Sorry for the long post! I wanted to post this article I have written about my recent experience with an employer.

Sorry for the long post! I wanted to post this article I have written about my recent experience with an employer.

Let me begin by stating that this story does not include any company names or real job titles because, after being fired, we were required to sign agreements prohibiting us from suing, filing complaints with government agencies, or posting anything that could harm the company's reputation.

I began my role in October 2022 as a senior manager, eager to apply my expertise and drive meaningful improvements.

Within a few months, I successfully implemented new software that resulted in substantial cost savings for the company.

By February 2023, I had released a comprehensive database that contained Standard Operating Procedures and, in April, launched a new database for one of our customer bases, which was widely embraced across the organization.

By May 2023, I had also introduced another database for a different customer base, despite facing limited support and information from other departments.

In mid-2023, the company experienced a significant layoff that reduced the workforce by a third, creating a challenging environment for everyone.

Shortly after this upheaval, my manager resigned, leaving a critical gap in leadership. The Chief Operating Officer approached me, asking if I would step into her role temporarily, offering a modest increase in my salary as compensation. I accepted this challenge, committed to keeping the team stable during a tumultuous period.

However, my manager soon decided to return to her position, causing significant confusion regarding my responsibilities and compensation. The leadership team and the HR team never contacted me again about what was discussed. There was no formal recognition or adjustment in pay for the additional duties I was performing.

Despite the lack of direction and acknowledgment, I continued to manage both the team I was hired for and this new team of almost 60 people, taking on the dual responsibility without hesitation. I ensured that both teams maintained high-performance standards and that the quality of our work did not suffer. However, I often felt uncertain about the authority I truly had, given the absence of formal recognition of my expanded role.

By November 2023, I was in regular contact with my boss, providing updates on team progress. This was largely due to the ambiguity surrounding my authority, as it was unclear what decisions I was empowered to make. During one of these discussions, she spoke to me as if I was not fully committed to the role, which was frustrating. When I pointed out that I had been promised a salary increase for taking over the team, I mentioned that no one had followed up on this after she decided to withdraw her resignation.

Eventually, the leadership acknowledged that I had not been compensated as promised for my added responsibilities. However, they did not act quickly to address the oversight. In fact, the CEO declared that the agreement was null and void since my boss had not left her position and was unwilling to provide any additional pay for the extra duties I had assumed. After some negotiation, I was granted a small one-time bonus, but nothing more going forward.

That same month, I was formally assigned to manage that team (meaning the reports officially reported to me in our HRIS system) in addition to my existing role. Unfortunately, this new assignment still did not come with a title change or a clear announcement from leadership, leaving me in a precarious and unclear position. Nevertheless, I continued to diligently perform my duties, including coaching two Level 2 employees who were now "managers in training" following additional layoffs.

By early 2024, I was promoted to Director, tasked with overseeing a 24/7/365 operation with a significantly reduced team. Despite the challenges of managing a lean team, I maintained high performance standards. However, the workload continued to increase. I was asked to temporarily take over a proprietary social media site until they were able to backfill that role. Within that very same day I was told the Senior Vice President said I had “capacity” and could take on this additional role permanently.

Even with an extremely reduced team of under 20 people, the Senior Vice President directed me to reduce overtime by 60%, leading to a slight drop in productivity and constant criticism from the SVP. Even though I consistently met targets and maintained high productivity, my efforts and concerns for the team were often overlooked or dismissed by leadership.

In July 2024, the company introduced what they called mid-year reviews. Although these were promoted as a light and casual check-in, the reality was far from it; the process was deeply disappointing and demoralizing. The company conducts calibrations where leadership arbitrarily decides whether a manager's rating should be maintained based on their personal opinions and feelings. Unfortunately, these leaders have limited interaction with most employees and lack the insight needed to make informed decisions about their performance.

Since joining the company, I have been told that a rating of "sometimes meets" is considered a good rating because it implies that an employee performs their job well most of the time. However, employees know this is not a favorable rating—it's average at best. By suggesting that this rating should be the norm for most employees, it became clear that the focus was less on individual merit and more on enforcing a bell curve and controlling bonus payouts.

To make matters worse, I was informed that any employee in a medical accommodation must have their rating reduced, regardless of their actual performance.

Additionally, I was instructed to lower the ratings of two managers because they failed to include specific information in their employee reviews, even though this requirement was never mentioned in any "review delivery training."

Furthermore, this so-called "error" occurred in the second half of the year (H2) and was not even relevant to the first half (H1), which was the actual review period.

Finally, I was told my own rating was reduced because it was felt that I lacked the "forward momentum" expected of me in November 2023—a time when my role was unclear, with no title change or additional compensation, despite my subsequent promotion and the progress I made since then.

Next to lowering ratings for medical accommodated employees another unjust experience came toward the end of my tenure. A manager posted a photo of her baby playing at 8:30 a.m. on a public, non-work related Slack channel with the caption "the perks of working from home" with a heart emoji intending to share a lighthearted moment with the team. The post received many heart responses including from members of HR; however, this innocent post enraged the CEO, who convened the leadership team and spun a narrative that this photo suggested no one working remotely was productive—an unfounded suspicion he claimed to have harbored for some time.

To bolster his argument, he made false statements about our team's performance, painting an inaccurate picture to justify his stance. Over the next day and a half, the CEO deliberately antagonized both me and the pregnant manager, creating a hostile environment and making it clear he intended to fire us regardless of the facts. This action felt intentional, mean-spirited, and deeply unjust, as it was based on a misinterpretation of an innocent photo and not on our actual performance or commitment.

This incident is just one example of the company’s habit of making up rules on the fly and gaslighting employees by claiming these rules have always been in place. For instance, the CEO announced to the company that the handbook clearly stated remote employees must have a distraction-free workspace, free from children, pets, and spouses. However, the Chief People Officer added this clause to the handbook the very same day the CEO made his statement.

This sudden policy change directly contradicted the company’s promoted culture when recruiting new talent and was just one of many instances where policies regarding time off, holidays, and other important matters were arbitrarily altered based on the CEO’s whims.

Leadership often forgets that their decisions have a profound impact on the lives of real people, especially when those decisions are driven by mood, bitterness, or a lack of emotional intelligence. I urge anyone in a leadership position to reflect on this story and consider how to protect the business while also treating employees with respect and valuing their contributions.

Firing two people simply because one of them posted a picture of their child on a Slack channel meant for casual employee interaction sends a harmful message to working parents and caregivers, who make up the majority of the workforce. It’s no wonder that, in just a few weeks, many employees have chosen to leave the company in response to this kind of treatment.

Despite these challenges, I am proud of the impact I made, the resilience I demonstrated, and the strong relationships I built with my colleagues. Moving forward, I remain confident in my abilities and the positive influence I had on those around me. I hope that my story serves as a reminder of the importance of fair, transparent, and consistent leadership, and the value of treating all employees with respect and integrity. Good luck everyone! Know your worth!