The ones who learn their lessons escape the fastest

A client of mine was working her bones off, trying to get ahead of a mountain of deliverables without much support. She, like so many of us, came to appreciate certain colleagues for the levity they provided during the stress of the work day. One coworker was especially dear, although cancer treatment took her out of the office often. It would’ve been prudent of her company to hire someone to supplement her absence, but what multi-billion dollar company has the money for that? So my client was left to shoulder the burden.

Not long afterward, her coworker passed. And within a week, her position was opened and interviews were being held. Her cubicle was cleared of any personal effects. Within 6 weeks, there was a new person on her team and she was responsible for bringing her up to speed.

Training isn’t a vacation from your usual duties. Remember those days having to go slow, explain everything in excruciating detail, and then work through lunch just to make up for lost time? Imagine you’ve been doing your part, making sure that your department can continue to do its important work by being as thorough as you can, bringing this person up to speed as soon as humanly possible…

And then finding out that the new hire makes more money than you.

Not a little bit more. A lot, lot more.

And no, she was not hired for a position above my client. It was the same tier.

There’s a reason why salary discussion is highly discouraged. Because there was no justification for such a significant bump for a completely new, unknown person to the company. And this is the way employees are betrayed on a daily basis in the corporate world. And how companies lose expertise in their ranks.

Does this story sound familiar to you? Everyone has one. And the ones who learn their lessons from it escape the fastest from its cultural chokehold.