update: an employee is out to get my star performer, and no one else cares
Remember the letter-writer who managed a star performer who was being targeted by a coworker and no one else in the company’s leadership cared? Here’s the update.
First, the best news! Tina earned a huge promotion to a different department a couple of weeks after you published my letter. She’s now an AVP for retail sales strategy. It came with a big raise, annual bonus, and an extra two weeks of PTO. I still chuckle when I think how much more money we are paying her than if we would have just given her the 5 on her performance review. I’m glad she’s out of our area though; this is a better fit where she can get a fresh start with new people. We still work on the same campus and get lunch together sometimes.
As for me, I hate to admit it but I’m having a much better time since Tina left. I no longer have to deal with Dave’s constant complaints and Jen has proven to be a competent colleague now that Tina is out of the picture. I’m trying to move on and foster a good (if cautious) working relationship with Jen.
Unfortunately Dave is still targeting Tina. A nasty rumor that she was fired started up right after she left. I was able to shut it down but shortly after that rumor was quashed, Tina let me know that Dave had suddenly tried to follow or connect with her on every social media account she had. She declined and blocked him but then kept getting a stranger every couple of days doing the same things. She believes it’s Dave and had to lock down all her social media accounts. I don’t know why he is still so weirdly fixated on her.
Before Tina’s promotion, Mike announced he was leaving for another company and introduced his replacement, “Maria.” In a weird way that made me feel better since if he’s had a foot out the door then his cavalier attitude makes more sense. Then in early March Hank the VP left quite suddenly with no one lined up in the role. The rumors are wild but I have no idea what happened.
Maria has a fierce, no-nonsense leadership style that’s helped the department improve drastically. Jen’s really taken to her as well and has put some distance between herself and Dave. I didn’t realize Jen was an analyst with Dave for eight years and was newly promoted just before Tina was transferred. She’s since learned she has to put managing Dave ahead of their prior friendship. Maria’s also helped me learn how to better navigate personality-based feedback and see my missteps. I passed on a lot of Dave’s complaints anonymously to Tina before I confirmed they were false. I rushed off to Tina with Jen’s feedback and didn’t take the time to understand the background. I’ve learned a lot and will do better going forward.
