Dirty Laundry

So if you read my weekend recap you saw that I had a pretty crappy start to my weekend.  Well I’ll go into it now.  I think I’m ready.  But it still sucks and I still don’t agree with it.  But I need to get it off my chest into a medium that is not controlled by people who are “for me” or “against me.”  WARNING…this is a long post!

 

It all started Thursday afternoon when my boss, who I am friends with, received a phone call from her boss saying they needed to have a meeting that afternoon.  But she wouldn’t tell her what it was about.  I left before she came back but I talked to her later and was told that she would be moving branches.  While that was not a huge surprise because of some change-ups with the company we were both still in the dark on who her replacement would be.  Currently I am the assistant branch manager and with other managerial changes that have happened recently the assistant of the branch has been promoted in 3 instances so my assumption (even though we know what happens when you assume…) was that I would be a logical replacement.  It was a crazy night of what-ifs between us and we both just were waiting for the bomb to drop the next day as to what the changes would mean for the branches.

 

Cue to Friday…I spoke to my boss throughout the day but she had not heard anything regarding the changes any more than what we already knew.  I left for the day at 3 and headed to Wal-Mart to get a few things.  While there I received a text message from my boss saying that the changes had been laid out to everyone and I was not the replacement for her.  Now this wouldn’t have been a huge deal except that they replaced her position with someone who was already in the current position that I am in.  So basically I was replaced by a different me.  Who doesn’t know the clientele that we serve and hasn’t been managing the employees that I have been for the past 3 years.  I have had my hand in hiring almost all of the current employees that we have.  Needless to say I was beyond mad.  Plus I’m a crier.  So I was trying to keep it together while finishing up in Wal-Mart and get home.  Then of course on the way home I called the hubby only to sob-scream into the phone and he was at work.  So I’m sure that was the most awesome phone call to get on a Friday afternoon. 

 

After talking to my boss later in the evening after she got off work and we could cry/discuss together the thing that I got out of it was that no one outside of upper management understood why that specific change was made.  My reasoning was that I was pregnant and they don’t want promote me when I’m getting ready to go on leave for up to 12 weeks.  I’m not saying that is the full reasoning behind it but that’s what my initial thought was.  Along with quite a few other people.  After letting the news simmer over the weekend I concocted a letter to send to our Human Resources department, my boss’s boss and then the main person in upper management who has the final say in decision-making.  I had the hubby proof-read and add/change things to make it sound better and sent it to them first thing Monday morning. 

Monday continues and I get a phone call requesting a meeting with myself, my boss and her boss.  Again, no reason is given but of course I am super-nervous because I know it is regarding the email I sent.  She comes in at 3 to have the meeting and the first thing she tells me is that she is glad I sent the email because if I hadn’t then she would have been concerned.  She continues on that basically the reason that I was not given the position over this other person was based on a test that we had taken over a year ago where we chose which word out of 2 that described us better and according to mine I was more operationally-focused whereas the other person was more sales-focused and with the way our company is headed they were looking for someone more sales-focused.  I told her that I thought it was ridiculous that my future was based on a test and that I feel that I would do just fine in a sales-based environment.  She even told me that individual sales were not looked at when determining the position.  Only the test.  It was SO frustrating.  Of course I cried some more because I couldn’t keep it together (stupid pregnancy hormones).  She said she felt really bad and had a sleepless weekend after the decision was revealed.  She also said that I was a candidate but that the upper management was the final decision.  Really what I felt it came down to was she was afraid to fight for me if she really thought that I would have been the better candidate.  She also said I needed to prove to everyone that I can achieve sales…which really annoyed me because I do that and if they don’t want to look and see what I’ve done then that’s their loss.

 

So after that meeting I just had another pity party.  But then that night and the next day I really started to think more about it.  I have been with this company since 2004 and since then I have won multiple awards based on sales.  And then I could pull up a program and compare sales between myself and this new manager.  And we have a sales quota that when we open new accounts we have a cross-sale that we are supposed to achieve.  That cross-sale is a 3.25 average.  So basically per customer they are wanting us to sale 3.25 products per customer.  So I looked…and in the past 20 months I have achieved my goal 19 times.  She has achieved hers 6 times…so really does a test show someone’s true self or does it just say what you think they wanted to hear?  So then it takes me back to either thinking they really didn’t want to promote me because of my pregnancy OR they are just that dense that they think a test shows someone’s worth.  And then just because I am catty and I like to make myself feel better I have other reasons why I think I was the better person for the job…Like I’ve been with the company longer, I have my Bachelor’s degree and she doesn’t and again I already know the customers and employees and they respect me because they know me.

 

So yeah…sorry this was so long and thanks for anyone who read all the way to the end.  But I needed to get it off my chest and hopefully this will be my letting go moment.  I’m sure it will last a little longer seeing as this new girl starts on Monday but I will be the bigger person and just deal with it.  But I am definitely looking for other positions internally and externally just to see what my options are.