Co-worker getting promotion that is not deserved. - long rant

[dietcokeofevil]

I have a co-worker named A.  Last year we had a major project for our biggest customer going on.  I had a management type role as did my closest work friend, B.  A had not been at the company very long and I didn't know her very well.  I had heard she had a run-in with another co-worker, where she refused to do the work he asked her too.  Since I didn't know the whole story, I didn't pay much attention to it.  After talking to her it became very apparent that she really wanted to do management work.  Not that there's anything wrong with that, but our work is very project driven and on one project you could be the lead managing multiple people and the next project you could be doing the most basic tasks. 

Eventually, she got her "lead" role, but she was still reporting to B.  Prior to this A and B had gotten along great.  As soon as she started to report to B, suddenly there were problems.  B wasn't totally innocent, but the majority of the conflict lay with A. 

Then we found out this was a trend with her.  Another co-worker, who she had always been friends with, got a bigger role in the project.  Suddenly A started treating her badly.  I got a minor brush with this, a bunch of us went out for drinks and she asked me what rank I was within company.  Apparently it was higher than hers (and I'm 5 years younger) so for 2 or 3 days she wouldn't talk to me.   She had several people reporting to her of varying experience levels.  All of the more experienced people she had conflicts with, or would bad mouth about not being able to do their job.  The only people she could get along with were the younger ones, because they didn't ever question what she told them.  Then the way she was managing things wasn't working, so one of the project managers had to step in to help her.  Finally at one point, she did something so bad, that management sent her home for a couple of days (highly unusual in my office). 

After all this, I just found out that she applied for and received a promotion.   I guess I could understand if within the last 9 months (since the major project) she had improved or demonstrated that she could work with others.  She still did not accomplish that in my eyes.  Everything she has worked on, has been either a solo thing or working with one of the younger people who she could boss around.   Her very nature goes against our companies standards, and I'm just furious that they would reward her.

[Chocolate Cake]

Was the promotion within a different department than yours?  Since "B" had been her manager, was "B" asked about her work performance before "A" was promoted?   

[sammycat]

It's a wonder A wasn't demoted rather than promoted.  Is it possible she may have been promoted to another area/office to get her out of your office in an effort to just get rid of her?

Re. the being sent home for a few days - if her actions were that bad why wasn't she just fired?  Is she related to the boss (or could she be blackmailing him/her LOL)?

She sounds like an insecure and jealous person.

[IndianInlaw]

Two words:

Peter Principle

[PoisonIvy]

I'm wondering about this "promotion".  Maybe she was given a fancier job title that doesn't mean anything just to keep her quiet.  (Not that I believe in keeping on difficult people, but I've seen so many examples of inept and apparently un-fireable workers that it doesn't really surprise me much anymore.)  I worked in a company with a woman like this.  They downscaled her department until it was just her and an intern and she suddenly became "Head of Made-Up Department".  Her responsibilities didn't change, and she didn't get a raise beyond the normal inflation-adjusted raise that everyone else got, but she was a lot easier to work with once she had a new title.  Some people just need to feel that they are better than others.

[ShadesOfGrey]

many times, unqualified people are promoted/moved rather than booted, so that whatever department or projects they are working on can continue *functionally* without them.  It's a terrible practice, but it happens all too often

[wetblanket]

Here's something I wish someone had told me when I first started working:

Every workplace is dysfunctional, to some degree or other.  Many workplaces are very dysfunctional and absolutely TOXIC.  Lots of people bring to work their own psychological issues and expect everyone to join in the fun.  Ability, skill, experience, competence - these often have nothing to do with how "successful" a person is within the organization.  Sometimes you will wish you were back in high school because it was less toxic than your job.

As bleak as all that is - there are some genuinely nice people to be found at work and ability does get recognized some of the time.  Everyone gets at least a few lucky breaks in their career.  Stay strong 

[Adah]

Every workplace is dysfunctional, to some degree or other.  As bleak as all that is - there are some genuinely nice people to be found at work and ability does get recognized some of the time.  Everyone gets at least a few lucky breaks in their career.  Stay strong 

I think you just halted my job search.

[ZipTheWonder]

I suspect you will discover at some point that this promotion was more of a banana peel than a carrot. 

[dietcokeofevil]

Was the promotion within a different department than yours?  Since "B" had been her manager, was "B" asked about her work performance before "A" was promoted?   

"B" and others had made there opinions known with management.  She was not asked prior to the promotion discussion.  Part of the promotion process requires you to get recommendations from co-workers and customers.  Typically, if you are wanting to move from a Level 3 to a Level 4, you would ask for recommendations from Level 4 or 5 people.  There are only 5 levels in my company.  She asked a Level 2 for a recommentation.  It just seems very strange.

[dietcokeofevil]

It's a wonder A wasn't demoted rather than promoted.  Is it possible she may have been promoted to another area/office to get her out of your office in an effort to just get rid of her?

Re. the being sent home for a few days - if her actions were that bad why wasn't she just fired?  Is she related to the boss (or could she be blackmailing him/her LOL)?

She sounds like an insecure and jealous person.

She's definitely insecure and jealous. There aren't really other areas of the office...we're a small firm, and I don't think they would send her to one of our other offices.  The people in the other offices actually report to people in our office, I don't think they'd want to give her that much slack.

I'm not sure why she wasn't fired...not necessarily after being sent home, but for her actions and attitude overall.  My company is notorious for giving people lots of chances before letting them go.  This is the first time where someone has been rewarded after having such a bad year.

[dietcokeofevil]

I'm wondering about this "promotion".  Maybe she was given a fancier job title that doesn't mean anything just to keep her quiet.  (Not that I believe in keeping on difficult people, but I've seen so many examples of inept and apparently un-fireable workers that it doesn't really surprise me much anymore.)  I worked in a company with a woman like this.  They downscaled her department until it was just her and an intern and she suddenly became "Head of Made-Up Department".  Her responsibilities didn't change, and she didn't get a raise beyond the normal inflation-adjusted raise that everyone else got, but she was a lot easier to work with once she had a new title.  Some people just need to feel that they are better than others.

That's possible.  We don't have titles, we're all just divided into different levels.  But they might have decided to see if being at a higher level will make her feel better.