A reader writes:
I wrote a Glassdoor overview and the employer is totally dropping their thoughts.
Just lately, I left my final very chaotic office for brand new pastures. The prior office had management that will continuously go on social media and speak about how a lot they disliked sure staff and shoppers (which undoubtedly impacted our enterprise) and would constantly play favorites inside the workplace. On high of that, management additionally made it clear that raises can be minimal and that they might not promote anyone from inside as a result of they felt like we weren’t certified to deal with management positions (!). I started making use of for jobs and not too long ago was employed for a place making greater than double the pay and with significantly better advantages. I’m very glad.
I’ve all the time been on the fence about writing evaluations on web sites like Glassdoor or Certainly however for this office I made a decision to put in writing a overview on each as a result of I felt compelled to let individuals know that this place could be very difficult to work at. I introduced up the “management on social media” side, the shortage {of professional} development, and the shortage of economic mobility. It’s now a really extremely rated overview on mentioned web sites, and now management at that office has learn the overview and are turning it right into a “witch hunt” of kinds.
My associates who nonetheless work there report that inside every week of “a overview” being posted (my associates do NOT know that I used to be the one which wrote the overview, and I didn’t disclose this to them), management introduced everyone into a gathering and commenced with a gap assertion of: “We all know that somebody wrote a letter on a overview web site, so we’ll offer you all time to disclose yourselves.” When no person revealed themselves (as a result of no person within the room wrote the letter — I did!), they started to query every individual within the room about their expertise on the office and whether or not or not anybody had something unfavorable to say. Fairly actually, they went round to every individual questioning them on their expertise working there and in the event that they wrote the overview. After which ended the assembly with, “When you’ve got an issue with working right here, you may depart.”
My associates have been actually uncomfortable throughout that alternate for apparent causes (they not too long ago started to search for new employment as effectively) and there have been whispers about who might need written the overview who has left. I’ve stored silent — I don’t work there anymore, anyway. For some time it put an enormous knot in my abdomen, however I’m viewing this extra as “out of sight, out of thoughts” — I spoke my fact and wrote the overview, and that’s that.
Nevertheless, whereas I do know there’s nothing that I can do, I can’t shake this sense that I put my associates and colleagues in a bizarre place. Any recommendation on the right way to emotionally transfer ahead?
You didn’t put your pals and colleagues in a bizarre place. Your former firm’s administration did.
You probably did a traditional factor that individuals do — you spoke truthfully about your expertise working at a earlier firm, on websites particularly designed to try this in an effort to assist different employees.
Your former firm selected to go on a witch hunt and tried to intimidate and threaten individuals over that. Which isn’t shocking, given what you already find out about how they function. However their unreasonable, crappy actions don’t make your actions unreasonable or crappy, simply because they’re blowing up over it.
I see the way you may really feel awkward that your pals are speculating on who wrote the overview whenever you’re not fessing as much as it … however until these are your lifelong greatest associates — until you have got the form of shut relationship the place you’re spending holidays collectively and are godparents to one another’s youngsters — you don’t owe it to work associates to compromise your anonymity like that. You’re allowed to contribute to nameless overview web sites, and also you don’t must lose your anonymity simply because their employer is pissed off about it. (I do assume it might be a bit totally different with a very shut relationship — like in case your partner nonetheless labored there and also you didn’t inform even them, that will be shocking — however I’m assuming these are extra like work associates. I’m additionally assuming you’re not saying issues, “I might by no means write one thing like that — how terrible.”)
Actually, one of the best ways to see that is as extra of the identical out of your previous employer: you probably did a traditional factor for a former worker to do after escaping dangerous working circumstances, they usually’re freaking out about it fairly than responding constructively (which would come with ignoring it or, I don’t know, desirous about whether or not there’s a message there that they need to take note of). It sucks for the individuals nonetheless there that they work for a corporation that handles trustworthy evaluations that method, however you didn’t do something flawed and also you don’t even work there anymore. You get to maneuver on, and hopefully your previous work associates will quickly too.
