I got my annual performance review yesterday, May 20th, that covers my employer's latest fiscal year. (April 1st – March 31st) I was the only individual in my department to receive an “Exceptional Year” rating.
I received no raise – neither merit nor cost of living.
To the soon to be former employer (name and shame on the way), your “exceptional” employee is now going to begin and end their workday on the dot. Breaks will take their full duration and will not be worked through ever again. There is no more “above and beyond”. A transactional approach replaces the personable one. What was once a career path limited by my ambition is now subdued by your lack of respect.
Unfortunately, this is nothing “new” as the lack of respect has been the writing on the wall now for the better part of two years. It has become substantially worse over the last five months, and multiple key departures had already led me to believe I needed to begin looking elsewhere.
You must find the courage to leave the table where respect is no longer being served
In that moment, during my annual performance review, I found the courage to speak out about the toxicity within the environment I was *forced to work in. My manager, who I have had the genuine pleasure of working with for the last 3 1/2 years, was probably surprised by my candor as I held back tears of anger and frustration. About a month ago, I received a text message from him as I was traveling out of state for a trip with my wife and son that he had formally announced his intention to retire. While our personal lives have remained personal, we have opened up at times to each other. In confidence, he had told me he was still about 3-4 years away from retirement, so his announcement caught me completely off guard.
I know I cannot be promoted (based on current standards) to my manager's recently opened position. (Full disclosure: I do not have a completed 4-year degree and do not possess advanced certifications associated with my trade) That being said, I have zero confidence in our facility's leadership team. Even if circumstances would change and their requirements would ease up, I wouldn't want to directly report up to the site director. My manager is successfully deployed as a buffer to this site director and other opposing departments, and without his presence my fear is that we will just be walked all over. (And anyone the site director approves to replace my outgoing manager is going to cater to other departments over their own)
I have given a significant portion of myself to my employer for the better part of four years, and the “thanks” I get in my most recent review – the highest rating out of more than 95% of the entire site's staff – is no increase in pay.
*The company intended to issue a directive last year (2021) to have employees return to the office full-time. This received significant pushback from the employees, and engagement survey responses suggested many would resign if they were not allowed to maintain a flexible work environment. In September 2021, the company instituted new policies for both the dress code (casual was now acceptable) and remote access. We were supposed to be given the option of returning to the site full-time, hybrid, or full remote. Our site director will not allow anyone to use the full remote option.