I used to work as a department manager for a semi large company. When I started there, work and culture seems promising, people are proactive, and plans are realistic. Then, pandemic happened.
When pandemic happened, the company switched to work from home set up. For the most part, this is really comfortable for us. However, the upper management does not have visibility on who is working or not. Their solution is to set unrealistic targets and deliverables to make sure everyone is really working.
There is this one employee, let’s call him Doomb, who graduated from a top university and previously worked with well known companies. He works as my counterpart, meaning we both have the same nature of work but handling a different business. At first, he sounded really smart and and cool. Until we discovered his shenanigans.
Doomb’s subordinates approached me one day and asked if they can transfer to my department. They said that Doomb takes the credit using their own work and makes them do his own projects without any guidance. I shrugged it off since I don’t want to be part of their problems.
Then one day, my boss approached me and ask if I can take Doomb’s department on my wing since they are assigning him to another role. I said yes but negotiated for a better package since I am taking 2 departments already. My boss said to give him time to get some budget and we’ll talk.
And for a year, I tanked the responsibility of 2 departments while delivering results. I managed more than 10 big projects that helped the company reach its highest sales ever. After having a stellar performance, I approached my boss again to ask for an update regarding a raise, to which he replied that the company is prioritizing other things right now and my request has been on hold.
Meanwhile, Doomb, who is assigned to a new project who contributed just 2% of the total sales of the company, was awarded Employee of the Year. His team hates his guts, knowing that he just grabbed the glory from them.
I know I might sound bitter, but I am not. I stayed for another year in the company hoping that they will change. But they did not. The final straw came when I learned from my colleague that he was given a raise twice, coincidentally during the time when I renegotiated my salary.