To feel mortified I was settled out of my job?

[SackedandDisgraced]

NC’d as I am legally prohibited from speaking to anyone about this IRL.

I have been in my role for 8 years. Last 4 years I was SLT in a very large company. It was a very public facing role so lots of presence on social media and tv. New CEO came onboard early 2024 and took an instant dislike to me. She made my life a literal hell. I pushed through it and dusted myself off so many times but it just wore me down and in the end I just couldn’t cope and ended up being signed off for 6 weeks.

The day I came back to work I was brought into a meeting with CEO and offered a protected conversation and a settlement. Basically said if I didn’t take the settlement I’d be placed on performance improvement (despite my performance being exemplary for 8 years) and made it clear she didn’t want me there.

my mental health was at an all time low when I was offered money to cut and run, which I took but now regret.

I had to clear my desk in the evening when nobody was around so never got to say goodbye but the rumours started circulating and people speculated I’d been sacked. I just feel so mortified. Business announced I’d left a week later with a pitiful thank you for my contribution. This was a public announcement because of what I do so it’s out there in the masses and I’ve been bombarded with questions and all I feel is complete shame.

can’t speak the truth to anyone IRL as I’m bound by the settlement but just feel so low. As if that wasn’t bad enough I am struggling to find another job that pays anywhere near what I was earning with the flexibility I had.

any words of wisdom?

Thank you Trees x

Worst case scenario, stuck there for another 5 years full-time.

Will have to see what I can do, because I am just done now.

Hope your workmates come through for you.

Mine didn't but then the CEO went up into the office and forbade them from contacting us. Which was not only demoralising but deprived us access to witnesses.

It's not personal - they will be afraid of what happened to you happening to them x

This x1000000000

You are your own person. It sounds like you have a family. Your job does not define you. It's their loss, sounds like you are well rid of it judging by how you were treated. You'll find a better job and be treated with respect as you deserve

This thread has really helped me too - I had a tough time and the honesty and kindness on here has really helped.

OP, I hope you come back and tell us all once you've landed your next role.

Hi @SackedandDisgraced first of all, don't feel shame! It happened to me recently and like you I can't give out details because of the terms of the settlement, but I can tell you that it is a nasty trend among companies of all sizes. In my case, they'd ambushed me on an unnamed call (my former boss and his boss - no HR in sight) to tell me they were going to terminate my contract a month from then (I had a 3-month notice period) and were 'offering' me to 'consult' for them full time for 2 months after that. The cheek! No reason given. 6 minutes online, I didn't even get to ask questions. Then they went quiet for weeks, which was frankly bizarre. I continued to work as normal, which was mentally very hard. I suspected it was a trap to catch me 'at fault'. When they checked in again to find out what I thought of their 'offer' I told them where to go and got a good settlement out of it in the end. I'm glad I fought back. The thing was: my role was also very much client-facing. I got so much support from my clients, because they'd witnessed my performance. As you were good at your job, don't underestimate how useful those connections are. They're the ones that matter! Not your toxic loser boss who was too insecure to work with you or too weak to stand up to bullshit internal politics.

Well you’re supportive aren’t you! It’s not remotely possible to identify this person from this. It literally could be your closest friend - all you would know is they’ve stopped working recently.

That was two days ago and the poster was pulled up on it already.

This thread is supportive, didn't need this.

I know this is now an older thread but it came up in my feed.

I went through something v similar a few years ago and posted about it on here.

It was incredibly traumatising because I knew I had really given my best and I always pride myself on that. Like you I was so embarrassed by it and thought I had been disgraced and was deserving of it in some way.

I wasn’t as senior as you by the sound of it but the person was quite high profile and I still hear about them a lot today. I was told at the time: ‘it is not because of your work, it is who you are’ - which in retrospect sounds as dodgy as hell and I wish I had challenged. I was too shocked at the time. Clearly looking back the reason was due to office politics and wanting some posh bloke who was a mate to do my role. I am still really upset with my manager not standing up for me at all.Although they also fell foul of the CEO a but later.

The good news is that experience meant I had to move into an adjacent field.
I managed to gain a whole load of experience in a lot of different areas and now have a super duper job - paying pretty much double in a brilliant organisation, which I am loving! The CEO there is competent, intelligent and thinks I’m great!

So I really hope you are doing well now and this horrid episode is consigned to the dustbin of history!