Was hired to help develop a new team for a growing company. It began with just myself and the director. My role would be to manage and build the new program and team while handling the companies different regions (with a team of analysts)
I spent 6 months preparing for this. Originally, the company put a couple members from previous roles after mergers on the team. I began training analytics and it was obvious they didn’t understand excel enough to “get there” so we changed ideas and created the admin group to support the analysts. (Uploading, data integrity, etc)
Much needed roles.
Up until this point I got along with everyone well enough and was excited to figure things out.
Then my director began the process of finding analysts. Hired them. I was excited to work with a team.
Then my director told me he gave them all the same title as me (for pay reasons) but didn’t discuss anything to me beforehand. Didn’t see this major change coming. I knew what it meant…I was no longer going to be building this team, I was just a team member.
I changed expectations and moved forward cause I wasn’t willing to quit.
The new employees seemed to form a clique which is whatever, but from the beginning I was on the “outside”
Months go by and they won’t talk to me. Any suggestion or idea is brushed away. This is confusing cause I spent so much time helping build the program before they arrived.
When we were working on a project and I made suggestions, they basically made fun of me cause I said the colors were all wrong. When displaying data in charts and graphs…this turned into laughing about all the colors we should use. To the point that I said “these aren’t my personal opinions, this is stuff I learned in trainings, education and spending 10 plus years doing this. (They never had before)
My director joined in. It was bizarre to me that an engineering company would want to show hot pink, bright purple…alll the colors and the same data could have multiple colors. No continuity. It was super hard to read and follow which ruins analysis.
One of the new hires then flat out began ignoring me. She just would not talk to me. Never understood why. It impacted my role so I brought it up to director who said “what do you suggest I do about that” (annoyed. Stern)
Other new hire gave me such a shitty look when I suggested something for a PPT we were going to present that I said “or not, so sorry to say anything” and walked away thinking WTF?!?
That same PPT, once I saw it, was too much to present. Normal people were not going to understand it. I brought that up to director.
He brushed me off. Get to meeting. Presents. First questions from conference room of 25 people start. It was “maybe I’m dumb but I don’t understand that” and whole crowd agrees. I just sat there shaking my head.
Then the next chat with director and he says to keep in mind when I don’t understand something I can be negative.
I quit talking. Quit having suggestions. Became miserable. Did that another 4 months before i decided to leave.
I was sad to make this choice cause I invested a lot into it. I managed our largest region and got along with everyone else. Enjoyed all our chats and laughter.
My inner team though……still bizarre to me.
Start my 2 weeks and begin offloading tasks to the others on my team that didn’t talk to me. One was professional and I handed off things fine to them. The other never found time for me. So they will have to figure it out.
Neither said bye to me. Director never said bye to me. My region sent me wonderful texts and emails saying goodbye.
This wasn’t even all the issues. Just the most bizarre situation I’ve encountered.