Been lurking here for a bit, commenting a little, and I decided to tell my story. Hope this isn't too long. TL/DR? New branch manager does the title.
I've been with this company for 10 years, this industry for over 25. Have some minor issues but overall this company is the best, out of 7 different employers, that I've worked for in that time. I'm salary, high 5 figures. I've got about 4 years to go until retirement and I'm kind of riding my time out. I do my job, consistently ranked top 3 in the company so I'm not completely checked out. Mostly just not interested in moving up or changing employers.
We got a new branch manager in the end of last year, his 1st time in that position. When we first met I said I've been doing this a long time, I know what I'm doing and my numbers show it. So let me do my job and leave me alone. That was exactly the situation with the previous 2 managers and didn't have any problems in either direction.
- Two weeks in new BM starts micromanaging my time and my work schedule. I talked to him, saying I didn't appreciate or need that level of supervision. He claimed that he didn't like doing it but there were so many problems in the branch that he didn't have a choice. That's BS. Previous BM had been checked out for over a year, wasn't doing his job, and quit just before he got fired. We were still ranked #3 in the company because all departments knew their job and did it without a lot of supervision. Except sales to a point because most of them are new. But that's kind of normal – they really do churn sales people. His previous position was sales manager so if there was some area where he should've been spending his time it was there.
T2. Then I got my annual review. Our system is that I would 'review' myself. 5 categories with ranking 1 – 5. Of course I said I was God's gift to this industry and company. I included some specific examples to back it up. Obviously overblown but not by a whole lot. New BM comes in and give me my review. The text on each category agrees with my assessment, to a point, but the grade is 'Meets Expectations'. I told him that the text says one thing and the grade another. His response is that he had only been there a couple of months and can't be giving out Exceeds grades without having seen more of my work. And I was getting a 3% raise, the highest the company was allowing.
I said if he hasn't been there long enough to give me a proper review then he shouldn't be the one doing it. And that I knew for a fact that 3% wasn't the max raise
- A few months ago a memo went around that my position wasn't WFH at the branch level. We have 2 groups that do essentially the same thing. Corporate handles accounts that span multiple branches, the branch only handles accounts within that area. My colleagues in the Corp group cover multiple branches and work exclusively from home. I was WFH since Covid and was told that 'you're the only one whose numbers are up!' in the branch.
New BM days he needs me to be in the office full time. I did go in 1 or 2 days a week if somebody needed something, a sales rep wanted me to visit a job with them, etc. That wasn't good enough even though I was more productive at home. He said 'sales are down, you need to be in here'. But I'm not sales. I support the sales team but I don't generate sales.
So here's where I caused him to find out. The Corp group for my area had an opening for my position. It's the same work just involving a lot wider area. Different jurisdictions that I'm not familiar with, sales reps that I haven't trained and don't do their part in the process.
But it's WFH, not with this asshat, and I get a raise. So I applied and got it. The branch is losing somebody with 25+ years experience, lots of knowledge regarding local jurisdictions; for somebody with no experience or that knowledge.
I move over the 1st of the month.