I told you so...

An employee who is loyal, talented, works hard and at times even pulls off the impossible, is lauded by some of the colleagues, but does not seem to get the promotion. It is someone else who gets the raise and promotion and soon the person in question finds himself or herself working under a person who is nearly half of him or her in qualification, experience and talent, and even whose loyalty is questionable.

But today, I was vindicated.

The Upper Management in our office are inept, spineless and ineffective. They pretend to enforce the corporate standards, only to rescind it a week later because someone complained. I believe that some of it comes from the fact that raises for the Upper Management are based on a survey their employees take, so they're afraid to upset anyone because they might get a bad score and subsequently a crappy raise. There is no way to effectively manage employees if there is no respect.

During some feedback given to me, I was told that I "needed to work on how others perceive me." Apparently, someone was offended that I told them that they "Might want to sit down and start working." This person complained...and since management doesn't want anyone to be upset, they had to make sure that I knew I was not a Supervisor and therefore should not be providing this kind of feedback. Never mind that this statement came from a person who had been repeatedly warned to sit down and do their job.

From that day forth, I sat down, shut my mouth and ignored all of the abuse around me. I began pretending that I was happy in my job. I would smile and say all the things that were expected, all the while gritting my teeth so hard that my jaw would hurt. I worked hard, met or exceeded the expectations for any goal that was given to me, and played the office politics....but no matter what I was passed over for promotions time and time again. Each time I was not selected for a promotion, I was given feedback like "Be more of a team player" and "Perhaps you should ask for assistance when you need it."

Needless to say, I have been feeling really disgruntled for a while. Coming home stressed and exhausted day after day, I began snapping at the family. I needed a change, and bad.

In November, I applied for yet another position within my corporation, but this time the department I was applying to was located in Chicago. I had my first interview in December and was called back for a second interview at the end of January. Never before have I received the type of comments given during the second interview process. One of the interviewers stated to me point blank "I have been with this corporation for 17 years, and this is the best interview I have ever had the opportunity to conduct."

Today, they offered me the job. Beginning March 17th, I no longer report to the local management.

Now the management who kept telling me how much I needed to change is freaking out. All of the goals for them this year were based on the fact that I was going to be training my peers....and now I'm leaving. I'd like to think that maybe they have learned a lesson and stop taking things for granted, but I doubt it.

I'd like to end with a couple of quotes that express how I feel today:

"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted."Aldous Huxley

"A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him."David Brinkley

"Success in almost any field depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. This explains why we have so many stupid leaders."Sloan Wilson

UPDATE:

I might have forgotten to mention that although my new management is based out of Chicago, I will still be able to work out of the Rockford office!!