We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Forced out due to fear of presentations
Options
Comments
-
Reasonable adjustments only apply if the condition qualifies as a disability. I'm not sure that this would.
I knew I would regret using that term, I mean it in the more general sense, rather than the more legalistic term. I'm not saying that in this case there is an onus on the employer, though an argument could possibly be made, but if you tell your employer you can't do something and they really want you to do it, it falls to them to decide something.0 -
richdeniro wrote: »As to why I am being asked, it's because I love what I do and have introduced many new initiatives, such as a new career framework and work experience program for kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. Previously I would send emails or put this kind of thing on the company intranet but now the leadership teams want it presented at these monthly events.
Can you position these as being team achievements, and that you think it is better for the team to present and get credit rather than you as their manager? After all, there's usually a perception that management take credit for the work others do, so you could try to reverse it
I sympathise with not wanting to present at these meetings. I'm fine (now!) talking to an audience of hundreds (even into the thousands) of random strangers on behalf of my employer (luckily, as it's a key part of my role), but presenting at departmental or company meetings is another matter entirely!0 -
Can you position these as being team achievements, and that you think it is better for the team to present and get credit rather than you as their manager? After all, there's usually a perception that management take credit for the work others do, so you could try to reverse it
I sympathise with not wanting to present at these meetings. I'm fine (now!) talking to an audience of hundreds (even into the thousands) of random strangers on behalf of my employer (luckily, as it's a key part of my role), but presenting at departmental or company meetings is another matter entirely!
I quite like that idea. But it depends on "the team" wanting to be involved too.0 -
How long would that work for though? It is again just ducking the issue, really. The OP might find the public sector more accomodating of individual needs. Or there would be avenues other than management such as policy or training that could be a better fit.0
-
Can you position these as being team achievements, and that you think it is better for the team to present and get credit rather than you as their manager? After all, there's usually a perception that management take credit for the work others do, so you could try to reverse it
That could be a way to try to ease your way into things - if you can get up there to introduce individual members of your team to talk about specfic topics, then over time you could gradually decrease their involvement and increase the amont of time that you;re personally talking as you get more confident.0 -
Unfortunately I don't have a team as such, the HR team would be the other HR managers at the other office locations, we are all essentially one man bands running the HR function at each office location.0
-
What would concern me about OP's response to being asked to give a presentation isn't that he/she doesn't want to do it, but the lack of a credible way to move forward with the issue and do what the employer wants/needs. If you can't find a way to meet a business need, that's where you are really in trouble.
How about OP writes the presentation/lets a more junior member of staff have the valuable experience(!) of actually presenting? Or writes the presentation and links up with another colleague or two and they give a joint presentation, with OP doing little more than introduce the topic and at the end ask for questions?
Edit: just seen your post of a minute ago. Yet another 'can't do' outcome, which is what needs to be avoided/worked round. In today's world you don't need to be in the same place. Get linked up with them (the wonders of modern technology).0 -
Surely being a departmental manager means that part of the job will be presentations etc? When I was working my way up the greasy pole, I knew full well that with each promotion, I'd have to do more and more out of my comfort zone. I thought long and hard about accepting a department managerial position because I knew it would involve presentations etc.
Not everyone is good at them, not everyone likes doing them. Don't be so harsh on yourself. I've been to loads of them where the speaker has been pretty poor, either due to lack of knowledge about the subject, lack of confidence, etc. Relatively few are "entertainer" style public speakers, so don't try to compare yourself to the best you've seen. Think about the worst and try to ensure you wouldn't be that bad!0 -
Surely being a departmental manager means that part of the job will be presentations etc?
I didn't accept this role though, I was just told it would be my role after a restructure. There was a team of 4 but then everyone left apart from me and the CEO restructured the company and gave me the HR manager title. I was quite happy just working in a team of four in a generalist role.0 -
richdeniro wrote: »I have bitten the bullet and wrote a long email to the CEO, my boss and a couple of others on the leadership team explaining how public speaking affects me and stating that it just isn't something I want to do. This was a couple of months ago but only my direct supervisor has spoken to me about it and suggested the usual things people suggest which are all the things I have already tried. She completely sympathises and said if it was up to her I wouldn't have to do it as she feels the rest of my work is good but says that it isn't going to go away.
I know I do a good job otherwise, go above and beyond and receive a lot of praise for all the work I do but it looks like this is going to be the thing that I am judged on. It has got to the point where I feel I am going to have to leave, the leadership are excluding me on meetings where I should be involved, telling others that I'm not good enough and just generally finding faults in everything I do that aren't justified.
I think you've lost the plot. You work in HR. If an employee came to you and had the worries and anxieties you have, would you seriously advise them to 'write a long e-mail to CEO...etc etc' with a load of excuses/reasons/refusals? Surely you'd be advising them to either tackle the fear, or to offer an acceptable alternative solution?
You seem to be getting so fixated by something based on an event in your teenage years that you are in danger of derailing your own career. That will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, if what you say about how others now see you proves to be the case. Your posts come over as increasingly negative, and it is that negativity that will ultimately overshadow all the things you do well.
You don't have to do presentations, but you do have to offer an acceptable alternative. That's your job.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards