I can’t wait to be out of this situation. I feel forced to stay because I need the health insurance coverage and have already paid thousands out of pocket to satisfy the high-deductible insurance plan and to get coverage for specialty medications.
My boss runs their own small firm. Small team. My boss is HR, judge, jury, and executioner. I work directly under my boss in an environment and work relationship that would make the writers of The Devil Wears Prada cry.
My boss invited my coworkers to go home early on the day of my performance review (which was at 3:30pm), unbeknownst to me, and they all awkwardly left, albeit failing to make it look casual. Unbothered by it yet curious, I texted a coworker, “Did [boss] tell you to leave early today?” and never got a response. I still don’t know if they were pre-warned on what was going to take place.
This is the first performance review I’ve had in 4 years I’ve been with the company. Prior to it, I filled out a “self appraisal” questionnaire and my coworkers (who I don’t work on any projects with nor do I talk to other than at the water station) filled it out as well, rating my skills and providing commentary.
I came ready to highlight project successes with examples, metrics, and client testimonials of a job well done, but it didn’t matter. The outcome for this performance review had already been decided by my boss. And it was dismal and downright insulting. Despite me saying that I didn’t feel the proposed changes reflected my experience, continued growth, and contribution to the firm’s continued success over the past 4 years.
In efforts to keep this post from being too long, I’ll sum it up here.
She demoted me, disguised by a new position that hadn’t ever existed, created because she “liked me.” The salary was cut in half. Take it or there’s the door. I felt cornered. I need health insurance. So I signed. The only thing I had the foresight to request was that we revisit the job position details after a month. It’s been a month.
My job duties have not changed. My boss took a thesaurus and picked the dumbest options for each verb to justify the pay cut on paper. My output has not changed. Demands of time and skill sets have not changed. Client interaction has not changed. Even my LinkedIn title hasn’t changed. Yet I now make less than the new college graduate I trained in last year.
Thanks for reading.