She Outperformed An Older Coworker In Her New Sales Job And Made Him Look Bad, So He Caused A Scene
This 20-year-old woman recently began working at a high-end retail store, and ever since graduating from school, this is her first “serious job.” So, she really wanted to make a good impression.
But, while most of her coworkers were welcoming, there was one 35-year-old man named Jack who seemingly had an issue with her.
For some context, Jack has been working with their company for over 10 years, and he’s considered a “top performer” who’s known for his sales skills.
Yet, from her very first shift, it felt like Jack was acting pretty cold toward her – making sarcastic remarks about her lack of experience and age.
“I tried not to let it bother me and focused on doing my best. I studied our products extensively and developed a friendly rapport with customers,” she explained.
“Within a few weeks, my sales numbers started to climb.”
Then, just last month, she actually outsold Jack for the first time – coming out on top of her team. According to her, she didn’t intentionally try to beat him, either. She was just trying to do her job well.
Her managers noticed the achievement as well and congratulated her. Unfortunately, though, this only made Jack act more resentful toward her.
“He began to undermine me in subtle ways – taking over my sales without asking, giving me the less desirable shifts, and even spreading rumors that I was using underhanded tactics to boost my numbers,” she revealed.
BGStock72 – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
This pushed her to confront Jack privately, and she tried asking him if they could find a way to work together better. Still, he actually just brushed her off, claimed she was “too young to understand the dynamics of the workplace,” and said that she needed to respect her elders.
Well, things continued to become even worse when her manager actually decided to make her the team leader for a sales event instead of Jack since she’d been performing so well on the job. Once she was named team lead, Jack became really upset, too.
He actually caused a scene in front of their team, accusing her of being a suck-up and trying to manipulate the managers in order to get ahead.
“I was embarrassed and didn’t know how to respond,” she recalled.
Now, ever since then, things at work have been pretty tense. Apparently, some of her coworkers supported her and agreed that management should recognize hard work – regardless of a person’s age or tenure.
But, other coworkers believed she should have just allowed Jack to continue being known as the top performer as a way of respecting his long career.
“And I feel conflicted. I didn’t set out to make Jack look bad or take his place. I just wanted to do well in my job,” she vented.
Still, now that things are awkward at work, she’s not sure if she should’ve “held back” in order to maintain the peace.
Do you think she should feel bad for being successful at her new job? Or is it Jack’s problem that he’s not keeping up with her? How do you suggest she deal with the tension at work?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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