Learned the hard way. I was hired 3 years ago at my job. The role had high turnover with no one lasting a year. I was asked to commit at least three years by my hiring manager. My hiring manager left before the end of my first year. Despite continuously outperforming goals, I never got promoted. The reason is because what got me the job in the first place. Committing to stay for 3 years has been turned around to why would we invest in you if you're going to leave? (Yes, HR verbatim said that.) Learn from my mistakes and never promise a job anything.

11 Comments

1. Tara O'ConnorAugust 27,2024 at 1:13PM UTC

   Or get the promise in writing.

2. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 1:52PM UTC

   OP Here: It was. That's the problem.

3. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 1:42PM UTC

   What has happened to HR departments? I keep seeing, in my own company complete devotion to the whims and opinions of

   the executive office and saying really stupid confusing things like this to employees. What does that even mean? If you’re interested in staying at this company and have a boss I would submit in writing documentation of what they said to you and explain that you would definitely like to be considered more

   seriously for promotion and training. Any interaction you have with HR should be memorialized I writing and ensure clarification of your intentions.

4. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 1:54PM UTC

   Our Exec Director has the same mentality. It won't do anything. I'm on my way out. My new boss supports which ever decision I go with, but has stated that it us unjust.

5. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 1:52PM UTC

   Keep any/all documentation and email HR again about that statement, then forward the answer to your personal email and double delete the send to yourself. This is when my petty would rise up… I’d find a new job and then leave after accepting the new offer… by sending my resignation letter on Friday afternoon FOR Friday at 5pm as my last day, telling absolutely nobody there or giving them any indication of where I’m going (you owe them no answers). And make sure you have a screenshot or total of all your PTO balances from your most recent pay period and know what you’re owed by the company. That response by HR is NOT appropriate or acceptable EVER. The idea is that no matter what, they invest in their employees… which is clearly not what they do. Hence the turnover, including your manager, and the commitment was made by your manager knowing your value and trying to keep staff on. When your manager left and you didn’t receive any review, feedback, and meritorious compensation, that commitment was broken by the company. They used your ability to keep your word as a means to gain value from you at a discount. It’s a reason I left a former employer… as we were all saddled with more work and productivity requirements throughout COVID… with no raises for 3 years, and then when we did get raises, it amounted to less than $2/paycheck. And while any gain should be appreciated, it’s demoralizing to continuously produce quality work, on time, as or better than expected, receive nearly double the work and responsibilities, to be valued lower than the excitement of your manager’s review when numbers are revealed. You committed based on the possibility things might be different and you would be valued. You’ve been given reason enough to leave, and your resignation letter should include the verbiage by HR to contrast what effective employee investment looks like… and how they lost a valuable, committed employee by literally telling them they aren’t worth paying to keep. They may not care what you write but it documents their toxic behavior and attitude towards employees.

6. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 2:57PM UTC

   OK All life is a negotiation in business.

   Your response as politely as possible is to indicate that a position without the potential to advance and take on come complex work severely inhibits creativity and job satisfaction.

   I need to be challenged and of course be rewarded..

   You can also mentioned that your commitment was to the previous manager with the understanding there was promotion potential.

   Make sure your resume is updated and you are prepared to leave.

   If nothing positive happens quietly seek work elsewhere.

7. AndriAugust 27,2024 at 6:28PM UTC

   I've had a job ask me this same question. My response was: "I can imagine myself very happy here and would love to stay for four years. If I were given a better opportunity though, I wouldn't hesitate to pass it up."

   Stayed with the organization for almost five years!

8. AnonymousAugust 27,2024 at 9:38PM UTC

   Maybe I'm out of line here, but I see some red flags, especially being asked to commit to at least three years while no one has lasted in that position for a year or more. I would want to know the relevant circumstances behind those who left, especially. Even in the best of circumstances, three years, especially in some of the more fast-moving industries, is a "lifetime": There is no way you can know what the circumstances will be during or at the end of that time (mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, new managers, new policies, lack of profitability, etc.) or even what the environment will be immediately after you accept the offer. A series of interviews would not let you know the working conditions, which can often be a surprise - sometimes pleasant, sometimes not. I would indicate that I would be dedicated to giving my best as long as my contributions were meaningful to the company, and not commit to a specific time period. If there was insistence for this time commitment on the other end, I would run the other direction to a better opportunity! These conditions indicate greed to me, or at the least a total disregard for the welfare of the future employee.

9. AnonymousAugust 28,2024 at 1:42AM UTC

   One of my reasons for writing the above, which didn't occur to me until a bit ago, is an experience from earlier years, but perhaps still relevant. This type of company represents less than about 10% of my experiences but may be worth considering: I was once hired for a finance job where my predecessors and successor all lasted less than a year. When hired, the company rep told me, "Our company is not for everybody", implying that only the truly excellent succeeded. They were interested in me particularly because I had a deep background in mathematics, so played to my ego... Well, so much for that.

   After a couple of months in the role I was hired for, they said they took away my finance duties and said they would train me for another role where I could put my mathematics background to greater use.

   I went to a series of three several day trainings - only one of which directly applied - and then was expected to do a job which required one year of training in the specifics. I did fairly well - it took them a long time to put me on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) and I milked it for all it was worth while I called a couple of employment agencies to find me another finance position. I believe this tactic was tried on the others --

   If not, the person who was originally my manager made a series of errors and blamed them on me, as we were the only two who had access to that particular aspect of the database. The only error this person made was that I was not in the office when these errors were made, which I pointed out to our then-mutual boss. This person also tried to make my life miserable by exploding at me various times. One time the person made an additional error of putting it in writing, so I got HR involved and my workplace instantly became less hostile.

   Bottom line, the company and I ended up mutually parting ways (technically, I was downsized), but was able to receive unemployment, as the company did not contest my application -- (One of the other employees had recently sued the company and won -- ? could have been the reason for no contest).

   At any rate, I ended up with a great job from one of the employment agencies and was able to double my salary within three years, so this part of my story had a happy ending.

   If you are in a situation that is not pleasant, I would certainly advocate to do what you can to get another position. The only reason I stayed as long as I did was that it was during a serious industry downturn and I had just changed functions, so did not have a very long track record in the function I was originally fulfilling in this company with the high turnover. (Since I was in Finance, I did have access to employee retention data and did notice that many quit during the first week of their employment -- Had I not been so naive, I should have taken that as a sign that this position may not have worked out for me... Live and learn!)

10. AnonymousAugust 28,2024 at 12:58AM UTC

    I’ve not heard of this type of commitment. I would have negotiated a higher salary in exchange for the years. Estimating a percentage of an increase yearly then ballparking the proposed (your asking salary). Something that could cover you financially up front. Sorry you took the deal and hope you found a new role with the salary you deserve! ?

11. AnonymousAugust 28,2024 at 12:21PM UTC

    In very few instances should you up front commit to X number of years:

    *if your employer is sponsoring you (i.e. visa)...but in some situations (an H, for instance) you can transfer if you find a new employer willing to sponsor you.

    *You sign some sort of promissory note or whatever. For instance, if you get tuition reimbursement from an employer or maybe the paid to relocate you or paid a sign on bonus. Even in those situations, you can either negotiate with a potential new employer some sort of sign on bonus to offset or if the relationship with current employer is horrible, you can use that to negotiate an exit (I did this over 20 years ago).

    *You have signed some legally binding contract.

    Just because you 'promised' you really were not obligated to stay that long. I would have bolted after your HM did.