It's almost like an absolute law in the U.K. that if someone is on holiday you do not, under any circumstance call them and bother them. It can happen with e.g major heads of businesses, Doctors on call etc but they usually give prior permission or it's in their contract to call them if needed anyway. Your average worker here? Nope, it's really frowned on. Holidays are seen as vital time to relax and recharge and think of anything but work.
In Germany you would likely be able to claim an extra vacation day if someone calls you while you’re off. Just as you get vacation days back if you get sick/injured during vacation because those days then fall under (unlimited) sick leave.
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Anyone- ANYONE at all that is saying this guy is the AH needs a reality check. Preferably to the face, with a chair. Period. I could go on a whole essay about how this type of mindset- where someone has to "prepare" for a vacation and have to coddle their employees before they can take a vacation is absurd. I managed large teams and if they messed up while I was gone, that was on them, they are adults and I treat them as such. If my team knows I'm going in vacation, I know they are adults and ask for the tools they need while I'm gone before I go. PERIOD.
Disagree. It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure their staff is adequately prepared for their absence. If those adults aren’t capable of that, then the manager should have dealt with them long before their vacation. The problem isn’t not answering emails, the problem is OP’s management. There’s no way OP can consider themselves blameless. I also manage large teams and the reason I get paid more is I have more responsibility. That means if something goes wrong on my team, I can’t just throw up my hands and say “not my fault!”
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The correct process if you have clients and are going on vacation is to do a handover including providing the person who is covering your work with all relevant files and info. An organised person, which a supervisor should be would have all this on hand. What if there was an accident or personal emergency that kept you out of touch for several days? Your staff should know how to access what they need. You can't blame them for your poor planning.
The OP said she gave them relevant files and everything she thought they'd need. No sure how anyone does better than that since Vulcan mind melds are not a thing.
Load More Replies... The US work / life balance is very strange. It's almost like an absolute law in the U.K. that if someone is on holiday you do not, under any circumstance call them and bother them. It can happen with e.g major heads of businesses, Doctors on call etc but they usually give prior permission or it's in their contract to call them if needed anyway. Your average worker here? Nope, it's really frowned on. Holidays are seen as vital time to relax and recharge and think of anything but work.
In Germany you would likely be able to claim an extra vacation day if someone calls you while you’re off. Just as you get vacation days back if you get sick/injured during vacation because those days then fall under (unlimited) sick leave.
Load More Replies... Anyone- ANYONE at all that is saying this guy is the AH needs a reality check. Preferably to the face, with a chair. Period. I could go on a whole essay about how this type of mindset- where someone has to "prepare" for a vacation and have to coddle their employees before they can take a vacation is absurd. I managed large teams and if they messed up while I was gone, that was on them, they are adults and I treat them as such. If my team knows I'm going in vacation, I know they are adults and ask for the tools they need while I'm gone before I go. PERIOD.
Disagree. It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure their staff is adequately prepared for their absence. If those adults aren’t capable of that, then the manager should have dealt with them long before their vacation. The problem isn’t not answering emails, the problem is OP’s management. There’s no way OP can consider themselves blameless. I also manage large teams and the reason I get paid more is I have more responsibility. That means if something goes wrong on my team, I can’t just throw up my hands and say “not my fault!”
Load More Replies... The correct process if you have clients and are going on vacation is to do a handover including providing the person who is covering your work with all relevant files and info. An organised person, which a supervisor should be would have all this on hand. What if there was an accident or personal emergency that kept you out of touch for several days? Your staff should know how to access what they need. You can't blame them for your poor planning.
The OP said she gave them relevant files and everything she thought they'd need. No sure how anyone does better than that since Vulcan mind melds are not a thing.
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