The Low-Down

Ok. I know a few of you are just dying to know the low-down on the hoe-down here at work. So let me delay you no further. Warning: This is going to be long. There is much I have been holding back. My office really sucks at promoting hard working people. I’ve seen it several times here. Someone gets passed over for a promotion for one reason or another. They always have a “Politically Correct” reason for this of course, but it’s really a shitty thing to do. I know that things like this usually happen from time to time in the workplace, and the workers usually wind up bitching about how corporate sucks, or how HR doesn’t know what the f&%$ they are doing. ( “Down with the Man!”, and “HR Sucks!”). But in this case, I really am learning this company just does not care about it’s staff. I keep trying to think it’s just me being negative, but no. This really is the cold hard truth. This company favors a body to fill a position over a knowledgable helpful, capable professional who just might be able to do some good. I’ve seen many really good employees leave because they felt like they were not being appreciated enough for what they do. The higher ups have allowed these people to leave without even attempting to get them to stay. I have also seen so-so employees put in their two-weeks notice, and then suddenly they are staying. Surprise, somehow, “their needs” are now being met, and they are staying with the company. One guy actually quit to go to another company, and after several months, the company sought him out, and made him an “offer he couldn’t refuse”. And just today, a very good person was passed over for a manager position for a mystery that has yet to be solved. This one really surprised me because I thought for sure he would get it. In this company, it really is coming clear that it’s more important who you kiss up to that matters, and not your work ethic. I find that really sad. Another issue with this place, is that our “yearly merit increases” are a joke. Last year was a good year for this place, and yet the merit review didn’t even come close to meeting the standard of living increase. (7% by the way). People on welfare were compensated more than the people that work at this company were last year! Since this year was not a good year for us, one can only assume that this year’s merit increase, if any, will be equal or even less. If it can BE even less! I read an article on MSN a while back about how it’s more effective to quit your job (or get fired) and find a new one to get your pay increase. People in the office have been speaking about how they hope they get laid off, because at least then they will get a severance package, and they will have money coming in while they take their time finding a new job. Isn’t that a little sad? People are hoping to get laid off. Because that is better than staying there and suffering any longer. Then, it happened to me. Well…. I had been passed over for a Planning position twice before, and not allowed to be considered for the third because I had just taken on a new allocation role. The first time I was passed over was understandable because I was up against two other girls that had more experience than me, as well as more seniority. And, I suppose the second pass over was the same. I was up against the other girl that got passed over the first time with me, and of course! She got the second position. So naturally, you’d think that when the next position came open, that I’d be a shoe in right?! Well, maybe at your company, but not at mine! The third postion came up probably about a month after I had taken over my new allocator position. So of course, I thought OK. This sucks, but I guess I can deal with it. (You might recall me discussing this issue a while back. I’ll try to find the old entry for you to catch up). Well, that brings you up to speed to today. (or what will be the proverbial today since I won’t be posting this until some things pan out) To make a long story short, and some of you already know the details. I had recently applied for yet another Planner Position in the office. This will be my fourth attempt for this type of position. With no one over me in seniority positions. My Divisional Manager called me and my Manager into her office and told me that she really thinks that I should stay in Allocations for at least 4 more months. Once again, I’m not going to go into details. Mainly because I think I could probably write a lot of pages on this subject. So flat out, I asked her, “Is this your way of trying to get me to leave the company? Because if that is the case, I can just put my two-weeks in today.” Her response to this, “I don’t want you to leave the company. If I wanted you to leave, I wouldn’t be having this meeting with you right now.” So needless to say, I walked out of the office pretty damn pissed. My manager had to hug me, which made me cry (I cry when I’m totally pissed off), and then she and I went to the lunch room to talk it over. She is a really great person, my manager. I learned some interesting things from her. And thus marks the end of my love affair with this place. Of course, my love has been dwindling for several months now, but alas, the last flame has fizzling out leaving nothing but darkness. And to top it all off, we didn’t make our plan this year, which means I am not getting a bonus. And since we didn’t do well this year, they are re-arranging the merchandising department. So I just know I’m going to get the shit end of the stick. For some reason my Divisional has it out for me. Even though my co-workers, and my manager all seem to compliment me and praise my abilities on a regular basis. But whatever. I’m done with this nonsense. Now on to the new revelations: Darin and I have been discussing me moving closer to him for, I don’t know, maybe 9 months now. And these last developments at work, have really helped me to accept this fate. So I am looking at things in the Fargo Area for now. Actually, around the time that this fourth Planner position came open, I had already been sending my resume out, and keeping diligent watch on the job websites for open positions in Fargo. I had a couple of phone interviews, so I’m hoping that things are going well. Well, it is now 2/20, and both companies want me to come in for personal interviews. I have been trying to negotiate interview times for a week now, and we finally have set a date. From what I can tell, my recruiter thinks both companies are very impressed with me. So I hope she is not blowing me full of smoke. I’ll keep you up to date. But like I said, I am not posting anything until I get it locked down. I don’t want to jinx myself. OK, so now it is 3/6, and aren't you dying to know what happend?