This was, without question, the most damaging work environment I've experienced in my career.
Within my first two months—while I was still onboarding—I was reviewing a recorded client call to gather information for one of the many accounts I had recently inherited. Before the meeting had officially begun, the recording had already started, and an Associate Director and a Director were having a conversation about me. They questioned my competence, reliability, and trustworthiness, using language that, from my perspective, reflected bias rather than an objective assessment of my work—especially considering how new I was to the organization. Instead of receiving direct coaching or feedback, I found out what senior leaders thought of me by listening to a recording I was reviewing as part of my job. From that moment on, my trust in leadership was gone.
I never felt like I was given a realistic opportunity to succeed. New clients were assigned so quickly that I barely had time to learn one account before taking on another. I routinely worked 15+ hour days just trying to stay afloat. At the same time, I was expected to build comprehensive year-in-review strategy presentations for businesses I had just inherited, with little historical context, limited documentation, and, in some cases, without the data needed to perform the analysis.
Leadership didn't seem to fully understand the situation until they joined client calls themselves. Once they saw how the accounts had been transitioned and what information was actually available, it became clear that many of the challenges employees were facing were built into the way the organization operated. I have no issue receiving feedback when it's deserved. What became frustrating was watching systemic problems repeatedly be framed as individual performance issues.
The instability never stopped. I had five different managers in roughly six months. Expectations changed constantly, priorities shifted week to week, and consistent coaching was nearly impossible. During the same period, there were repeated layoffs and significant turnover. Despite that, the company continued holding large company-wide events. As an employee watching coworkers lose their jobs while teams were stretched beyond capacity, those priorities were difficult to understand.
HR also failed to build confidence. During my time there, HR promoted itself as an open-door resource while also openly talking about enjoying workplace gossip and drama. Whether it was intended as a joke or not, it made me think twice about bringing forward concerns. Employees need HR professionals who solve problems—not people looking for the latest tea.
As a Black professional, hearing senior leaders question my competence only two months into my employment—while I was still onboarding and working extraordinary hours—reinforced many of the workplace challenges Black professionals often describe. I can only speak to my own experience, but I never felt I was given a fair opportunity to establish myself before my abilities were called into question.
Eventually, the stress became overwhelming, and I had to take a medical leave of absence. No job has ever affected my mental health the way this one did.
Before accepting an offer, ask detailed questions about onboarding, workload expectations, manager turnover, and how new employees are supported. My experience was one where I was expected to perform at a high level immediately, often without the context, resources, or stability needed to do the job well.
