Anyone would feel hurt if they didn’t get to finish an assignment or a project that they started. Especially those that go on for years upon years. But is it the case that those projects are always taken from you to belittle you? Nope! In today’s story, an employee navigated a frustrating situation at work. While working on the two projects that she loved, for almost 3 years, and with the projects in their final stages, it was announced that both of OP’s projects were being shifted to a sister department for finalization as they didn’t have enough resources to complete them at their department. The department was highly understaffed and the bosses weren’t left with much of an option.
OP was upset as all the credit would now go to the sister department for completing those projects, projects she had spent years perfecting. When her boss tried to explain why her projects were shifted, she refused to listen and said his feelings were for therapy and not for her.
1. I think it is pretty clear-cut, regardless of what the story is going to be. Let’s jump in!
2. OP was assigned 3 work projects. She made it clear that she loved two of them and hated the third one, so the management agreed to have her keep the two she liked.
3. The issue with the company was that they had a lot of work on hand but very little staff to do it.
4. Due to this issue, OP’s two projects were transferred to a sister department, where they had sufficient resources to complete the projects.
5. The management considered everyone as “one group,” but I didn’t like this policy for a very important reason.
6. OP had spent the last 2 to 3 years working on the two projects she was assigned, and now, in the final phase, the secondary team would finish them and take all the credit.
7. The management hadn’t even taken OP’s opinion into account before transferring her projects.
8. Considering they were all “one group,” she had plans to suggest leading the secondary team to finalize both projects. That way, she would’ve remained involved.
9. But that never happened, as the decision had already been made.
10. During the one-to-one meeting with her, the boss tried explaining to OP why they shifted her projects.
11. But OP didn’t let him speak and instead told him his feelings were for therapy and not her.
As OP has knocked on the doors of the AITA community, I would say OP was a major AH for this. A lot is going on in a company that the management level lets the subordinates know about. These could be matters related to risk, operations, or anything else. And then this last paragraph that brought up the factor of “mental health” into account—again, you don’t know who is going through what mental state. So decisions made up top almost always have a rationale backing them. Saying she didn’t want an explanation was unprofessional. And then proceeding to say that her boss needed mental health care was both rude and unethical.
There would never be a spot for such an employee in my company. Insensitivity needs to be eradicated!
13. There is a lot that OP probably didn’t know about. Considering she is a good worker, maybe that is why the boss was trying to rationalize shifting her projects…but she didn’t listen.
After reading through the comments, OP shared an important update. Here’s what she had to say:
17. OP shared that she is not this unprofessional in her life and acknowledged that the comment she made was inappropriate.
18. OP clarified that the meaning behind making that statement wasn’t the same as the one that came out. She just didn’t want her boss to accept her sympathy.
19. OP also agreed that the shifting of projects was necessary as the department wouldn’t have been able to deliver on time, resulting in a business loss.
20. Many suggested OP negotiate a pathway, but as he had already mentioned in the main story, the company wasn’t willing to look into options.
21. The shifting of projects impacted OP’s compensation in terms of the commission and the bonuses she was expected to receive on the projects.
I am glad that OP understood that the decision wasn’t made solely to ruin her career or to eat up her bonuses. It was a decision made in the best interest of the company. If the company wouldn’t survive, neither would OP’s career, at least for a little while until she finds a new job. But I would say that this cannot be allowed to happen forever. The company needs to hire the required number of workers to make sure a worker who starts a project gets to finish it. I am sure OP learned a major lesson after reading the comments that mental health is no joke!
I really hope you guys enjoyed this one. Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
