When in
2014 I resolved to leave the Employer, the main motive behind it was the decision
was my strong conviction the Employer was going nowhere. The Employer was
winding down, losing clients, laying off people, giving sparse opportunities to
develop. The transfer to the New Factory was a breakthrough in many respects
and despite some downsides, I am still of the opinion taking up the current job
was the right move made in the right moment. Compared to standards of rewarding
staff by the Employer, the New Factory still comes out absolutely superior, yet
some cracks have begun to appear on the immaculate picture…
July 2015
Before I
receive Level III results, I kindly ask the New Factory whether the employer
would pay my annual membership fees on my behalf or refund them (the cost is
USD 350 per year). An HR chick replies to my e-mail briefly: The Charter is
not essential to perform your job. The content of the response is a fact. Two
other facts are that I had decided to earn the Charter off my own bat and for
myself and that the New Factory was under no obligation to cover the annual
dues. Yet had the response been formulated differently, e.g. As a matter of
principle the New Factory does not participate in costs of maintaining
certifications by its employees. Nevertheless we recognise and appreciate your
effort to earn the Charter, I would not have remembered it as the most painful
slap in the face since joining the New Factory.
December
2015
Chicks from
the HR Department organise a meeting to present a new personnel development and
remuneration model. The very attempt to foster development of most talented
staff is commendable, but opaqueness of the concept makes it fishy. Time has
proved the fishiness true – the model is like Loch Ness Monster – everyone has
heard of it, no one has seen it!
July 2016
A fellow
junior analyst from another team all of a sudden invites me for a lunch.
Unsurprisingly, not disinterestedly. He wants to take my advice whether to take
up a job with the New Factory’s state-controlled competitor. The junior is of
my age, has worked at the New Factory for five years and though his
competencies have not been inferior, his chances for promotion to analyst
position have been close to zero. Besides, as part of skurwienie, he has been
harassed by his boss. Folks around have never seen him as happy as during his
notice period; as happy as a man who breaks away from a torment.
Last
Thursday he brought his farewell cake. I wished him well, though I would not
follow his path. A state-controlled company is not a workplace I would fancy.
After two
years with the New Factory I have made a name for myself. Judging by how my
workmates and bosses treat me I infer my name is a recognisable brand in the
organisation. I am flying high, my tide is rising. Time to reach out for
benefits. If I am offering a lot to the New Factory, I can expect something in
return. I submit application for two positions, one in another big city in
Poland where the New Factory also has part of its head office, one in another
European capital where the parent company of the New Factory is seated.
Relocation plans (don’t know whether for a few months, a few years or forever)
put my flat purchase plans on hold…
August 2016
In the
middle of the holiday season some top dogs decide to pursue a new split of
customers between business segments with almost immediate effect. The reshuffle
involves also various transfers of account managers. The embittered account
managers whose long-lasting relationships with clients will be shattered
communicated the ill tidings to customers. Many of them threaten to quit, yet
the protest does not convince top executives to abandon their plan.
I cannot
believe this is happening. Such ridiculous moves could have been done by the
Employer, but the New Factory for years has truly fostered its relationships
with clients.
Early
September 2016
My plans of
relocating within the organisations all go down the drain. Besides, my boss
shows my the e-mail in which a director from the HR Department remonstrates him
over allowing me to submit those applications. He adds had he been an obedient
corpo-swine I would have got it in the neck too. Oddly enough then I did not
construe the course of events so far as a serious warning sign.
21
September 2016
The HR
Department and Senior Managers organise a workshop with selected employees on
career paths (I do not attend it, but it soon becomes a hot topic across the
office). The workshop turns into veritable cut and thrust during which managers
openly tell their employees they do not deserve to get anything more from the
organisation and they should forget about prospects of promotions or pay rises.
At the end a guy from the HR Department speaks it out: if you want to develop,
look for opportunities outside the New Factory.
My comment:
if a host shows you the door, for the sake of your well-being leave his place.
Of course, changing a job wisely is a matter of careful lookout and take
several months.
Currently I
am not going to make any abrupt moves. This year has been good in terms of
meeting targets, therefore I must not miss my bonus for 2016 I will be eligible
for in late 1Q2017. Once the money is transferred to my bank account. Before
this happens, around Christmas 2016, after my annual assessment is approved, I
am going to talk to my boss what my chances of being promoted to senior
analyst and getting a pay rise are and justify him why I believe I deserve it
(I have been compiling a list of arguments for a few weeks now). Implications
of that conversation will set the path I will take in 2017.
Sometimes
during job interview recruiters ask candidates where they see themselves in
five years (what their job description would be, what position they would hold,
what competencies they would improve, etc.). I feel this question is totally
irrelevant to me. I believe no matter what I do, how hard and diligently I
work, how few mistakes I make, how much I stand out among peers, in five years
I am doomed to hold the same position and earn the same salary. Unless I find a
job with another company…
I am
emotional now, I realise. I need to cool down and think things over. I had to
spew out the most bitter emotions that have accumulated inside me recently. In
the coming weeks I will soldier on, as in the short-term changing nothing will
only benefit me. In the long-term the best choice is to take the path that will
least harm me (at best).
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