Thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. Can you start by telling us why you've decided to leave?
I've decided to leave because I've spent the last two years doing the work of three people while being paid the salary of one, and when I raised this, I was told the company was going through a difficult period and asked if I could be more supportive of my colleagues.
I had no colleagues. I had no team. I was the team. That was the problem.
Was there a specific incident that influenced your decision?
There were several hundred specific incidents. I have a journal. I will not be sharing it today, though I considered it.
If you're asking for the one that crystallised things: it was the Tuesday in October when I was passed over for the promotion I had been told, in writing, was mine, in favour of someone who had been here for four months and whose primary qualification appeared to be that he reminded the MD of himself at that age.
I went home that evening and I applied for six jobs. I got three interviews. I am here today.
What did you enjoy most about working here?
The people. Specifically, the people who have already left. We have a WhatsApp group. It is very active. It is called something I won't repeat here but it accurately describes this building.
What could we have done to retain you?
Paid me what I was worth rather than what you calculated I would accept.
Promoted me when you said you would.
Not asked me to "be patient" on four separate occasions across eighteen months, each time with the implication that patience would be rewarded and each time with it not being rewarded.
How would you describe the culture here?
In public: collaborative, fast-paced, people-first.
In private: pure misery.
There are people in this building who are genuinely good at their jobs and genuinely good people. They are doing the work of the people who left before me and they are being told this is a great opportunity to step up. It is not a great opportunity to step up. It is the same thing that happened to me, at an earlier stage.
How would you describe your relationship with your manager?
Professional.
That is the most generous word I have for it.
My manager is not a bad person. My manager is someone who was promoted into a role they were not prepared for and given no support, which produced a management style best described as anxious delegation followed by credit appropriation. I do not blame them entirely. I blame the system that put them there and called it a promotion.
There is a whole chapter in The Dead End Desk Survival Guide about this specific dynamic. I read it at 11pm on a Wednesday and felt profoundly understood.
Do you have any advice for the person taking over your role?
Document everything. From day one.
And if you find yourself Googling "should I quit my job" at midnight — don't ignore it. That search is trying to tell you something. Listen to it earlier than I did.
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
Yes. Goodbye. The pleasure was not mine.
