Feeling Stuck and Ignored at Work: How Do I Handle This Tough Situation?

Kindly guide me. I am from Delhi and have been working in Arunachal Pradesh at a construction company for the last two years as a Manager HR. My reporting is directly to the Company's Chairman. Everything was going fine, and in a short time, I became very close to the boss. Some of the old employees of the boss, who have been working for 22 years, started to feel jealous and created a negative environment against me. I also made some silly mistakes. One significant mistake was engaging in a fight (abusive) with a GM because he was spreading wrong information about me.

Now, my boss is not talking to me nor assigning me any work. Since December 2014 till date, I haven't had any work to do. I feel useless for the company as nobody is communicating with me. This situation is a clear sign that I have to leave the organization. However, my boss helped me with Rs. 4 Lakhs for my sister's marriage, which was a significant support for me.

If I resign, everyone will say that I am disrespecting the boss and his help. What should I do now? I want to work, but everyone is ignoring me. I feel like a shameless employee now, with no work to do, just sitting in the office.

Kindly guide me on what to do.

Dear Amit, To sum up your case, it can be said that:

a) You did not capitalize properly on your closeness with your top boss. You could have brought new systems and processes into the company. You could have emphasized the importance of a process-oriented approach rather than a person-oriented approach.

b) You have failed to manage office politics properly.

c) Worse still, you have failed to respect the seniority of a person in the organization. If you were a Manager, then what was the need to get on the General Manager's nerves? You could have handled the spread of disinformation professionally.

So what is the solution? The solution lies in talking to the Chairman and restoring his faith in you. For the sake of interpersonal relationships, you cannot put your career at stake. Ask for a personal interview with the Chairman and clear the air. Show your willingness to tender apologies to the GM.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar