Almost 5 years ago I started a job with my now former company as an individual contributor. Around 3 years into the role, my boss's boss flew into town and fired my then boss and promoted me to manager.
I was a nervous wreck at first, but just leaned into the work and tried my hardest. I did my best to listen, accommodate and learn. And…. It worked. There were a lot of issues to address, but I was making progress and getting results. On top of that, I was doing it the right way. I won an award for displaying the company's core values (nominated primarily by the 4 people who were my direct reports). I also got awarded an MVP award from our department head for the job I had been doing.
Fast forward a few months and my partner gets a dream gig in her career on the other side of the country. I inform the company I am moving and they are accommodating. They recognize my value, and want to retain me as an employee in a remote role. However, the company was not comfortable with me being a fully remote manager, so I would slide back down to individual contributor as soon as they found a new manager. After some pushback from me, they agreed to keep my salary where it was.
Fast forward another few months and a new manager is hired. I am of course tasked with training this individual, which I do. He is a little bit older than me but seems friendly enough and the training goes pretty smoothly. We seem downright chummy.
Unfortunately, soon things begin to sour. He is openly annoyed when emails are addressed to both of us, or he finds out that someone reached out to me for something instead of him.
It all just sort of spirals from there. He pins a couple of issues that were older than my entire tenure on me. He hounds me on how long things take me to do and questions my work ethic and “commitment to the team.” Anything and everything he can criticize about me, he does.
In my first quarterly performance review, he gives me a negative rating – my first such rating in my 4+ years with the company. I am pissed, but take it as a challenge. I step up my game, and work harder. I am pulling late nights regularly to go the extra mile. I know I am doing excellent work, that none of my colleagues at my level are doing.
However, when the next quarterly performance review comes around I once again get another negative rating. The reasoning is beyond flimsy, almost fabricated transgressions. Two consecutive negative ratings also earns me a performance improvement plan. All of the bullet points of what I need to achieve in order to keep my standing with the company are subjective measures. For example, the first was “Take ownership of work.”
After this I realize that these negative reviews and feedback has nothing to do with me. It is simply the reflection of an insecure individual needing a punching bag, and the fully remote former manager is a good target.
I update my resume and start looking for a fresh start. As I am getting traction, I become emboldened to stop putting up with all the crap. The late nights and extra mile work is done. This is noticed by the new manager and of course, criticized.
The straw that broke the camel's back was yesterday. I sent an email at 6:20 then ghosted his ping at 6:21 asking if I had time to talk. I got fired this morning.
What really drives me nuts though is the company is refusing to pay any severance. They are of course paying me through today, but nothing more. I had a follow-up call with HR and really pushed the history of positive reviews and that I was entitled to severance, but was stonewalled because I was terminated for poor performance. All of the hard work and dedication over the years meant nothing.
TL;Dr – Company's don't give a damn about you. Even if you bust your butt and get some accolades, a new manager can come in, not like you and get you kicked to the curb without even the decency of a small severance