I remember driving to the interview and thinking “no way am I taking this job.”
I was 20 minutes early for the interview so I drove around the neighborhood and saw people sitting on their front porch holding shotguns. The commute was 15 minutes farther than my current job and parking at the building was damn near impossible.
Then I went in and met the management and staff. Not only did they know exactly what they wanted, but they seemed to genuinely care about their employees. They desperately needed my skills and they were not pretending they didn't want me. They accepted my counter-offer without hesitation.
After I started there I found out they previously had massive walkouts and had taken steps to remedy their weaknesses, especially by removing managers that were disliked by the employees who had left.
My boss was great, gave stay interviews, bonuses for completed projects and for extraordinary work which I was being recognized for. He really seemed to care for his people. They even moved to a new location away from the shotgun people and into a $4M new building.
Then my boss' father got ill and he took 6 months leave to care for him. They hired a manager from a company nearby. I called some former colleagues that worked there and they threw a party after he left. He started micro-managing everything, messing with the teams and sitting in on meetings. Instead of doing projects (which I was hired to do,) I was put on the maintenance team. But I was still getting “loaned” to the project team for assignments. Same work, lower status and zero chance for advancement.
The office atmosphere had turned dark. Peoples' behavior was more toxic. Complaining was more common than usual. Bonuses had disappeared. Management was no longer grateful for your help, you should be grateful to have a job. You'll do what your assigned, even if it is morally and legally questionable.
I had really enjoyed working there for the first 2.5 years. I was proud of the recycling nature of the business and I really thought working there was a net positive for the world. In six short months, everything changed.
The last straw was when they demoted my original manager after his father passed away and his leave ended. He was gone soon after that. He was one of the best managers I have ever had, and they put him in a spot with zero people under him.
After giving my notice I found out two of my original project teammates gave their notice at the same time as me, including the team leader. I suppose the upgrades they had done to change their employee retainment problems were eventually forgotten and the company returned to normal.
Last week I spoke to an ex coworker who still works for the company but has transferred to Germany and the new terrible manager has been fired. He says things have not improved much. That guy was a symptom, not a cause.
The lesson for me was that you can work for the greatest company in the world and if your manager sucks, the job sucks. All my hard work and recognition walked out the door when my manager left. Barely anybody beyond him even knew what I did for the company. With him gone they didn't even know what team I was supposed to be on.
When you are interviewing for a job, take that opportunity to interview your potential manager, especially by talking to people who work for him. Specifically ask how it is working for him. If you get evasive answers, don't walk, run away.