I started at my current organization as a copywriter in 2015. I was good at it and, according to them, I brought in a unique skillset, the ability to write copies for B2B tech – long- and short-form. The new AVP who joined my location banked on it and together we built a Digital Marketing Practice around B2B tech. Over the years, we grew from just being 2 people strong to over 20 people strong – with me getting a team of 4 writers. The AVP made his way to VP and SVP. And he trusted me and ensured that I got the recognition for my work, so I also made it to AVP under his managership – sadly, my salary never caught up to market standard. I was okay with that as I had total freedom when it came to the way my team worked and we were doing some great work.
Then 2020 happened. The work-life-balance went for a toss. With hiring freeze we couldn't get much necessary people, and salary cuts came into play. What hit me more than that was the slow by certain erosion of company values that I used to love. Anyway, later that year, they formed another creative division, brought in a new SVP to head it, and as a creative resource, my reporting was moved to him. This new man took a few months to figure the ropes and he started filling the ranks in his team with his own people. So, I became the only senior member in his team that he didn't bring in. And slowly but definitely he started making it difficult for me and my team. The fact of the matter is, I didn't need his support on anything, all he had to do was not to make it hard to do my job. But he did just that. I shielded my team, but it came at a cost. Everytime I stood up against him, stopping him from further straining my team, he made it harder.
It culminated in last year's appraisal cycle where he gave me “inconsistent” as my rating. We had won more than one industry awards for our work during that cycle. But thankfully, the company's evaluation is too arbitrary to gain ground challenging his rating. So, for the first time, in 7 years in the company, I got anything other than “exemplary” as a rating. Severely affected my appraisal. And he kept at it, challenging everything I do. And I started focusing more and more on making sure that everything that I do at work is perfect, so as not to give him more ammunition. The my wife told me that this borderline paranoid way of ensuring that all eventualities are taken care of is starting to spill over to my personal life also. As in, after being like that for 50-60 hours a week, I am not able to switch it off. I am turning into a paranoid person.
So, I finally decided to move on. I didn't want my move to be reactionary, so it took time – almost 10 months. Finally I got an offer from a bigger firm, not a marketing agency like ours, but a tech firm with an in-house marketing team. It's a good role. Got a 50% pay jump. And the workload seems to be less, since it's just their work, in my current role I handle 20 clients. So, I am putting my paper down on Monday. I am happy and a bit sad about that. I am sad about leaving my team, and I hope the next person who takes over the role will treat them well.