Hell is the adjective that I’ll use to describe my work environment.
I was accused for being the reason that a project was delayed by a general manager from another team. I tried to calm down and explain myself, but it was drowned out by this general manager’s shouting.
I fought back verbally because I knew that I was not the cause of the delay.
That was the day I realized that I made a wrong decision to join this company.
A toxic work environment affects your physical and mental health.
There is no job in this world that comes without stress. It’s part of it. However, if the stress comes with sleepless nights and constant terror attacks, that’s a sign that it’s a toxic work environment.
“Reading my email is not a resolution.”
I had to travel outstation for a meeting when I received that text from my boss. It was regarding a particular task that was needed by our internal auditors.
I already replied my boss on this task a week before I travelled for work. In fact, this task didn’t even belong to me, but I attended to it anyways. However, my boss had different opinion about it hence the rude text from him.
That text made me so upset that I got into a car accident.
There was just too much drama in office.
Nobody can escape office drama or politics. But there is a point when it becomes too much.
I work in a company where the culture was so toxic that the employees spend a lot of their time gossiping.
There was a restructuring of the team recently, which was announced by our Managing Director via email. After the announcement, the people on my floor were gossiping about our team getting a new boss. The new boss was said to lack knowledge and experience.
That was all they talked about that week. It was truly uncomfortable when there were rude glances and fingers pointing during office hours. Unfortunately, that was the company’s “culture.”
I encountered a lot of WTF moments in this company. But the most WTF moment was when this entitled and angry PA went around the office to scold the people on my floor. Why?
She was looking for the owner of a water bottle simply because the water bottle fell on her feet when she opened the fridge.
This was a daily occurrence at my toxic work environment.
Unfortunately, many had attitude problems.
I was once called incompetent by my immediate supervisor. She went and told my colleagues that I was incapable of completing tasks given by her. I thought I would be defensive when I heard such an accusation against myself. But I was calm about it.
Despite the many false accusations she spread about me, I tried my very best to be professional. The entire situation was unfair. I was given a last-minute report to complete which needed an approval from her immediately.
“If it was so urgent, you should have sent to me last week,” she said to me with a face I was tempted to slap.
I wanted to react angrily towards her, but I did what I do best – I sucked it up and told myself some fights aren’t worth it. There is no way I’d behave the same way she does.
Overpromised, underdelivered
I should have known it was trouble when the hiring manager promised me mentorship and great working environment during the interview session. It turned out to be the opposite when I finally reported for duty.
The resignation of my two colleagues is the first red flag that I made a wrong decision to join this company. It didn’t help that my colleagues were hostile. I was put in charge of a marketing campaign for Christmas and I had zero knowledge of how to execute the campaign.
When I asked my experienced colleagues for assistance, I was turned away. “You find out yourself lah” – that was the common reply I got every time I asked a question in this company.
To add salt into my wound, my manager was not of any help either. She constantly shut my ideas down. She also offered no solution or guidance for the campaign. I tried my very best to do manage everything on my own. But who am I kidding? A big campaign needs a team. It led to the failure of the campaign, and I was blamed.
It took me awhile to realize that this job was slowly eating me.
I knew I had to leave this hellhole when I started to change to a person I’m not. I was hostile. I was angry. I was selfish. It was affecting my relationship with my husband. It was one decision that I made with no regrets.
I worked in this toxic work environment for one year. I finally decided to call it quits last September.
Quitting may not be the best solution. But taking a break helped me figure out what I really wanted to do in this industry. In the end, I landed myself a job that I always wanted.
For more articles on career, read 5 Things Non-KL People Learn After Moving to KL, and Customer Etiquette: 4 Do’s and Don’ts According to a Server.
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