Burning Your Bridges?
Discussion
Never burn bridges! You never know if the person you've been 'open and honest' to by telling them they are a weapons grade bell-end will end up being your boss elsewhere in the future.....trust me on this one :-)
Don't forget that the people you meet on your way up will be there on the way down also!
One of my old colleagues changed loads of pictures in the staff directory when he left. Very entertaining of course but didn't do him any favours when he tried to get back in to the company!
Don't forget that the people you meet on your way up will be there on the way down also!
One of my old colleagues changed loads of pictures in the staff directory when he left. Very entertaining of course but didn't do him any favours when he tried to get back in to the company!
Edited by Autopilot on Saturday 13th April 19:46
The only thing I'd have a rant about is the appalling lack of 'pay ethic' (the wages are typically about a third less than the going rate for pretty much everyone's jobs), but I'd get to do that in the exit interview so no need to make an issue of it elsewhere. I would be tempted to put an 'out of office' on my e-mail with few interesting revelations in it, but in reality I'd probably just move on and forget the place.
Leaving a job a few years ago I told my bosses boss what I thought of my boss.. (Still firmly believe i had a genuine grievance) For some reason I ended up back there and the 'issues' were still present but he had a new boss.. Upon leaving I did the same thing again, turns out his new boss had a problem with him and was interested in what I had to say.
I can honestly say if I was interviewed at a company where I had to work with or under him, I'd look elsewhere unless I was extremely desperate for a job - even then, he's easy to 'work around'
I can honestly say if I was interviewed at a company where I had to work with or under him, I'd look elsewhere unless I was extremely desperate for a job - even then, he's easy to 'work around'
Whilst in the Army I told my Commanding Officer during my final leaving interview that the only reason I would follow him into battle was out of curiosity and that I would engage him in a battle of wits but he had clearly come unarmed. I was thrown out of the office and my annual report, written by him after said interview was a real hatchet job. I pinned it on the mess notice board as a leaving present. Didn't care as it was my last year in the mob so promotion wasn't going to happen.
Oh and the gentleman concerned later resigned and can often be seen on the news discussing military matters and his specialist role. He was very good at his specialist job but not a leader of men.
Oh and the gentleman concerned later resigned and can often be seen on the news discussing military matters and his specialist role. He was very good at his specialist job but not a leader of men.
Burning bridges is never advisable and sometimes, the adage of revenge being served cold is spot on.
Around '97, I was lured to go work at a printing company on the belief that they wanted to establish a marketing division and needed me to do this. Turned out the role was 'Johnny Sales Rep'. Despite starting from scratch with no contacts, I made a go of it and withi 6 months had exceeded my target and secured a nice three-year contract at which point, they decided I was superfluous to requirement.
Turns out this was a common occurrence with reps. As soon as they win a decent contract, they're out the door.
I then ended up working at one of their other clients in a marketing roll and joyfully spent the next year slowly removing them from the list of suppliers.
Around '97, I was lured to go work at a printing company on the belief that they wanted to establish a marketing division and needed me to do this. Turned out the role was 'Johnny Sales Rep'. Despite starting from scratch with no contacts, I made a go of it and withi 6 months had exceeded my target and secured a nice three-year contract at which point, they decided I was superfluous to requirement.
Turns out this was a common occurrence with reps. As soon as they win a decent contract, they're out the door.
I then ended up working at one of their other clients in a marketing roll and joyfully spent the next year slowly removing them from the list of suppliers.
Around 12 years ago I was working for a company selling PCs to home users from a high street showroom. The company had a bit of a reputation for poor customer service and 'faulty' equipment. Granted the cs could have been better but, as most of our customers were first time users, most of the 'faults' were user error. (One had deleted the shortcut to 'My Documents' and was claiming it was faulty, another had changed the monitor display settings and got a blank screen etc.)
Unfortunatly the company went into administration and the showroom was taken over by a competitor. From there things went down hill.
We had quite a few problems with our previous customers as the company name had been taken over but not the warrenty side of things. So there we were in the same shop, same signage, same furniture, same branded products and the same staff working for a different company.
We did what we could to help people in store but we couldn't get new parts, send anything back for repair or arrange refunds.
I finally had enough one day after being invited outside to 'Have my f***ing head taken off' by someone we couldn't help.
I called an agency, arranged an interview for the following morning and drafted a resignation letter ready to send. Fortunatly I was offered the job and went back in to email our area manager.
In it I covered; Being invited outside (as above),
Extremely poor levels of customer service,
Excessive, unreliable, delivery times.
Misleading adverts that confused staff as well as customers.
Advertising, and the sales system accepting payment for, PC builds that HO hadn't even confirmed as 'live' weeks after customers were expecting delivery.
Adverts showing components that weren't included.
Manipulating sales targets. Head office already knew your sales for 3-4 weeks of the month BEFORE setting individual sales targets!!(Commission was only paid on orders that had been delivered. But there was a 2-3 Week delivery time and the cut off was a week before the end of month with the remaining week carried onto next months target.)
I rounded the letter off by saying I was embarrassed to work for the company, would be leaving with immediate effect and thanked my colleagues including a couple 'that also felt they had to leave.'
I just wish I still had a copy
Unfortunatly the company went into administration and the showroom was taken over by a competitor. From there things went down hill.
We had quite a few problems with our previous customers as the company name had been taken over but not the warrenty side of things. So there we were in the same shop, same signage, same furniture, same branded products and the same staff working for a different company.
We did what we could to help people in store but we couldn't get new parts, send anything back for repair or arrange refunds.
I finally had enough one day after being invited outside to 'Have my f***ing head taken off' by someone we couldn't help.
I called an agency, arranged an interview for the following morning and drafted a resignation letter ready to send. Fortunatly I was offered the job and went back in to email our area manager.
In it I covered; Being invited outside (as above),
Extremely poor levels of customer service,
Excessive, unreliable, delivery times.
Misleading adverts that confused staff as well as customers.
Advertising, and the sales system accepting payment for, PC builds that HO hadn't even confirmed as 'live' weeks after customers were expecting delivery.
Adverts showing components that weren't included.
Manipulating sales targets. Head office already knew your sales for 3-4 weeks of the month BEFORE setting individual sales targets!!(Commission was only paid on orders that had been delivered. But there was a 2-3 Week delivery time and the cut off was a week before the end of month with the remaining week carried onto next months target.)
I rounded the letter off by saying I was embarrassed to work for the company, would be leaving with immediate effect and thanked my colleagues including a couple 'that also felt they had to leave.'
I just wish I still had a copy
I've done it twice. Not as bad as it sounds at first but it was pretty clear that I'd made up my mind I wasn't coming back and that I didn't want to work for those particular middle level managers again regardless of where I end up.
One I'd handed in my notice after being messed about for promotion. I had a job to go to but it was nothing special. The floor manager at the time begged me to stay for a month and the streets are paved with gold blah blah. So I turned down the new role I was going to and stayed. Turned out the role he'd "made" for me was worse than the original job I joined and had moved up from. I handed my notice in again a month later and in the exit interview he had the cheek to say I hadn't proved myself enough. To which I responded "I'd already handed my notice in once you were supposed to prove the new role to me". Turned into a bit of a blazing row which I'm sure most of the call centre heard.
Funnily I was thinking about this today after the thread in the Lounge about people you just don't take to. This was an instance where I should have trusted my instincts and took the original job offer.
One I'd handed in my notice after being messed about for promotion. I had a job to go to but it was nothing special. The floor manager at the time begged me to stay for a month and the streets are paved with gold blah blah. So I turned down the new role I was going to and stayed. Turned out the role he'd "made" for me was worse than the original job I joined and had moved up from. I handed my notice in again a month later and in the exit interview he had the cheek to say I hadn't proved myself enough. To which I responded "I'd already handed my notice in once you were supposed to prove the new role to me". Turned into a bit of a blazing row which I'm sure most of the call centre heard.
Funnily I was thinking about this today after the thread in the Lounge about people you just don't take to. This was an instance where I should have trusted my instincts and took the original job offer.
This is an emotional email for me to have to send. The tears are flowing.
Today is my last day at PwC. I haven't sent this to everyone because what would be the point? Why do people send their leaving emails to everyone? We didn't care about you then and we certainly don't care about you now.
I still presume hardly any of you knew me, which is good because I'm rubbish at audit, so I wouldn't have helped your stellar careers.
I've also learned how not to decorate an office - green and orange block colour walls with business buzz phrases on. 'Find your space', 'always add value' etc. Where do these terrible phrases come from? Is there a team of people lurking about in Embankment Place whose only duty is to pump out corporate drivel?
"Oh yah Rupert, I like 'diversify your outlook'"
"Fantastic, fantastic, let's roll it out"
"I'll action that"
"By close of play?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"What does it mean, though?"
"Hm. Fantastic point, we'll have to revolutionise outside the box on this one, I can tell."
"Touch base on this a-sap?"
"Rather.""
I look forward immensely to never having to attend an event in which Our Beloved Leaders stand up and tell us we've massively exceeded budget, so in reward we get no bonuses and instead we get the treat of listening to Coldplay while quotes from the greatest leaders of our times are played across a screen.
Dare we be different? Not really. What we dare to do is stick out 3 years until we get the ACA and we can leave. Except me, obviously. I got fired. Whoops.
I have a personal email, so if you want to send me anything (I can't imagine why you would), just guess it. If it's meant to be, I'll get it.
I'm also on Facebook but I hate it. I'm sure you've got real friends of your own and I'd prefer if you left me alone quite frankly.
If we ever talked (doubtful, I avoided anyone that looked like they might give me some work), add away.
I've left some treats in the group area.
Not really.
Bye forever xxx
Today is my last day at PwC. I haven't sent this to everyone because what would be the point? Why do people send their leaving emails to everyone? We didn't care about you then and we certainly don't care about you now.
I still presume hardly any of you knew me, which is good because I'm rubbish at audit, so I wouldn't have helped your stellar careers.
I've also learned how not to decorate an office - green and orange block colour walls with business buzz phrases on. 'Find your space', 'always add value' etc. Where do these terrible phrases come from? Is there a team of people lurking about in Embankment Place whose only duty is to pump out corporate drivel?
"Oh yah Rupert, I like 'diversify your outlook'"
"Fantastic, fantastic, let's roll it out"
"I'll action that"
"By close of play?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"What does it mean, though?"
"Hm. Fantastic point, we'll have to revolutionise outside the box on this one, I can tell."
"Touch base on this a-sap?"
"Rather.""
I look forward immensely to never having to attend an event in which Our Beloved Leaders stand up and tell us we've massively exceeded budget, so in reward we get no bonuses and instead we get the treat of listening to Coldplay while quotes from the greatest leaders of our times are played across a screen.
Dare we be different? Not really. What we dare to do is stick out 3 years until we get the ACA and we can leave. Except me, obviously. I got fired. Whoops.
I have a personal email, so if you want to send me anything (I can't imagine why you would), just guess it. If it's meant to be, I'll get it.
I'm also on Facebook but I hate it. I'm sure you've got real friends of your own and I'd prefer if you left me alone quite frankly.
If we ever talked (doubtful, I avoided anyone that looked like they might give me some work), add away.
I've left some treats in the group area.
Not really.
Bye forever xxx
Many years ago in my twenties, I worked in catering, running big branded pub-restaurants. Dreadful industry. Crazy hours, lots of stress, low pay and my boss the Area Manager was a complete tosser. Well, after 5 years of this, I'd had more than enough.
I hadn't had a day off for weeks because my boss still hadn't recruited the Assistant Manager I should have had months ago. The Area Manager duly appeared for a meeting on the Friday afternoon before a bank holiday weekend.
Our discussion rapidly descended into a major row within full earshot of staff and customers, with me telling him exactly what I thought of his abilities and character. I'm usually a very calm, nice guy but everyone has a breaking point, and I was as angry as I have ever been. He was half my size, twice my age and was absolutely crapping himself. The more I physically intimidated him the more I was enjoying myself. When he threatened to call the Police I hurled the heavy fist-sized bunch of keys across the office at him. They narrowly missed his head, thank goodness.
I stormed upstairs to my flat, packed as much of my stuff as I could chuck in the car and walked out, leaving him with a fully booked restaurant, a safe for which he didn't have the combination, a computer system for which he didn't have the password and a busy pub to run over a bank holiday weekend, which he had presumably been planning to spend with his family 100 miles away.
I knew I was walking out not just on that company, but the whole catering industry for good, so I didn't give a toss about the consequences of what I had done. I have never, ever regretted it.
I hadn't had a day off for weeks because my boss still hadn't recruited the Assistant Manager I should have had months ago. The Area Manager duly appeared for a meeting on the Friday afternoon before a bank holiday weekend.
Our discussion rapidly descended into a major row within full earshot of staff and customers, with me telling him exactly what I thought of his abilities and character. I'm usually a very calm, nice guy but everyone has a breaking point, and I was as angry as I have ever been. He was half my size, twice my age and was absolutely crapping himself. The more I physically intimidated him the more I was enjoying myself. When he threatened to call the Police I hurled the heavy fist-sized bunch of keys across the office at him. They narrowly missed his head, thank goodness.
I stormed upstairs to my flat, packed as much of my stuff as I could chuck in the car and walked out, leaving him with a fully booked restaurant, a safe for which he didn't have the combination, a computer system for which he didn't have the password and a busy pub to run over a bank holiday weekend, which he had presumably been planning to spend with his family 100 miles away.
I knew I was walking out not just on that company, but the whole catering industry for good, so I didn't give a toss about the consequences of what I had done. I have never, ever regretted it.
Never 'burnt bridges' myself but
Once had a guy who I had taken a huge punt on in the first place (due to his lack of industry specific experience) who had done well in the short term, gained a rise and use of a vehicle for to and from work (worthwhile sum of money to him) all signed off by me, promptly spit his dummy when unsuccessful at interview for a supervisory role, find another job in a week, leave without working his notice and refuse to refund the training costs he had incurred and signed up to repay on an agreed timeframe as part of his contract of employment, the lack of notice period leaving the company unable to recover without a fight.
His face was a picture when I went for an interview at his new employer a couple of years down the line, bumped into him at the reception and was told by the interviewer (in his earshot) that he was one of the team on the contract I was being interviewed to manage.
As it was I declined a second interview, might have been interesting.
Once had a guy who I had taken a huge punt on in the first place (due to his lack of industry specific experience) who had done well in the short term, gained a rise and use of a vehicle for to and from work (worthwhile sum of money to him) all signed off by me, promptly spit his dummy when unsuccessful at interview for a supervisory role, find another job in a week, leave without working his notice and refuse to refund the training costs he had incurred and signed up to repay on an agreed timeframe as part of his contract of employment, the lack of notice period leaving the company unable to recover without a fight.
His face was a picture when I went for an interview at his new employer a couple of years down the line, bumped into him at the reception and was told by the interviewer (in his earshot) that he was one of the team on the contract I was being interviewed to manage.
As it was I declined a second interview, might have been interesting.
sunoco69 said:
He was very good at his specialist job but not a leader of men.
And why do most organisations fail to have a pay structure that allows people like ME to get decent pay without having to motivate others. I may be a little aspergers, or not. As for burning bridges, I'm too much of a coward. I have stated off the record that "It's me, not You" in sarcastic manner once, but the manager was more stupid than I thought, and didn't get that I meant the opposite.
I find linkedin great, for connecting with previous managers, and then seeing if they'd actually take an approach for some freelance work seriously. (If they did
New POD said:
sunoco69 said:
He was very good at his specialist job but not a leader of men.
And why do most organisations fail to have a pay structure that allows people like ME to get decent pay without having to motivate others. I may be a little aspergers, or not. Sadly this man walked around with his head tilted to one side as he had reached his ceiling.
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff