Hiya reddit, longtime lurker and firsttime poster. Please bear with me as I am on mobile and English is not my native language. This is a long post and a vent, but I am in need of advice and empowerment too.
TL;DR: New upper management want me to be their new right hand. I value my employees enough to feel heartbroken about this woman's new result-based management and complete disregard for human beings. This is not leadership or ownership in the slightest. I feel horrible for the people I work with.
I have been with this huge, financially healthy, entertainment company in France since 2015. Started as an employee and after a few years I got promoted to management in 1 of our many locations.
It is a company where the employees are more like friends, and everyone is devoted to each other, helps each other out, the loyalty WAS immense.
When I got promoted to manager, I had a branch manager that would see my loyalty and commitment. He gave me tons of responsibilities. If they worked out, I got massive compliments. If they didn't we'd have a great constructive talk on how to grow, to own the mistakes and do better next time. I felt seen, acknowledged, appreciated.
This trickeld down; In my role, I have to guide and facilitate the employees, and I would use exactly the same tactics. Using this leadership and commitment to the people I work with, I am trying to get people out of their comfort zone and dare to try new things that benefit the company while they get a chance to grow as a person. And although I like targets to be met; At the same time I care about their well-being and want to make sure my colleagues are happy and feel safe. They should feel free to explore and try new strategies, while we as management care about the person behind the employee.
Please don't bash me as a 'manager'. I have been there as an employee and know how important it is to feel validated, to be acknowledged for your loyalty to/hard work for the company. I still make it my mission after all these years that the now employees feel the same.
During the pandemic, 4 of my most valued, kind-hearted colleagues left, including my branch manager
My former Branch manager found a great new opportunity and I wish him all the best. This manager was known to make work important, but also had fun. He had deep conversations with employees that were '2 tiers below him' and manage to challenge them, while also validating their strenghts. It was a work hard, play hard attitude and it worked. Because happy employees make happy customers.
ENTER NEW BRANCH MANAGEMENT.
I am mortified. This person is known to be all about results and not care about people at all and they joined us about a year and a half ago. Her disregard of human well-being shows in so many ways, I can make 7 posts about my personal experiences alone. I tried to have a decent conversation but she is so immensely convinced of her own opinion that a normal conversation is not even possible.
And now the final 3 colleagues in management I have worked with for years found a great new challenge in their working life. I am all that is left of what used to be a stable team. I am the only one with more than 1 year of management experience. And because of that, I should be her new assistant. We found new colleagues, but most of them have less than 4 month's of experience, and we are still 2 people short.
I have been scolded, treated like shit by upper management and am asked to work more hours and triple mu workload, while I have to bring nuance to the employees about how it is not cutting everyones hours, but using the hours more efficiently. This is just one example. I am responsible for the usual hours of service, HR and try to bring in more money by promotion and marketing. I used to be included in decision making, but feel held back and worthless by this new strategy.
Everyone feels it, they know it. This is such a huge change from the way we used to work and be important, or even valued in what we do.
I. Feel. Exploited. I finally feel that I have been exploited for a long time, but now it is dawning on me just how much.
And when she talked about me being her new assistant, we had a talk about tons of new responsibilities, and appreciation. It basically came down to I have a workload of 3 people, without the promotion. So naturally, I asked for a raise. Bear in mind; i have worked in my current role for 7 years. I am still in TIER 1 OF 3 in my role when it comes to salary. When I asked about a raise, she said it was not her decision. But if I worked hard and showed full devotion, I might get a slight raise by the end of the year.
My opinions used to be important, my hard work felt importand and my loyalty was seen. I loved this company and I loved my job. Now I am just becoming a shell of the person I used to be and feel myself getting bitter. I still love the people I work with though, and it makes me feel extra shitty for them, too.
Currently on the hunt for a new job, I just wanted to vent. Thanks for reading.