In my previous position, which was a whole whopping week ago, the beloved supervisor who originally hired me (that the entire office adored), promoted herself into a better paying position and out from under the nose of a power-hungry, ego-tripping section manager a few months back. My office went from a very involved, happy, genuinely interested in US (her employees or “her girls”), flits-around-the-office-type-that-everyone-loved supervisor to…an ego-tripping, entitled, couldn’t be bothered, two-faced fake supervisor.
See our problem here?
We went from a woman who cared more for the well-being of her office, her customers, and her staff rather than her own well-being, and on days she was suffering from one of her severe migraines or allergy attacks, would have to literally be forced home so she wouldn’t make herself suffer through the entire day. In her time there, the office was fun, light, airy, breezy… flitty. Everyone loved visiting our office not only because she was there, but because she was there, her employees emanated the same happy behavior she did…because we WERE happy. (Not to mention, she was killer when it came to holiday decorations.) And when she announced she had promoted, we were devastated. Flat-out, life won’t go on devastated. I had finally found a manager I loved working under, I loved half of the staff I worked with and saw on a daily basis (the other half is a WHOLE other blog… probably a blog series…), and I really truly loved my job and job tasks. I loved my desk, my window, my cubicle, my office, everything.
But then the world dealt me a huge ‘ole slap of reality to remind me to not get comfortable.
Fast forward 2-3 months after our beloved supervisor promoted and we’re being introduced to a woman wearing tights pants, knee high 3-4″ heeled boots, and something that looked strangely like a dead animal as a vest. First impression – not good. We went through the falderol of pleasantries and feigned happiness to meet her during introductions before she was swept away into our section head’s office (located in the suite next to ours, not IN the suite we worked in) for “training”. A couple of days passed where we honestly can’t recall ever saying much to her or seeing her really. She made absolutely no effort to get to know the three of us (though I can’t blame her for not wanting to get to know the “tenured” employee in our office…) and didn’t seem at all concerned with what our particular office did for the company – never mind that she was now the supervisor FOR that section and technically, should be able to run the office by herself should she ever find herself in that position.
Fast forward four more weeks and we find ourselves in quite a predicament – I’m working my last week in that particular office in that particular position because I’ve accepted a promotion in a different section within the company and am moving upstairs; and, consequently, no one knows the in-and-outs of my job but me. Which leaves me quite befuddled as to who’s going to do my job while they’re in the process of hiring my replacement?
Nonetheless, I decided to take a “sick” day on Christmas Eve Eve and upon returning to work the following Tuesday, was told, via text, that my morning task was being taken on by another individual so that the new “boss” could “sit with me and better learn what you do before you move upstairs”. And as annoying as it was to receive that text at 6:00 in the morning, I obliged, didn’t complain (to her) and went about my day. And wouldn’t you know it? Four days passed – now bringing us to Friday, or New Year’s Eve Eve – and not once did the new “boss” sit with me or even seem remotely interested in doing so.
Before leaving on New Year’s Eve Eve (four days after I received the text that I would not be completing my usual morning task), I ensured my cubicle was free and clear of any sign that I ever occupied it, had ensured that all of my work was currently caught up as far as it could be, and even left a note for the new person fated to fill my position to let them know where I left things off.
Come Tuesday after New Year’s weekend (yesterday), I’m in my new position, on my first day, already under an insurmountable amount of stress and am feeling not only very overwhelmed but quite inept as I overthink my new job tasks. I come back from lunch to find that my old section head, aka power-hungry and ego-tripping, had actually walked upstairs to find me to ask me a question about my old position. Me, being in the middle of training of course, decided to let her visit go unnoticed, as I figured she’d try again later. And LO AND BEHOLD, she sends up Ms. Dead Animal Vest, to ask me the same question to see if she could elicit a response. Short of telling Ms. DAV (Dead Animal Vest) she had four weeks to learn what I used to do (and had I promoted out of the building or division, she wouldn’t be able to ask me these questions), I answered her question as civilly as I could and went about feeling sorry for myself in my new position for the remainder of the day.
Which brings us to present day: I’ve been asked to come down this afternoon to “explain” to the bosses what the new “boss” should do with some paperwork I left in her inbox before my departure. Which, coincidentally, had she actually sat down with me the last three weeks I was on the job, she’d know how to do in my absence. And with this request, I find myself chuckling and completely incredulous at the lack of organization presently festering in my old office.
How do you consciously accept a position as a section supervisor and then show absolutely no interest or concern for said section? For five weeks, nonetheless. You WANT the responsibility and the title and the pay, yet you lack the responsibility to responsibly run the office you were hired for. She knows no more about that office, OR the function it serves in the grand scheme of things, anymore now than she did five weeks ago. And she knows just as little about the women in the office who kept it afloat since May and who continued to hold the fort down for the two months there was no active supervisor.
Is it all a very thought out, well-planned strategy to convert that section into a complete dictatorship, with power-hungry and ego-tripping as dictator? Perhaps. But if she was looking to hire someone to be her minion, she failed to hire one with the responsibility necessary for such a task.
And with that being said, we can only hope she’s begun the process of digging her own grave.
#99problems 