Framed at work on purpose to fire me
Hi All,
Really need help/advice on my situation as I think I am being framed at work to be fired.
A bit of background:
I joined as an analyst at a PE shop (our team is quite small). (disclaimer most of the people in the team have either studied together in high school/university or were childhood friends and those 4-5 people hold managerial positions and have been at the firm for quite some time so they are quite tight together.)
I am inexperienced but I am very hardworking and willing to put in the hours and learn as much as I can. I tried my best to establish a good working relationship, I have always been polite and demonstrated a positive attitude. From the moment I joined, I just had work thrown at me without any explanation or coaching. In the beginning, I asked for guidance on how to perform certain tasks but nobody wanted to explain anything, if I ask my manager a question, he responds with a question (i.e. he doesn't want to give me the answer and keeps me guessing). There aren't that many juniors in the team, and whoever I tried to ask either don't want to help or can't help cause they are struggling too. I tried my best to perform tasks but of course, there will be some mistakes simply because I am not experienced enough.
In the first month, I was staffed with another junior, to help him with his work as I didn't have anything yet on my plate after being onboarded. Shortly after starting to work with that person, he started ignoring me and excluding me from everything possible, i.e. whenever I came in the morning and said good morning, he pretended to not hear me but if someone else showed up they talked to them, they started excluding me from social environments (coffee chats/after work drinks) while invited everyone else on the team, and even work meetings. One time he also passed a racist comment trying to imply that I am stupid but I pretended to not hear it and didn't want to take it up to HR as I didn't want to cause any issues since I just joined I wanted to be on good terms with everyone. That person eventually threw me under the bus in front of our boss, which the boss didn't acknowledge and pretended like it was normal.
After, I was tasked with a few things that weren't high priority and had no deadline and one of my colleagues overheard and told me were "just to keep me busy" (from my staffer who was talking about me behind my back). I did all the work to the best of my ability but there were some minor mistakes, when I got my feedback from my boss I was shocked to hear the amount of lies that were told about me mentioning that I made a lot of mistakes which caused the team to fix everything and miss a deadline because of me (which was not true). I tried to explain that there must have been a misunderstanding but I was shocked to hear that people were making up stories behind my back and I had no power to protect myself.
Fast forward to now, things have just gotten much worse and I started noticing even more hostility whenever I made a mistake instead of explaining to me where I went wrong, I was constantly being berated in written form and felt this was all done on purpose to create a paper trail.
I worked late hours throughout weekends, and on my vacations, and no matter how hard I tried to do my best nobody was ever happy...instead, I've been told that I will be put on a performance improvement plan without any warning and I don't know what to do now. Do I take these matters up to HR to explain that I am being bullied at work ( although I don't have much hope that anyone would care or help as their interest lies in protecting the firm). I also don't know if I should just resign or go through the PIP, hoping to either improve or find another job by then..I am afraid of being fired as I don't know how I would explain this in the next job.
I started looking for other jobs but I dont have anything lined up yet, I really need some advice as I feel really lost at the moment and I don't know how to go about this injustice..
EDIT: also, can someone please explain what can an analyst possibly do so wrong to be put on a PIP especially someone that has no experience in PE, financial modeling, valuation, asset management, reading legal docs and understanding the DD process, and presenting all of this information to give an investment recommendation. I believe it takes time to master all these things and no analyst straight out of university can ramp up in a year to do the job 100% correctly. Every deal is different and is quite complex even after completing several deals, if something new comes up that a person has never done, won't there be errors naturally?
Another question - what is the associate's job if the analyst does all the modeling, PPT, asset management, etc. Cause my associate seems to be just walking around the office doing f*ck all, doesn't split the work, he only checks it to give comments but no guidance and leaves at 6-7 while I stay up working late trying to figure things out by myself.
Ultimately, in the US you can be fired for any reason, with or without cause, at any time, so it doesn't really matter. Discrimination is the one exception, you mentioned a racist remark from one person but that is really difficult to prove especially if it was a peer and not the senior.
Start recruiting and try to make it last as long as you can at your current firm. It is not a good spot for you so you have very little to gain from HR, especially already being on a PIP and waiting until that is put in place to raise any issues. Don't resign, make them fire you as that gives you some time... but you should be recruiting and networking on Monday
Thanks, I also feel like there is a lot of gaslighting going on could you please help me understand:
1. What can an analyst possibly do so wrong to be put on a PIP especially someone that has no experience in PE
2. How should the work be split between analyst and associate? (my associate just passes all the work to me, without guidance which ofcourse I am greatful to get as I learn a lot but because I don't know how to do things I make mistakes and get beaten up for it)
1. It's a shitty thing to learn in your first job, but you can be put on a PIP for no reason at all. You can be put on a PIP because your boss didn't like what you wore today. Sounds like several people on your team don't like you and want you out, which could be either personality/random or you doing some poor work. Based on question #2 it sounds like there has been at least some miscommunications/lack of clarity about work, which is expected as an analyst but hard to tell the extent.
2. I'm A2A so saying this as a past analyst, not a clueless MBA ASO - the analyst should be doing the majority of the work. If you have questions it's on you to ask instead of wasting time doing things incorrectly. It's helpful if you gather all your questions together + explain what you've already done to troubleshoot rather than questions every 10 minutes that you haven't tried to solve (i.e. I spent some time on it and got things most of the way built out, here are the 3-5 things I'd like some help on, and here's what I tried so far)
Sorry to hear that you're going through this. PIPs are generally done to create basis for eventually firing someone as opposed to wanting them to actually improve. You either have bad luck that they just don't like you for some reason or you did something to piss them off - maybe they just feel you aren't a good fit from a personality/cultural perspective.
Going to HR at this stage won't help since they now know you're low priority and will be put on a PIP, so if you say there was racism they will try and push harder for you to resign.
Advice? Ignore them, do a mediocre job and start recruiting asap. Once you get a new job you can put them out of your mind. Your future is elsewhere, not at this firm.
Thanks, I also feel like there is a lot of gaslighting going on could you please help me understand:
1. What can an analyst possibly do so wrong to be put on a PIP especially someone that has no experience in PE
2. How should the work be split between analyst and associate? (my associate just passes all the work to me, without guidance which ofcourse I am greatful to get as I learn a lot but because I don't know how to do things I make mistakes and get beaten up for it)
Sucks to hear you being treated like this. This reminds me of when I interned at a small VC fund. The experience mirrored yours albeit the way you're being treated is worse than what I went through. Given the lack of training and guidance, the intolerance for mistakes at these places speaks more about them than it does you. Mistakes will happen... there was a recent WSO post about a 3rd year analyst who still struggled with mistakes. I recommend checking out that thread for some fresh perspectives on making mistakes.
Moving on, you will not flourish at this place.. being put on a PIP is the firm's way of letting you know that you should find another job plain and simple. Very few people manage to turn things around after being placed on one and I doubt you would want to turn things around at a place like this.
Like the posters above mentioned, you need to start polishing your resume and applying to other positions while tapping into your network. DO NOT quit on your own otherwise you will forfeit your unemployment benefit eligibility should it come to this point. Best of luck.
Thanks, I also feel like there is a lot of gaslighting going on could you please help me understand:
1. What can an analyst possibly do so wrong to be put on a PIP especially someone that has no experience in PE
2. How should the work be split between analyst and associate? (my associate just passes all the work to me, without guidance which ofcourse I am greatful to get as I learn a lot but because I don't know how to do things I make mistakes and get beaten up for it)
If you haven’t already documented anything adversarial, start now. Collect as much solid and circumstantial evidence as you can. Get an initial legal consultation at the very least after you collect as much evidence as you can. Do not let them win.
bad advice if you want to stay in the industry
Disagree. This should not have any impact on one’s ability to stay and be successful in the industry
People suck and sometimes things happen to us that we don’t deserve without reason or little reason. I’m sorry you joined this firm. Please network immediately, and I hope you’re in a spot where you can be extra cautious next time on accepting an offer. Shits more detrimental to your mental health than you now realize.
I’m in a decently shitty spot right now after leaving an extremely weird shitty situation, and it’s almost been a year. Initially it was supposed to be a place holder until I found a firm I’d actually enjoy working at lol. Job market it so bad that it’s good to have somewhere to collect a paycheck from while you network! You never know how long it can take.
That being said, my mental health/day to day is drastically better than at the shop I needed to leave. So good luck!
I was in a somewhat similar situation a few years ago. I was working in a European office (headcount of roughly 10 people) of a US based PE fund with roughly 200 employees overall. My local bosses (Partner + MD) were dishonest and working with them was a nightmare. As I started to voice my concerns with others (incl. US based colleagues) my local bosses evidently decided they needed to get rid of me. They started to spread lies about me (e.g., telling co-workers I was close with that I had complained about said co-workers) and, in one instance, even attempted to get me to write a "confession" regarding supposed Covid-policy rule breaks (this was in early 2021), which I didn't fall for, but that certainly would have gotten me fired.
Here's my advice to you:
Even if you do get fired, it will be a minor stumble in your career and nothing more. That's what happened to me: After months of back and forth with HR and others, I was ultimately let go. Lots of people were on my side (something I wouldn't have known, had I not asked for help), but ultimately the firm made the decision that getting rid of an Associate was easier than a Partner and MD both making 7 figures. Perversely, my speaking up was even used against me as evidence that my professional relationships at the firm were broken (direct quote).
The impact on recruiting was non-existent. I didn't tell interviewers I was fired (technically, this wasn't even incorrect since my termination agreement was mutual, legally speaking) and those people I did tell (like headhunters I was close with) were amused by my story and told me stories about other fucked-up things they had seen over the years. No doubt I was angry and exhausted after months of fighting for my job in vain, but I enjoyed some time off, talked to lots of firms in different industries and ultimately found a very different role I enjoy 10x more than what I did before. I decided to leave PE altogether and even though I make less money than before, I have never felt more engaged by my work and optimistic about my career than I do today.
Lastly, to give you one glimmer of hope that there is justice in this world: After my termination, I spent a few days steaming, trying to nevertheless hold my (now former) bosses accountable and, through my lawyer, demanded my ex-firm launch an internal investigation into what had happened. Unasked, I provided 10+ pages of detailed notes on what had transpired. They confirmed receipt of the information and then went silent. My lawyer said this was likely the end of it, and yet two months later I woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning and saw a few text messages from former colleagues. My two bosses had been fired effective immediately and furthermore, my entire (former) office was shut down for good. I still didn't get my job back (thank god, I can say today) and even if this bit of redemption really has no bearing on my career or state of mind today, it's nevertheless a good segue into my most important piece of advice for you:
There have been lots of situations in my career where I didn't speak up and later wished I had. But there has never been a situation where I spoke up on behalf of myself or others and regretted it.
Also, I just want to add that the notes you take yourself are admissible as evidence in a court of law.
Thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry this happened to you, but out of curiosity which field did you move into ? I just dont have hope anymore for a good office working environment. My last hope was at this place as its quite a well known institutional investor, and in a country where generally people are considered nice (not USA).
I am not the only one going through this, I guess one thing I didn’t mention other women in my team are experiencing the same problem. As I mentioned, all the men who are in a position above us are buddies and we see them being promoted twice as fast while the women are just being shat on (excuse my french) for minor mistakes .. and I see everyone makes mistakes even the MDs… so it is unfair to be nitpicked on.
At this point I just feel that they hate women for whatever reason but had to hire us in the first place as HR needed headcount but now they want to get rid of us.
I work in FP&A in a tech company now. I still get to do the things I liked in IB/PE (i.e. financial modelling, although at a much more granular level, which is also great) but don't have to deal with the things in IB/PE I hated (tons of pointless work, shitty people, grueling hours). I also find my work now way more challenging and interesting, so it's been a step up in virtually every aspect. As mentioned, I make less money than before, but it's still 6-figures/more than I can reasonably spend, and it will likely go up meaningfully in the near future as well.
I'm not a woman but I'm well aware that sexism is a big problem in finance/old school corporate companies everywhere. I felt it was actually worse in Europe than in the US (where I briefly worked as well). My team in IB in the US was at least 40% female whereas in Europe it was maybe 10% max, and it had a noticeable impact on culture. That's another great thing about working in tech and not finance - people in my new firm are much more aware of these issues and proactive about dealing with them. My advice for anyone at this point is to leave "high finance" after a few years unless you are 100% sure it's your calling. The impact on your physical and mental wellbeing is not worth it and there a tons of interesting jobs out there.
Also, if this is a well known firm and other women in your office feel the same way, this certainly gives you some leverage to force change. If your office is just one small piece of a larger firm, they will not hesitate a second to fire your bosses if this turns into a public headache for the firm. Granted, you'd likely still be out of a job, but at least something good will have come from it.
As I have learned since, the people who were mistreating me had done so to lots of others, even across different firms. Nobody ever did anything because they likely got the same advice I did: "Nothing can be done". Luckily, I didn't listen and given how much money I cost them, I suspect these clowns rue the day they ever hired me :)
There arent many women in our office but those who are facing a similar situation arent on the brink of being fired and fear losing their job as they have mortgages, bills to pay etc…so they wont speak up. Also, I didnt want to get into any battles with them and just leave on a good note hoping they would give me at least good recommendations for my next employer. This situation has been going on for over a year and I havent described the amount of negativity in the workplace but Ive seen people that made much more serious mistakes (someone breached compliance twice due to not disclosing trading activity, someone overslept and missed an important meeting where they were supposed to present) none of these people were fired or put on a PIP… initially I thought this team really had each other backs and people I could trust but unfortunately they turned against me for whatever reason..
Just out of curiosity: you mentioned there was a racist remark. What ethnicity are you? And is there any protection for ethnic minorities in the jurisdiction where you work?
I am caucasian so I wouldnt consider myself a minority, and the remark was in the favor of another ethnicity implying they are more smart or have some superior intelligence compared to me... I don't have any evidence for this though as it was verbal
Think the only two things you should focus on right now is (i) not getting fired and (ii) finding a new job. As much as you may want to retaliate right now, in my opinion I think that’s more driven by ego and in 6 months from now won’t matter to you. From a recruiting standpoint, I would advise you not to talk bad about your current firm. Believe it’s okay to say that you don’t think it’s a good fit or you don’t think there’s substantial upward mobility, but would shy from the unfair dynamic, etc. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that some people may not be able to sympathize with that and may view you as a “hairy” or “messy” candidate. This is a competitive market, even more at this point in time, so you want to avoid any reason for people to potentially ding you.
Don’t agree w the above comments that references don’t matter. It’s a smaller world than you think and if you were to quit/get fired, every recruiter is going to ask you for a reference they can speak with. No upside to burning a bridge. Plus, it’s always easier to find a new job when you have a job.
It’s likely going to feel like a long, brutal couple months as you look for a new role but just put your head down and know you’ll get to a better spot in the end
From what I understand, OP is dealing with a pretty blatant case of sexism. Speaking out against that is not "retaliation", nor is the desire to be treated with dignity "driven by ego". This mindset, which seemingly pins the blame for this situation on an analyst instead of abusive Assocs/VPs/Partners etc., is exactly the reason people get away with this shit to this day.
I'm not sure people are going around framing analysts to fire them lol
Just stop making mistakes
If you read my post, I am talking about being bullied not about making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, the associates, VPs, directors etc. we are all human at the end of the day.
Here are my two cents, and I think a good rule in life. GO WHERE YOU ARE WANTED! If you are feeling like you don't fit in and are uncomfortable then you are probably right! Spend considerable effort finding your next move and pay close attention to culture. But, my suggestion is quit looking backwards and spending time worrying about others reactions or responses and write down a list of elements important to you in your next job (ie environment that is more nuturing and cultivates juniors etc...) Look forward in life. Not everyone is going to like you and you are not always going to fit in every situation... a good lesson to learn.
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