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I work for a medium sized company, and we have a "marquee" overseas client who, according to our sector VP, is not profitable in our division, but is referencable. The relationship has been described as "cherished" and my manager has stated this client takes precedence over the roughly hundred other clients requiring support in my division.
The offshore team is the primary stakeholder for the client, and the US is essentially a backup. I work on the US support team and am not a manager. We've had several issues with our offshore management attempting to nail US staff for any perceived infraction against the client, no matter how minor, and today the offshore team sent an email to my manager, the senior manager in the offshore division, and the other offshore staff saying I personally missed an actionable item for the client. I was able to prove through a software audit trail and multiple emails that the item was worked properly and completed normally, and sent this proof to the offshore staff as well as my manager. A question was asked to the client regarding the underlying data, but nothing was missed. Once this proof was sent, the team lead backed off on the "missed" item and offered up corrective action to the underlying problem. I needed to preempt this tonight before it went further up the management chain.
The offshore team chased a less experienced colleague last week for a truly missed item that was a minor mistake, but this went all the way up to senior offshore management and the VP of the division, as well as part of the monthly call with the client. Blood is in the water and the offshore team seems to be looking for someone to fire in the US. Had it been for another client, it would have been a footnote
My team is facing hostility from other team leads who feel their clients are neglected. With a hundred clients, they are wondering why one offshore client is the marquee and more important than everyone else. I am getting uncomfortably pulled in a few ways.
I am currently taking screenshots, BCCing myself, and running Windows steps recorder for any potentially controversial changes or actionable items. How can I best protect myself and also introduce this drama to two new hires I'm training?
FWIW, I have had no dustup with the client and the problem is completely related to our offshore staff now.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 11-10-2014 at 10:52 PM..
Are you in IT service management ? I have been in similar situation before. It somewhat depends whether it is a US based company or foreign. If you are service oriented company and you have once client then basically all this hostility is internal politics. It is fairly common but at the end of the day its the same company. Looks like someone from senior management has to step up and put an end to all this crap. Where is this offshore location? Sometimes it helps to understand where the offshore team is located. E.g way of dealing with support team in Philippines is completely different then dealing with folks from India lets say.
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