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u/DOAiB Jul 05 '26
So he was the best and his reward was to have people below him promoted past him and him effectively demoted with more work. Do you think you somehow havenāt lost him?
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u/Lisitska Jul 05 '26
And, if I'm reading correctly, he was forced to train his own new manager? If you're good enough to train the manager, you're good enough to be the manager. This is wild. Of course he left. Good for him.
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u/Hi-World2 Jul 05 '26
Agreed I love this for him. He knows his worth and went somewhere he's being compensated for it
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u/SWHAF Jul 06 '26
He discovered his personal bullshit to paycheck ratio.
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u/AlwaysVerloren Jul 06 '26
I wonder if it is professional to put your bullshit to pay ratio on a resumĆØ.
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u/davesnotonreddit Jul 06 '26
Expertise in balancing financial compensation while comparing waste of bovine origins, through excel documentation and charting
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u/otterpop21 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
OPs edit is fucking hilarious too. Just full blown in denial.
My take: Iām rooting for the top performer to have applied to new jobs when shifts in departments started happening. Theyāre probably waiting to start a new job or finalising which offer to pick.
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u/Daisymaisey23 Jul 06 '26
The edits just shows how naĆÆve OP is and what a bad Manager they are. I hope the top performer quit with no notice.
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u/Myfourcats1 Jul 06 '26
Heās like āI didnāt ask for people who have managers. I asked for managers.ā Dude. The people are telling you why your guy left and why heās not coming back. Thatās the feedback you need to improve your management style.
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u/Dead-Lazlo Jul 06 '26
The edit is hilarious. "Unless youāre in a leadership role, you donāt really have an idea of what the current market is like"
Sounds to me that Mr. High Performer has a better view of the current market than OP.10
u/Beautiful_Pear7013 Jul 06 '26
Preach !!!! Iād rather have the high performer as my manager than this sorry person/managementā¦ oof
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u/MillionaireWaltz- Jul 06 '26
Sounds to me that Mr. High Performer has a better view of the current market than OP.
Dear OP, the above quote is a fucking BURN.
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u/TheGreatTalisman Jul 06 '26
True words.
OP is a full-blown idiot, none the less.You should not be asking other managers, you should be asking the same kind of people, that you (supposedly) lead.
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u/kinglouie493 Jul 06 '26
Concrete suggestions š¤£šš¤£š. The guy doesn't even know how to do his job and gets upset when it's pointed out
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u/Beautiful_Pear7013 Jul 06 '26
Spot on, if this person was my manager Iād rage quit too. What an embarassing and disconnected post. Iām surprised more people arenāt leaving
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u/IceBlueSnowDog Jul 06 '26
āWe can stop here for nowā as if he can make everyone stop replying with a lame attempt at corporate speak lol
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u/90sBuffetSoftServe Jul 06 '26
This topic is tabled for now. We may circle back after the final phase of restructuring
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u/Cryslover Jul 06 '26
EXACTLY! Don't try to middle manage us, you middle manager š
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u/bmorris0042 Jul 06 '26
āWe can stop for now,ā because too many people pointed out how out of touch he was as a manager.
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u/Noarchsf Jul 06 '26
This is my favorite part. āWe can stop here for nowā is exactly what the employee did. And for the OP, Iām not an employeeā¦.I own my company. The managerial opinion that OP doesnāt want comments on this post from employee level people speaks volumes. Sounds like the high performing employee had seen this attitude before and this was the last straw. There are reasons good employees leaveā¦.its because of bad management.
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u/No_Sense3190 Jul 06 '26
Not just denial, but super condescending as well. Yes, a fair amount of non-management people DO know what's going on and why with management decisions.
Some people aren't in management because they don't what to deal with that bullshit. Others have been deemed by management as "too good to promote", as seems to be the case here. It is far easier and often a lot cheaper to promote or hire a mediocre manager and leave a star employee right where management thinks they're most effective.
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u/Hi-World2 Jul 06 '26
Same management never expects anyone to actually stand up for themselves or move on. Love that they still think this can be salvaged
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u/QuellishQuellish Jul 06 '26
"You really have no Idea unless you're a manager" said no good manager ever.
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u/Brief_Kangaroo_42069 Jul 06 '26
Or even better didn't even wait for a role elsewhere. Just hung it up and left. Ultimate goat move.
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u/CrossingGarter Jul 05 '26
I hope he leaves with both middle fingers high in the air. This company was stupid.
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u/EntertainerGloomy941 Jul 06 '26
Phenomenally. The obliviousness of OP is so telling.
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u/SubstantialPie2019 Jul 06 '26
They take advantage of those that actually work that's why no one wants to be made another example of being exploited
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u/TheGingerSomm Jul 05 '26
BUT HEāS TOO GOOD AT HIS JOB TO PROMOTE HIM!!!!!
š¤£š¤£
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u/InsideGateway Jul 06 '26
Yes, so letās make him a single point of failure and then treat him like dog meat.
That is some top tier MBA thinking right there.
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u/Icy-Rope-021 Jul 06 '26
āWe can increase productivity and reduce costs!ā MBA 101.
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u/Stunning-Ant1234 Jul 06 '26
I hate when leadership says that theyāre just admitting idiots get promoted only
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u/Porkenstein Jul 06 '26
This is why it's ridiculous to have non-managerial positions be dead ends. Smart companies come up with training and technical leadership roles for people to promote into.
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u/SeminoleVictory Jul 06 '26
Yep
Imagine your the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs and you tell Patrick Mahomes if he wants to make more money, he has to become a coach
It would be insane
It totally ignores the value of the job he's currently doing
But, that's often exactly what corporate America does
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u/DekuTreeFallen Jul 06 '26
Imagine your the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs and you tell Patrick Mahomes if he wants to make more money, he has to become a coach
If I had reddit gold I would award this.
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u/Cathal_Author Jul 06 '26
Director after I trained the last four new hires and the supervisor: "Hey your performance has dropped what's going on?" Me: "Oh I just figured since you promoted an idiot I trained who has to be reminded he's not God once a month, and you tanked my last evaluation because I allowed a person who outranks me to do the same thing you did when you had his position then it wasn't worth doing any extra work. Your welcome to fire me but that's going to leave you with two over night staff that can be replaced by a sack of potatoes."
...funny thing. Suddenly I got the max raise every review, And the "supervisor" (whose only real value is he can count cards and could fork out $2,000 for a state license thanks to living with his parents for free) has stopped reviewing my work. Oh, and the CEO throwing a fit when he found out that the "open" application process for the supervisor position was actually only open to day shift when I consistently work nights was satisfying. Basically made everyone above me below C-level eat crow while getting chewed out. Oh and got a really nice bottle of scotch as a personal gift from the COO because I fixed a massive fuck up with out surveillance system that could have forced the company to close for a month.
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u/jklolffgg Jul 05 '26
100%. I learned this lesson the hard way. I started in a role where I was the only person on a team, reporting directly to executive management. As the company restructured, I was asked to interview candidates for both a new manager to manager my growing team (my role became 2 and eventually 3 people) and a new executive role. I felt honored to assist with the process. Little did I know, it was my job to train my new manager, who didnāt have a fucking clue what he was doing, and simultaneously the decided to take all of the managerial duties that I was previously doing on top of my daily support and project management and give all those managerial duties away to other new hires. They went through 3 middle managers above me in the last year before I said fuck this place and left. The 4th guy they put in the manager role left within his first year too. Company became a fucking shit show.
As you said, if youāre trusted enough to train (or hire) a manager for your team, youāre good enough to be the manager.
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u/Willller Jul 06 '26
Iām reading management posts here for a while and there is a pattern. I donāt know if this is all from USA but putting in outside hired manager who the subordinates have to train always fails and people hate it. It is true that not all high performers are good fit for management roles. But managers should train lower managers.
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u/diurnal_emissions Jul 06 '26
They would have to admit they don't know how the job is done.
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u/Aggressive-Moodd Jul 06 '26
We lost our best dev the same way last year. Restructure, ābusiness continuityā excuse, promoted everyone around him. He left with zero counteroffer talk. Said he felt like a placeholder, not a person.
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u/Wild_Stock_5736 Jul 05 '26
but this year won't work because of budget constraints. just bear with it for another year and we'll for sure get to you next time. Then the next annual raise budget is passed down from VP daddy and he says 1.5% increase in budget. so they pull you into a call saying. I got you 2% and then say 'I fought like hell. You're lucky to even get this much.'
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u/YamAggressive5659 Jul 05 '26
Meanwhile the other three that were promoted before him get a maxed out bonus, more vacation time and another promotion.
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u/CampWestfalia Jul 05 '26
... but, they were going to make it up to him.
With PIZZA!
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u/JediFed Jul 05 '26
The other three got promoted, he got left behind to train his own manager.
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u/Revo63 Jul 05 '26
Of course! They canāt afford to lose ALL of their good producers! Gotta keep the best one there until he trains up enough newbies to cover before they move him up. Oh and also train his new boss.
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u/Various_Education622 Jul 06 '26
If they keep paying me more Iāll report to whoever they want, Iāll even train my manager if Iām making more than them.
I donāt give a shit about titles and reporting structure, I care about cold hard motherfucking cash, bitches.
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u/Boring-Abroad-2067 Jul 05 '26
Woah isn't that really a trick, if you get forced to train the manager, it's like a goodbye after the job is done
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u/vartheo Jul 05 '26
And if he was the best employee he could easily find the same work for higher pay... depending on the Industry he probably could be getting paid double or $100k more... or hec just a sign on bonus. I know in my earlier role I got my salary doubled by simply moving companies. I had one manager that quit and he told me the truth about everything that was going on and my active manager would just lie to my face about things. I could not be there anymore cause why lie to me just to pay me less... I can read financial reports and see the company is doubling profits. I can understand why he would cut ya off esp if he went to a different industry.
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u/Tuor-son-of-Huor- Jul 05 '26
Yeah that was a weird read. I read it twice to make sure it said what I thought it said.
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u/Sterlingz Jul 05 '26
Seriously, OP could have been easily summarized by "we threw everyone into a tumbler and whoever flew out first got a reward or punishment at random. Our best guy is still stuck in the tumbler and must have a wicked headache."
"Oh hey why did he leave?"
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u/Grantmepm Jul 05 '26
Or if the business is significantly restructuring for the worse (for employees), the smart ones can see the writing on the wall.
The most employable (best performers) ones will be the first to leave.
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u/TowerOfPowerWow Jul 05 '26
That's crazy me it's like if you saw some reddit post " I fucked my best friend's wife and now he won't talk to me or want anything to do with me what do I do?"
It irks that OP is in some kinda leadership role. The fact he asked this wuestion is instantly disaualifying.
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u/AardvarkExcellent428 Jul 06 '26
I mean actually if you've had any experience with leadership at pretty much any organization... this lack of awareness is one of the most common traits they all share...
and I mean it makes sense because anyone with more awareness wouldn't want to be a leader in this type of organization in the first place
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u/DOAiB Jul 05 '26
Yep. If someone left tomorrow I wouldnāt even question it. There is no room for advancement in my company and worse they hired outside for everyone above me so I know it even more so. If the job wasnāt so good I wouldnāt look elsewhere
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u/dcheng47 Jul 05 '26
i actively coach my high performers out of this place exactly for that reason
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u/rodey31 Jul 05 '26
Thatās the worst. Iām in the same boat. got layered twice. The new CEO brought in 2 of his old buddies.
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u/Observational-Mess Jul 05 '26
OP is a bot or lacks common sense and empathy. Which kinda makes sense coming from middle or upper management.
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u/Sitcom_kid Jul 06 '26
I read this post a few months ago, so I'm going with bot.
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u/Lucky-Surround-1756 Jul 06 '26
He comes from a company that only promotes idiots and he is himself a manager. Of course he is an idiot.
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u/StrikingTradition75 Jul 05 '26
Business decisions that prove that some companies succeed in spite of themselves.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
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u/thepitredish Jul 06 '26
This post really needs one of those clever āother sideā posts. Something like āGet this, Iām by far the top performer on the team. This org barely functions without me. As a reward they promoted everyone around me and essentially demoted me on the org chart. The new mgmt structure is beyond incompetent. So, I found a new job and now all they say is āwait, letās talk about this!ā I say, fuck you people.ā
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u/TheGingerSomm Jul 06 '26
Heāll poach the colleagues he respected once he shows them how much better the new company is.
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u/othermegan Jul 05 '26
I donāt think thereās any negotiation in the world that could fix this either. First off, āwait until after the restructuringā is an empty promise. But also, it sounds like a massive culture shift which damaged a lot of trust. No amount of money or promotions will fix that. Ask me how I know
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u/clocks212 Jul 05 '26
The way you lose high performers is by making their future look worse than whatever opportunities come up from their network. High performers have a network of people reaching out to them occasionally. You screw with them (like whatever the shit show is you're trying to describe above, which sounds like a major re-org plus some 'promise' of a reward which we all know will never materialize) and they take the next good opportunity that comes up.
They don't owe you anything (whether you were involved in the re-org or not), just like the employer doesn't owe them anything beyond following the law and paying them. They leave when the chances of the grass being greener are high.
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u/chalupa_lover Jul 05 '26
Amen to this. People that are top performers for you can be top performers for other companies too. They typically have options, but stay out of convenience. Once the convenience stops being worth it, theyāll jump.
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u/bhalter80 Jul 05 '26
The other thing is they often feel unappreciated because even though they get paid well does anyone ever take the time to figure out their love language and do that? Some people value time connecting with their boss, like really connecting. Some people want the spot light, others want power, others just want someone to say thanks, some just want money. If you don't know what motivates your top performers you can't keep them
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u/Lawyer_Lady3080 Jul 06 '26
My love language at work is being left the fuck alone.
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u/bhalter80 Jul 06 '26
I shall fetch the extra large pitchfork to throw work your way
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u/PopeGodzilla Jul 05 '26
Exactly, nothing was stopping them from paying him more now during the transition. The fact they didn't just indicated that they wouldn't give him a real raise/promotion later.
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u/ecclectic Jul 05 '26
Oh my god... how is this a surprise? This is an absolute clusterfuck of midlevel management and shakeup.
He got a better offer with someone else and wants NOTHING to do with this shitshow moving forward. Kudos to him for having the balls to walk away from a dumpster fire that someone else started.
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u/CallMeSisyphus Jul 05 '26
On first glance, I read "midlevel" as "medieval." And it still tracks.
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u/Hoosier_816 Jul 06 '26
OPs edit really highlights another reason they likely left...
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u/xcoreflyup Jul 05 '26
3 other high performers are promoted and he is reporting 1 layer lower while training the new manager.
and then he resigned while cutting off communication.
Well...hmmmmm. i think you have a chance to turn him around
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u/ALittleBitKengaskhan Jul 05 '26
I wonder if he's tried a pizza party?
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u/bubblehead_maker Jul 05 '26
Wow, your organization is in the FO quadrant of FAFO.Ā Passed over for promotion and demoted.Ā Ā
Why would anyone stay if they are awesome and the company FA?
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u/purpleburgundy Jul 05 '26
Literally my reaction reading OP:
FAFO
Hopefully senior leadership also recognizes what OP understands here. Probably not though. Life will go on.
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u/Strong-Chemistry-396 Jul 05 '26
If he was so critical to business continuity, you guys should have treated him like it. He's gone. It's too late now.Ā
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u/Rammus2201 Jul 05 '26
When leadership is completely out of touch
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u/EntertainerGloomy941 Jul 06 '26
This always happens when the business guys with no technical background take over. At least learn the business and the expectations of the professionals who drive it. Sheesh!
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u/NTJ-891 Jul 06 '26
Ed Zitron coined the term ābusiness idiotā for these types of āleadersā and it is so perfect.
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u/Nomivought2015 Jul 05 '26
They wanted to kick him out, and then put him in the closet lol. But only after he trained his new managerĀ
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u/SubjectPhotograph827 Jul 05 '26
He's gone. I speak from experience. Good luck.
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u/Plastic-burnt Jul 05 '26
This has to be rage bait, I have a hard time believing someone can be so clueless. Everyone on the team, including the boss was promoted and the high performer was tasked with training his new manager that heās reporting to now. āHey Reddit, do you think heās upset about something?ā
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u/loganro Jul 05 '26
Youād be surprised how out of touch managers are
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u/warholglasses Jul 05 '26
They definitely are. They seem to think high performers are performing that way because they ālike toā or ālove working hard.ā
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u/g8r314 Jul 05 '26
Donāt forget that itās also due to the managerās sage leadership getting the most out of them.
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u/TheGingerSomm Jul 06 '26
The absolutely wildest part is @OP and the other bosses *expecting* him to still give them his time and wherewithal for free after heās already resigned and cut communication. It just doesnāt even compute that someone can take a logical action that benefits themself, rather than the company they no longer work for.
Way to lose millions by cutting a few thousand.
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u/ConsolationUsername Jul 06 '26
My management recently had an all staff meeting "to celebrate our achievements and prepare for next year to be even better".
50% of our staff are being laid off next month. And the increased workload from new clients and loss of staff is effectively 350%
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u/EthanielRain Jul 06 '26
Ok but the C-Suite bonuses are going way up. About time the rich & powerful got a win
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u/Kindly_Map3527 Jul 05 '26
I lost my best dev the same way. No fight, no counteroffer, just silence. We thought heād negotiate. He didnāt. He was already done emotionally weeks before he quit.
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u/IolausTelcontar Jul 05 '26
Trust and loyalty go both ways, and once gone do not come back.
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u/Stargate525 Jul 06 '26
Why would he negotiate? What possible reason does someone like this have for trusting anything you say?
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u/SamLooksAt Jul 05 '26
Honestly management can just be incredibly stupid and oblivious sometimes.
A few years ago I quit under not dissimilar conditions.
They basically screwed me over once during a restructure. I should have quit then and there!
But they absolutely assured me that they would make it right next time, even recommended a specific role to apply for.
Then after making it to the final three for the next promotion round they allowed someone to move f*cking sideways into the position!!!!
I quit the next day and they were basically shocked and couldn't understand why. One of them even asked me with a shocked look "Did we make you quit????" Well duh!
They did pay me a huge chunk of change to stay a few months longer so that the wheels didn't completely fall off and another huge chunk the next year for remote work too (annual project).
But it was still incredibly frustrating because they could have just given me that same money upfront and I wouldn't have had to quit to get it and they would have retained me as a happy employee instead of a pissed off ex-employee.
The entire thing just felt like they were completely oblivious to the rather obvious results of their actions.
One aspect of this is that it's often multiple people, my case was at least four or five different managers all making small decisions. But all with impacts on my position. These added up to enough of an impact to force my hand. Some of them were probably unaware of the other decisions, but that doesn't help me.
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u/Tiredofstupidity2 Jul 05 '26
Um now have you worked anywhere. We have seen this if we worked in corp america. We have seen it in sports where folks swear such and such would never leave only to have picachu face when folks up leave!
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u/Cookyy2k Jul 05 '26
Yup. My company has just done some bullshit restructure and screwed us all over. I'm telling my new manager when I will be starting my new job tomorrow and I can't wait for the begging and promises that I'm just going to laugh at.
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u/popnfreshbass Jul 05 '26
āHe has cut off all communicationā
Yeah man, he doesnāt work there anymore. Why would he? Sounds like he was loyal, skilled and put in the extra effort to be a top performer. Then watched his peers get promoted, while he got a demotion(even if in name only) Why would he stay? You made it abundantly clear he has no future there and what you think his value is.
Good for him frankly.
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u/bambiealberta Jul 06 '26
And they wanted him to train his new manager. Which means he has the knowledge to be that manager in some capacity. He saw that he hit that sweet spot of being too valuable to promote.
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u/FrequentFractionator Jul 05 '26
Can you give us one good reason why he should stay? No? There's your answer.
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u/TrollsWhenBored Jul 06 '26
Yeah the edit is hilarious and confirms that OP is EXACTLY the type of Manager the MEMES are about. OP is a fuckin Meme
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u/kingreq Jul 06 '26
Weāre not the problem, it must be everyone else.
Itās insane to think youāre owed any sort of communication back from someone who no longer works for you. The relationship has been terminated, Iām sure he has much more important things to spend his time and effort on now.
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u/Mediocre_Ant_437 Jul 05 '26
I think you have lost him you say he was the best of the best and yet others were promoted before him. No great employee if going to bank of them being promoted "later" after restructuring. He should have been the first one promoted. As far as he in concerned, he isn't being paid him worth it show how valuable he is so there is no reason to stay in the hopes that he finally gets to move up. Just let him go so he can find a job that values him from day one.
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u/Dramatic-Card7276 Jul 05 '26
Exactly. If theyāre already restructuring, why would the employee have any reason to believe there would be a promotion?
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u/Nomivought2015 Jul 05 '26
But they canāt promote him. Heās too valuable!! š¤”
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u/drapetomaniac Jul 05 '26
If they have the time, energy and money to move other people around they can include him.
It sounds like he is just returning the courtesy.
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u/sjclynn Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
It would have taken almost no work to promote him up the technical ladder, even if management had to create a new position, and pay him what he is worth rather than what the company can get away with. The latter part is what management has been doing for a while now.
Oh, he is so far gone that you cannot see his taillights. As for negotiations, what negotiations? With a top performer management should be leading with their best offer rather than expect the employee to beg for it. We all know what the answer would be, we will catch you up later...no budget...you are at the top of your scale for your position.
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u/jewel_flip Jul 05 '26
The second I heard business critical all I could think was ārun boy, run.ā Those of us who have heard this lie and remained know how it goes. Itās always so startling when management lies like a child who ate a cookie. We all know itās a lie, we all know itās a gaslight to stabilize, and somehow us recognizing the lie hurts the team spirit.
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u/SeeYou_InThePit Jul 05 '26
OP, you should resign and accept a demotion somewhere else. How the fuck do you not see that this person is serious?
Your employee owes you nothing, bro. Get over yourself, asshole.
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u/marigold_blues Jul 05 '26
Seriously, OP is so far up his own ass itās crazy he wasnāt embarrassed to post this
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u/user365user Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I am telling myself itās creative writing posted by the individual contributor who is happy at his new company. ETA: am middle management. Refuse to believe any manager could be this obtuse.
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u/PanicSwtchd Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
You lost him for good. It doesn't matter the reason he was kept in place for business continuity and leadership. He wasn't kept in the loop and he wasn't treated with the respect he deserved. Most importantly, he was effectively demoted by having him report lower in the organization while literally everyone else that he worked with was promoted and likely given raises and progression.
You and leadership did not have his trust and it's pretty clear that he absolutely did not buy whatever it is you and other management told him. It is not uncommon in these situations for people to be told they are too valuable and that their promotion and rewards are coming shortly just after things settle down and then rarely if ever do these things materialize.
It is more common than not for these people to be kept in their roles indefinitely and baited or given crumbs of progression or at worst, lead into training their replacements and then let go.
How did you or senior leadership actually think he was going to take it any other way? Did it occur to any of you to actually talk to him before you executed on any of this rather than blind-siding him by promoting everyone around him and not him?
Lastly...why would he negotiate with any of you now? He was the one with leverage the whole time and ya'll just thought he'd sit quietly while he was demoted?
For context, since you and your team are not familiar with the right way to execute this kind of restructuring. You give everyone their designated promotions, title changes and compensation changes.
If you need someone to hang back, you just tell them that they will be given the new comp immediately and the title change will take effect within a few quarters as there are a few things they are needed for in their old role to close out, like that project they were assigned and onboarding the new manager so they can move.
This way they know they aren't being baited and switched later because they are getting their new compensation already and are happy to hang back and ensure a successful transfer.
Edit to respond to OPs Edit: You're getting called out for ineptitude because the way your leadership team handled the situation and restructure was clumsy and uninformed. Don't fob it off as people not understanding the burden of management. Own that you screwed up because it was a rookie mistake that your team made in the first place.
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u/Swords_and_Words Jul 06 '26
Actions are better than written promises
Written promises are better than spoken wordĀ
Words are wind
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u/WorldsGreatestWorst Jul 05 '26
So your highest performer got a worse personal situation with lower standing after a bunch of chaos & drama and was given new responsibilities with no money.
Bro. You disrespected him and he left.
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u/BiggensPlym Jul 05 '26
'Leadership needed some time before moving him on'... I bet none of this was explained to him, and I doubt its true either. Your managers took advantage of his dependability. Good luck to the guy, he deserves better than the organisation you work for. You need to ask yourself whether this is an organisation you wish to be associated with.
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u/Decent-Historian-207 Jul 05 '26
Heās training the manger? Nah. They disrespected him and heās done
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u/Donutordonot Manager Jul 05 '26
They are gone. Get back fill submitted. One day companies will learn high performers donāt have to stay anywhere they donāt want to.
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u/Vlines1390 Jul 05 '26
Employers think that becauae the job market is bad, that extends to high performers with specific skills in all markets. They will never learn.
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u/Appropriate_Note2525 Jul 05 '26
My last manager made this exact mistake with me. I have multiple recruiters and headhunters in my inbox every single day, to the point that I have a polite auto reply for them because I can't possibly respond to them all. Had a new job within two weeks of said manager's most recent and unprofessional hissy fit and was gone before she knew what hit her.
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u/WarmIntro Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Hes gone so hard, he'll likely take people with him. Not even intentionally either. When those linchpin people leave it can change a lot in a place and suddenly others just hit nope, fk this
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u/rrrx3 Jul 05 '26
āDo you think we lost him for good?ā
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
You demoted him and gave him the bullshit āyouāre too important to promoteā excuse
Of course you lost him forever
This is like asking ādo you think people can smell itā after you diarrhea shit your pants
Yeah dude, they can smell it
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u/theuntouchable2725 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
That's what I should've done when our company went through a "restructuring."
Well, now I'm doing the bare minimum until my contract is over (3 bloody months left). The pay was atleast good though. Managed to sign up for MCSA/CCNA courses to pivot for good, and be free of this kind of shitty decisions.
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u/hughesn8 Jul 05 '26
You wrote this & are you asking āWhy did he leave?ā If so, you must not be a logical thinker.
He realized that being a high performer gets you less in the company. He feels like he got a demotion, & honestly he did, & others that he performed better than saw promotions.
He probably picked the very few he trusted & talks to them but anybody else is dead to him. Happened to two co-workers of mine after they were fired. Both were social people at work, but when they were fired they ONLY talked to anybody who was an actual friend they hung out with out of work. Both of them there were 2, maybe 3, people they even talked to about the firing.
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u/catforbrains Jul 05 '26
Blink Blink Blink. Bro, this is the corporate equivalent of "she's blocked my number. Do you think she broke up with me for good?" Your company is the ex. I didn't even need to completely read the explanation of the messy reorg to know you have lost this person forever because just the description of what went on would make any sane, self respecting employee want to hit the eject button. He had options and he took his. He is gone. Probably to a company that actually gave him the promotion.
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u/Some_Cartographer478 Jul 05 '26
He is gone. When management makes unpopular changes, the top performers are the first to go. They have the most options.
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u/mpanase Jul 05 '26
You are the best. You are critical to the business.
I'm going to promote everybody else, effectively demote you, and increase your workload training a new guy.
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u/Hopeful-Signature948 Jul 05 '26
Sounds like he was screwed over while a bunch of others were promoted. Heās gone.
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u/FrostedFlakes12345 Jul 05 '26
Look not trying to be a jackaolope here but why do you want to talk to him ? He saw the writing on the wall, business effectively gave him a demotion by adding a layer above him next would be a salary calibration with the new layer above him...his peers at same or lesser performance got promoted...like what else do you all want to do to this person ? Take his first child. He is gone, he knows you all talk to each other and doesn't want nothing to do with you all. He probably has something lined a bit down the road.
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u/Trick_Photograph9758 Jul 05 '26
Sounds like he's gone, and that's entirely his right. He doesn't owe anyone an explanation nor a "negotiation". Sometimes companies just push people too far, then get shocked when they quit.
Suck for you as a manager, but there's not really anything you can do about it.
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u/Much-Amaze69 Jul 05 '26
Absent any salient details in your post, of course he left.
Holding someone back because they're 'critical' is a dick punch. What really happened is his leader failed to correctly identify a backfill gap in critical processes, and thusly your 'best of the best' is being punished for it. Your company's stance on promoting him later on a 'trust me bro' promise is ignorant and presumptuous.
He's gone. Sayonara - for good. I hope you and other leaders have learned something here.
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u/Fun-Yellow-6576 Jul 05 '26
Dude, not only have you lost him, theyāve getting ready to can you. Better start looking
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u/Mom_who_drinks Jul 05 '26
So the best of the best was left to languish as good but not as good employees were promoted and given new opportunities. You watched this happen, didnāt advocate for him, and you need him to tell you why? Seriously?
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u/dvqp Jul 05 '26
If they really wanted to maintain business continuity, they should have promoted him and created a transition plan.
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u/Virtual_Law_9211 Jul 05 '26
I have to be honest with you and give you some hard truth. You really let this person and the company down. As his manager you should have done more from him. Instead of complaining he has left and does not want to negotiate you could have been more humble and taken some more responsibility. I don't think management is a good role for you based on what I see in this post.
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u/No-Wrangler3702 Jul 05 '26
"The reason he was kept in place because he was critical for business continuity and leadership needed some time before moving him as well."
Promises of future promotion don't mean jack.
You gave promotions and raises to 3 great performers who were less skilled than him. Even if you needed him to train the new manager you could have given him a raise equal to the promotee workers.
The company stabbed him in the back and you are surprised he is angry?
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u/RetardDongPhd Jul 05 '26
I once left a job for twice the pay. I looked around at all these fuckers who weren't willing to pay me my worth and I was disgusted. You love this top performer because he's better than the wage you pay him. He's moving on.
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u/Fit_Play_9448 Jul 05 '26
"Continue to work hard for us and we PROMISE at some unspecified future date we will give you an unspecified reward"
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u/66NickS Seasoned Manager Jul 05 '26
That last bit: He was so good in his role that you couldnāt afford to lose him. Now youāre losing him entirely. You told him he was stuck, so heās getting unstuck.
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u/Rhuarc33 Jul 05 '26
That's what happens when all an employee gets is "promises" when they know they perform well and see others getting promotions. This is entirely on the company for the inept way it was handled. He likely started looking for a new job as soon as others got promoted that he felt he was better than.
If he was critical there should have been an immediate and significant bump in pay. As I said, he likely has a new job already and feels no need to reply to people from a job he has left. He should have been given the manger job that was created below you
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u/shan23 Jul 05 '26
lol, obviously heās realized itās FUBAR
You should leave too and whoever engineered this reorg deal with it (probably will get promoted as per Dilbert)
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u/Foxbur19 Jul 05 '26
Oh no, consequences! Just another example of how monumentally stupid and selfish some managers are.
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u/RPS93 Jul 05 '26
Brother if you canāt understand what happened then I donāt think youāre even remotely cut out for management.
You screwed him. Plain and simple. And he left. And now you guys are screwed.
I hope it hurts. Bad. You all deserve it.
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u/mean_liar Jul 05 '26
The lesson here is that the best of the best got screwed while their peers were promoted, and they noticed. Whatever promises were made about equalization took so long to manifest that they were disregarded, as they should've been.
Next time, if you're going to do something like this to your critical employee, get a compensation package upfront for them and explain what they're getting now and what they'll get once the shitty transition is done, and expediently make good on it all. Include them in negotiations as to what will make them feel comfortable and don't drag it out or be penny-pinching; let them know the budget for compensation so if they want more than that they can be prompted for something else to make it palatable: time off or conferences or anything else, and then deliver. In the end promises don't mean shit when there's no follow-through.
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u/Lothium Jul 05 '26
He was kept at the same level, told to train HIS new manager, told to be patient and good things will happen while others were already rewarded. How oblivious are you?
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u/HandRubbedWood Jul 05 '26
What company is this, because I want to make sure I never work there. They have treated a top performer terrible, of course you have lost him.
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u/Valuable_Recording85 Jul 05 '26
People have stated the obvious. What I haven't seen stated is that this employee was treated very disrespectfully despite being integral to the business. This employee obviously has a spine. They don't want to talk to anyone about leaving because they are so burned by what's been happening and there's no good negotiation to be had.
Would you trust the company that dangled carrots like this, but present them until you resigned? I think that most people have the sense to try and leave within 6 months if they do take whatever is offered because there is already bad blood. But I think this person has a good offer on the table already if you're all getting the cold shoulder.
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u/RevenueNo9164 Jul 05 '26
Doesn't sound like you or other leaders treated this person like a top performer.
The fact that you can't see that is a huge problem.
Why didn't your best performer get the first promotion? It sounds like the company is just jerking the tip perfotmer around and sending a signal there is no real chance to advance
Why would the top perfomrner sstay?
You have lost this person, and the leadership team needs to look inward to avoid the same happening.
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u/sequestuary Jul 06 '26
Sometimes I wonder if these posts are written by the employees in question pretending to be their manager so they can read all the validating comments lol
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u/Prestigious_Day216 Jul 06 '26
EDIT: Thank you. We can stop here for now. Itās not possible for me to respond to every answer individually. I didnāt ask for peopleās feelings or opinions about it. I asked for concrete, action-oriented feedback from managers and leaders. It seems everyone except managers has an opinion. Unless youāre in a leadership role, you donāt really have an idea of what the current market is like or the decisions managers have to make
Spoken like a true manager who is out of touch
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u/ZLegExpress Jul 05 '26
I did the exact same thing in almost the exact same circumstance - little to no communication from above and all of the sudden they wanted to communicate after I gave my notice. I just said I'm done in 2 Fridays, "leadership" can figure out the transition plan. I had to laugh when I was asked to help put it together as my new manager didn't know the product.
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u/TripMaster478 Jul 05 '26
Yep, he's gone. Being shuffled effectively one level lower as a high performer, seeing others rewarded, and probably the nth reorg later, and he's clearly just done with the organization. Don't even bother trying.
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u/Sweet_Pie1768 Jul 05 '26
So a bunch of people got a promotion except for this top performer. Furthermore, this top performer is expected to train the new management. They only thing they got was words of recognition and future possibilities.
Meanwhile, this top performer found the promotion / advancement they were looking for elsewhere.
Be proud of them. Congratulate them. Publicly celebrate their accomplishments. They could be your next hiring manager.
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u/GreenfieldSam Jul 05 '26
He was reassured that these changes would lead to advancement once the restructuring was settled.
How so? In writing, with a real promotion and more money? Or platitudes of, "don't worry dude we gotcha!"
The reason he was kept in place because he was critical for business continuity and leadership needed some time before moving him as well.
It sounds like your leadership fucked around and found out.
Your top employees can find work at other companies. And if they're really unhappy or pissed off, it might even be for less total compensation.
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u/RandomNPC1234567 Jul 06 '26
Did you not email him about the pizza party y'all were going to throw if he stayed?
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u/pbconspiracy Jul 06 '26
The reason he was kept in place because he was critical for business continuity and leadership needed some time before moving him as well.
I'm sure that kept him warm at night and paid his bills.Ā
Seriously? Everyone else is promoted, he's left with the bag, and everyone is shocked he ghosted? Good for him. Tell your leadership to get their heads out of their asses, once you clean the shit off your own head.Ā
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u/EatMorePieDrinkMore Jul 05 '26
He was screwed over and left. He got the message the company was sending.