So here now is a tale of such events.
I worked at company X for well over a decade, and rose through the organization. My last job there was what they call a development type job, meaning that if you do well, they make your job permanent, and if not, well then you go back to the job you had before. In my case the boss (Let’s call her Jane) failed to get the position funded, so towards the end of the 3rd budget year, her boss told me I would be going back. Now at this point I decided that was not an option, and since other companies were hiring, I went for it. Got pretty much the same salary and benefits, and was a good opportunity. My boss (you remember, the one that forgot to get my job funded) was happy for me.
The new job was great, gained a lot more experience, worked with great people. But alas, all good things come to an end, and the company began the slow circle around the drain starting in 2010. So, I started looking around again, and interviewing, etc. I even asked about a job back at the old company; even though my rule #3 is ‘Never go back’, a rule I have broken one other time in the past. To my surprise, they hired me back, so I went.
Here is where it gets real weird. 2 weeks into my return to company X, another company I had interviewed with called, and wanted me to meet with their executives. I did, and at the end of the day, they offered me the job. With a substantial raise, nice corner office with view of the city, small staff with room to grow as they launch a new project; I was torn. Do I bail out on the people that just re-hired me, or do I take an opportunity to maybe move my career along and in the process maybe make a little more money so I can save for retirement. The kicker was when they called again and said they would also pay for most of my benefits. So besides a nice place to work, more money, I could keep more of it since they were paying for benefits (mostly anyway). I agreed, but told them I needed to give a minimum of two weeks’ notice. They agreed.
I gave notice by scheduling a meeting with my boss, who was shocked but said he understood, who could turn down such a great offer.
As the day came for me to leave, we met again to discuss things, and I assured him I understood the pressure on him for re-hiring me and then I leave, but I seriously had no idea the offer was coming. I had not heard from them in months, and that is not an exaggeration. He told me he did catch some crap from the big shots, but for me not to worry about it.
So now I am at my new job, and everything is pretty much great. One of my pals at Company X and I are chatting on the phone, and she lets out that “Jane” has been telling everyone at Company X that she tried to warn people re-hiring me was a mistake, that I would be leaving, “just like she did me”…ok, SO that’s not exactly how that went down, so what’s up with the assertion I bailed out? She never lifted a finger to help me out, and now she is spreading this garbage?
So today, I contacted my pal, and told her hearing that bit of news actually didn’t shock me; it reaffirmed my low opinion of Jane as a manager. She laughed and told me that that was everyone was saying, her petty behavior was only reaffirming her own shortcomings.
You know Canice.......this is fascinating for two reasons.
ReplyDeleteOne is mine.
I was retired for a period of months. Retirement for me doesn't mean crap since I was married for 20 years on active duty; my former wife (who is a great woman), gets 1/2 of my retirement pay "just because". And, as a result of me getting a divorce in GA, she gets almost the other half in child support for a single child, for whom I also pay for a bunch of other shit. So, instead of having $3800 a month as a pension for 25 years of service, I get about $800......so I have to work.
And I do not mind that. I worked at several gigs in a very short time frame because, like you, I was looking for the better deal. I had one great opportunity from "Casey's" General Stores (a convenience store chain that was growing like crazy) to be hired as a store manager trainee in a small Illinois town......and the district manager, in the second interview, said that he was afraid that hiring someone with my qualifications would be a negative for him as he was afraid I would leave if something better came along. I told him that I WOULD leave if something better came along, unless that something was a promotion.
I didn't get the job, ended up working for my company for more money and no benefits.....but remember, I was starting over, and the money was really the bottom line.
Reason #2. My wife of three years has worked all of her life......18 years of it for a single, family owned company (not her family). This company owner couldn't find his ass with both hands an a road map. When Janet and I met, and I moved to her small town to be with her, I asked the company owner for help connecting with the local community business leaders, of which he was one. Now, I didn't NEED much since Janet was his general manager and she made "X" dollars a year. He didn't do shit for me. Well, the job Market in the metro Saint Louis area sucked so when my current company offered me my job, at a pretty good salary, I consulted Janet because it was real money, but would involve moving from the ST Louis Metro area to the KC Metro area. Janet saw the wisdom right away, and encouraged me to take the job, which I did. Her boss promised her that he would structure her job so that she could work from home, and even sent her out here with a complete home office. Once here, he changed the rules and made her job a "commission only, and only on new business". Janet had built that business of 35 people up to a $6 Million a year business, but the owner saw no benefit in her when it came to the bottom line. Today there are only 6 employees in the company, only two of them work full time (40 years). ALL of the employees that have managed to survive as the owner drives the company into the ground, call Janet all of the time.....they want her, they NEED her to come back....but the owner won't swallow his pride and ask her back under any circumstances.
Janet now spends her days, walking the dog, caring for the house and the property, paying our bills on 1/2 of the income we had when we actually bought our house. We KNOW that her former boss is a shit head and a loser, as evidenced in his driving the company in the ground. and she would never return to work for him, even if she COULD turn the company around. Janet didn't burn her bridges.....her boss did.....and as far as we are concerned he can take everyone in the company down with him.....we are that vindictive......(at least I am). Today, everybody in that small town knows that, even though Janet lost her job....that the company and that family are the real losers.
And I am good with that.
Between yours, Canice, and Lee's story there is two fine examples how things never change beyond the schoolyard. I'm kind of in the same boat where I'm working now, having been hired with several promises made that haven't, and I doubt will come to fruition. Now that I've been here a while I can see the same familiar signs of a business owner and their management team just driving the place into the ground while their competition is weathering the poor economy much better.
ReplyDeleteI liked working for myself much better. Much easier to yell at the boss.