Have been with my current company for just over a year now. I'm a top 2 producer(sales) in a company with 40+ other reps and would classify myself as a valuable member of the team. I got here by being recruited from my previous company after being the top producer there. I was expecting to receive sunshine and rainbows after being sold the world when being recruited. 12 months later, and I have been fired. Even after the accolades(Top producer for second and third quarters)that I obtained this year it didn't matter and I made some mistakes that some on this board can learn from. Coming in to the company I have always had great rapport with my bosses. I have been blessed with great leaders who were good people and wanted to help more than manage. The new company, well that was a different story. My manager was a prego lady. I will call her M. She came to the company after my VP left for a better opportunity. He was a magnificent leader who was well respected and it led to a tearful goodbye in the conference room from the more tenured folks. M was next in line. She was a gossip queen with a short temper. She wasn't inspiring but more so manipulative. . I witnessed on a daily basis as she tore in to some of the lesser producers and would try to run them off in inhumane ways(constant firing threats/name calling). M would even tell me about other people screwing up etc and it struck a nerve as it was none of my business. The way she went about things had started to take its toll on me as well. Our companies production dwindled as numbers went down and I received more phone calls from peers complaining to me about M's management style. I grew resentful and I took it upon myself to make it stop. M visited me one afternoon due to mandatory quarterly visits. At this point I showed some obvious resentment in my body language and she called me on it.I always felt the need to defend others and this is where my first mistake happened . I explained to her that her management style was causing the team to suffer and that she needed to change her method in order to get the team to respond better. First response out of her mouth, "stop being a p***y."(that was one of three times she called me that in next few months) Taken aback by her response I felt anger set in, but I ended up holding it together and leaving the scene with no words spoken. Ok, I may have stormed out. Weeks later the rumors started to come out that M wanted me gone. I started to get more after work calls about sales from M and always in an angry tone. More calls on off days and threats for termination due to not hitting goals followed. I was still producing at the same rate but I began hating my job. I had come to the realization that I was being run off. Time to talk to her boss I thought. And talk I did. I told her boss about the following situations that occurred and was told "she's just pregnant." That was the only real response I got. He could care less which seemed peculiar considering we were performing 20% worse in our second half since she took over. He let her run the team. I had enough and ended the conversation in a respectful manner. I left the office that day and considered my options elsewhere. I had been recruited by three other companies this year and decided to interview with all three the past two weeks. Excited about the idea of getting out of something I no longer liked I told a fellow co worker who I was close ugh that I was interviewing. Mistake number two. Last week I was approached by a fellow coworker about me interviewing elsewhere. I vehemently denied but as the days passed more and more people began asking me. Yesterday I get called in the office on my off day and was handed a termination letter with no reason given. I am jobless for the first time since 16 years old and somewhat relieved. I will probably end off for the better here but still perplexed that they were so eager to run me off. Lessons learned: Don't tell anyone you are interviewing Don't tell your boss that you she needs to be better at her job. Result: fired.
Congratulations. My father likes to tell his story about getting fired as a young man from a graphic design company. He says (but he's a Texan, so he feels entitled to embroider stories) he got his pink slip, went to the boss and shook his hand and said, "thank you for firing me because I was too dumb to quit." At my company, I could tell my boss I'm interviewing and he'd offer to network for me. At my company, if I told my boss' boss that he was underperforming, it'd be part of his 360 review and there'd be remediation. At my company, I'd be shocked if anyone called anyone else a p***y, and so would HR when they heard about it, and that person probably wouldn't stick around much longer. There are a lot of different work cultures from company to company. I like the one I'm in (even if I can't go and call someone names for ticking me off). It sounds like the one you were in was getting toxic. Be happy you're free. The good news is there is always work for salesmen who have a track record of results.
Sounds like you've made this a positive already. No doubt you'll be doing what you want to do in short order.
I made it a point to never have a woman as my boss. They just take everything so personally. Warning flags should be 1) had/having a baby 2) going through/just had a divorce 3)getting married/or just got married If any of these are happening, its a given she is half arsing her job and just being overall toxic to the workplace.
After the first time she called me a pu**y, I would have recorded every conversation with her. The next time she called me that or was unprofessional in any way, I would have gone straight to HR, and when speaking to HR, I would use the words "inappropriate" and "harassment" She would have lost her job immediately.AND they would be more hesitant to fire me knowing that they might end up with a harassment legal situation on their hands.
I agree with you 100%. I messed up not doing this. It was a learning experience. A learning experience I wanted to share for others to learn from as well.
I have no severance but the pay structure will be awarded to me as 100% of all commissions closed and not received will be awarded. 80% for next 30 days of all closings 50% for next 60 days of all closings I will come out of it well. I asked for a reason I was being fired and was not given one. The managers response was that they wouldn't change their mind. My response was that I didn't want them to change their mind but that I deserved a reason. They never answered. I just assume it was because of the intel they received. I was going to put my two weeks in on the 31st. So all this prevented was two base pay checks. I wanted to share this story as a learning experience more than anything.
I had a woman boss previously and it was actually a wonderful experience. I have never taken well to managers who gossip and put down others. It's the dumbest form of management there is. Solves nothing.
Unless your valuable. Then "accidentally" printing your resume' to the Executive assistant's printer will get you a raise.
I think so as well. Never feels good to hear the words "you are being terminated." That is probably just my ego flaring up.
I'd say the lesson learned is if executive management is willing to back an obviously bad manager, you pretty much have no choice but to leave. Also sounds like office gossip is really bad. Maybe you should spread the rumor that she's having the boss's baby
Pahaha that's some dirty stuff right there. I fortunately see it as a good thing so I'm not as out for revenge as some may be. Office Gossip is real. It got me good...
Do you really want to work for a company that would fire their top producer for such a (seemingly) stupid reason? Yeah, no. If you can sell, you'll have another job in no time. LOL.
