To provide some context, I work for a small marketing agency. I’m quiting for a long list of reasons (against remote work, constantly watching the clock, toxic culture) but also because I landed a gig that would be fully remote and pay me more.
I was a top performer at this agency and was promoted to a managerial position in less than a year. I started job searching aggressively when the CEO started to bully me everyday. She would nitpick my work, make passive aggressive remarks during meetings, and lecture me for not working past 6pm. When I finally received an offer at another position, I immediately sent off my notice via email and thought that would be the end of it.
They did not send a reply to my email nor make any acknowledgments to it besides one off-handed comment from another executive: “Guess we don’t need your head shot.” I thought I might as well talk to the HR person (he is the Chief of Operations but does HR tasks so not really HR) the next time I was scheduled to be in the office. I do so and ask if he received my email. He seemed a little caught off guard but did acknowledge that he received it.
A few days pass without any mention of my notice.
As I am finishing up taking photos for a project in an unused room in the office, the CEO and HR guy walk into the room and shut the door – mobster style. What proceeded was a 30 minute long berating. The HR guy felt like a henchman just sitting there and agreeing with all the things the CEO was saying. I don’t even know how to start but I just feel the need to vent and list all the things they threw at me as I sat there completely bewildered.
Things said to me:
- We invested a lot of money in you and are completely disappointed. Do you want to buy back the expensive gear we purchased?
- We overheard another employee when they were leaving that they wanted to grab a drink with you, I’m sure you both talked about leaving.
- Your work has been declining.
- I’m sure you were job searching on company time.
- Now I know why you were purchasing a home, nobody would lend to you if you weren’t working here for at least a year.
- You should have talked to us before you put in your notice, the way you did it was completely disrespectful.
- If you were to start a company how would you feel if someone did what you did?
- Is your new company fully remote? That’s not going to last, when the economy changes people will look for person to person connections.
- We care about people that is why we are giving you this talk. We hope you mature and learn from it. (I’m in my 30s btw)
I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish by having that “conversation” but I think they were looking to get a reaction from me to which they failed at. The only thing they successfully did was solidify that I was making the right decision to get out of there. If anyone feels that they are scared to leave a position because they might face the same situation I just faced, then you know that you need to leave. It’s the same as a toxic relationship.