It is a cool April day; a day in which April is pretending to be February or March. A man, we shall call him X, walks into the office of his director to resign. He believes that there might be a discussion but, he is resigning, nothing more, nothing less. People do this every day. He does not realize that he has just entered the Twilight Zone.
X is a hard working man with southern charm and wit. He does not take his job lightly. Throughout the past year his boss (Z) has taken advantage of his willingness to do whatever it took to get the work done with quality and timeliness. While he worked, Z did personal things in the office or took care of the details of a personal life. Despite the attempts that X made to communicate with Z regarding his workload, lack of personal time, frustration over a apparently dead end job, Z took no action.
Earlier this week, X did resign... or he thought he did. (This is where the story gets weird)
Z refused to let him resign. (You ever heard of that? He wasn't trying to negotiate; but, Z refused to allow him to leave without having the chance to counter the offer)
At this point Z began working to counter the offer (remember, this is not what X wanted). Z revealed the details of the new position to other parts of the department and the spouse. Z then left weird voice mail for X regarding the situation.
And if this isn't Twilight Zone enough... Z then called the new employer and blasted them for stealing talent (what happened to X having freedom to choose where he works?) asking the employer to put nothing in writing.
This is a true story and there is not yet a resolution. Our friend X has not yet emerged from the "Zone." In one sense, he feels flattered that he is in such high demand. On the other hand, he is caught between a steam roller (Z) and the pavement. His rights as an individual and an employee have been completely trampled.
Z is now playing mind games with X; telling him that he could do better, should be offered more/different etc. Z is undermining his belief in his choice. His new job offered more stability, regular hours, a personal life, and for him... the all important career track. There were very few, if any, negatives to this offer. As I said, he went in to resign.
My question is, regardless of what Z can offer, who would want to work for someone who behaved in such a manner?
3 comments:
That is twisted and wrong on so many levels. I think the final straw is definitely the calling the other employer bit. How'd Z find out who the other employer was? That's just not cool.
X should feel very flattered to be in such high demand. But seriously, Z sounds a bit crazy. Calling the new boss seems so unethical. X needs to get out! You are so right-who would want to work for someone who behaved like that?
X is a really nice guy. His objective was to leave, not burn bridges. I asked the same question... why tell Z? He said because it was what he felt was right. He also, being the nice guy gave Z all the details of the new position; giving Z plenty to use against him. What happened to ethics in the work place? X is still waiting. I think he needs to give Z a deadline so that he can move on with his life.
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