Pros
You will learn strong political skills.
Cons
During my time at ADP, I had two jobs. My FT job there and a weekend night job as a server at a nearby university. I lived in fear that it would be discovered but I needed to do it. Despite my 2nd job, I still had more projects than most, left the office at 8PM and 9PM and added hours on the weekend. The less my manager worked, the more I had to. I always drove with a smile on my face to my 2nd job. I could not say the same for ADP. Imagine your laziest coworker becoming your MNGR. Imagine being stuck with a MNGR that goes horseback riding during working hours on a weekly basis as she delegates her work. These Princesses are promised a career, and they are fully aware they are perceived as more valuable than others, therefore everyone is theirs to be used. The definition of collaboration at ADP is – watch others win with your labor and don’t make them feel uncomfortable about it. If people discover who I am, they might think there was a DEI issue. I reject that mentality as I refuse to believe my experience at ADP was due to my ethnicity. I don’t believe I had a MNGR that goes horseback riding due to my ethnicity but instead due to the lack of courage in leadership to take action. Leaders should consider asking themselves why they perceive this person to be so valuable as it cannot be her performance since there is no performance to evaluate. Therefore, it must be other factors such as how comfortable she makes you feel. Or is this what’s expected of a Sr. Director? Or do PhDs just get extra privileges? My belief is that there exists a systemic flaw in leadership development rather than a mere DEI issue. However, painting it has a DEI issue is easier because then they don’t have to solve it. Leadership development flaws require leadership to acknowledge weakness among themselves. The irony is these practices must first be dismantled within the team in charge of developing better leaders and Talent Solutions. Those who continuously get rewarded are the Princesses that receive the work fully completed instead of those that spend extra hours in the office completing the work. The absence of incentives for collaboration, coupled with a culture of entitlement, creates an environment where genuine teamwork is discouraged. In my experience, it was depressing to work until 2am over the weekend, and then have another VP insist I do analysis for her direct report, while my MNGR insist, I be removed from the same meeting my analysis is being presented so she can receive credit with her best friend. My request may sound controversial, but I think for the benefit of all employees, you should conduct less DEI analysis and focus on analyzing managers’ behaviors and make it available to their superiors. My experience will never be found with the DEI metrics. Lawyers laughed when I told them I had a horseback riding Princess as a MNGR. The last words I told my MNGR were, “I know you better than you know yourself” and I have waited months to prove it. In July, I am sure she disappeared to “work remotely” from another state (maybe Seattle, Dallas, or Michigan) and might have also left in Aug too. In the Fall, she is going to get sad and might need to nap a lot. In Winter, she will get strep throat at least 3 times to takes weeks off during the time of no Holiday. In the Spring, if she feels confident, she’ll go horseback riding again on Fridays. In the Summer, repeat. Overall, she adds less effort than the Australian Olympic Breakdancer yet manages to convince people she’s brilliant. Please tell me which resource was I supposed to use to save me from this situation?
