Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
This story is shared by a Malaysian office worker who left his previous job after many empty promises made to him, and is now in a happier place at a company that values his contributions.
I began work in a start-up about four years ago. I did not have high expectations on the job. Before taking up a job at this tech start-up, I was a film editor in the Malaysian movie industry.
During the pandemic, as the movie industry shut down briefly, I was convinced by my friends to switch industries to tech.
However, the longer I stayed, the more I realised there were 4 signs that my boss’s talks to promote me were in reality just empty promises:
Sign #1 : They make big promises.
When I joined the start-up, we were underemployed and I had to take up multiple roles.
Although initially, I was hired to be a content creator for the mobile application’s digital marketing, I eventually took up the role of customer care personnel, marketing strategist, public relations officer, and many others while still under the job title of “copywriter”.
When we needed to start hiring more people, I also took up the role of recruitment manager, as I was the one dealing with sites like Jobstreet.com to manage recruitment. I even conducted interviews and helped build a team of customer care personnel.
On top of that, I’ve written the company’s mobile application terms of service, user guide, and the orientation guide for the new customer service personnel.
In short, although I have not invested money, I have invested effort and time into the growth of the company. I was kept along with the promise of becoming the marketing manager as the company grew. I stayed as I felt it was the right choice.
About a year down the road, the company that started with 5 employees now had 16, including eight customer care employees. The dream of becoming a managerial level employee was inching closer.
Meanwhile, I had a very minimal increase in salary, despite doubled responsibilities due to the added duty of monitoring the customer care team that I trained.
Sign #2: They claim you are not ready to lead.
At the end of the second year, talks about my promotion came about. But despite having a good reputation with my team, the title of manager was denied to me. The reason they provided was, “You are not ready to lead.”
Instead of me becoming manager of the marketing department, the company hired a general manager. Meanwhile, I was made Senior Marketing Executive.
After this, I got married and went on a long break. Upon returning from my month-long honeymoon, I was bombarded with a series of complaints from my boss about not completing the tasks in our previous year’s annual marketing plan.
In my defense, I’d been writing user manuals & scripts for the customer service, training the customer service staff, and travelling as an in-house photographer for our product road-shows.
I was told that if I was busy with tasks apart from my immediate duties, I should have delegated the jobs to the junior marketing executives to execute. Mind you, they were fresh graduates who still needed a lot of guidance.
I accepted the criticism and put in more hours. I would pretty much spend almost an entire day in the office, finishing up the pending tasks. I also began training the juniors and delegating jobs to them.
Sign #3: They tell you to stick to your role.
Within a few months, things were running smoothly like clockwork, and all I had to do was to monitor the people I have delegated the jobs to.
Since I had more free time, I would often focus my efforts on other ambitious tasks the company always wanted to try but never had time for, such as starting a YouTube series for the company’s products.
Since I was passionate about making videos, I got too involved and that became a complaint on the following year’s appraisal. This time around, the complaint was, “We don’t see you in the office as often as last time.”
In my defense, I didn’t need to be in the office because the jobs that I supposedly failed to delegate earlier… had been delegated! And the people in charge have been well trained to handle it smoothly. Hence, it stood to reason that I was free to do extra for the company.
However, I was told I was not hired to make videos, rather my job scope requires me to write and that is what I should be doing. I corrected my general manager, stating I am the senior marketing executive, not just a copywriter, and that was when the general manager showed that on record, my title was still copywriter.
To add salt on the wound, I discovered from close friends in the HR department that some of my junior executives were getting paid more, and their year-end bonuses were significantly more too.
Sign #4: They only want you back after you’re gone.
This was the final straw for me. Within the month, I tendered my resignation, left my job and went back to making videos, which is where my true passion lies.
It’s been three months since I left. Many employees of my previous company, especially those who I personally trained and groomed, left too.
I was doing a lot in my previous company, hence there were a lot of things to nitpick in my work. When I left, everyone was struggling to find a person to place the blame on. So the junior executives became the next target, because we all know the top management is never at fault in any company. In my opinion, that’s what caused the ones I worked with to leave the company one by one.
I received multiple calls to come back, and I was offered a significantly higher salary and the position as a manager. On top of that, I was even given the option to work from home for most of the year.
I still refused. For me, it was too little, too late.
Today, I have directed videos, edited videos, and have written multiple scripts. My job scope is clear and the company I work for is completely transparent.
What I learnt from my experience
Always recognize a toxic work environment. A good leadership will not blame you for your shortcomings, they will provide opportunities and guidance for you to grow.
They will not make you feel like you are not enough, but rather they will encourage you to reach your full potential.
What do you think of this story?
Submit your story to this Google form or email us at hello@inreallife.my and you may be featured on In Real Life Malaysia.
Read also: My Boss Replaced Me then Begged Me to Come Back and Save The Company
My Boss Replaced Me Then Begged Me To Come Back And Save The Company
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