Katie and Brenda were going at it again. Claire wondered if this was what it felt like to be a schoolteacher. She was constantly having to referee and be the voice of reason, and this looming promotion round had only exacerbated the two women’s animosity to each other.
“Oh look, I’ve got my interview with the promotion panel,” said Katie.
Katie had a booming voice, which carried across the open plan office. Over a hundred people worked on this floor, and there was no doubt in Claire’s mind that everyone had heard the news, whether they wanted to or not.
“I had mine about an hour ago,” said Brenda.
Brenda was softer spoken, but everything she said had a patronising tone to it, no matter what she was saying.
“Well, I suppose they need to be polite and go through the motions. They want to make sure they hit their quota for having thirty percent of promotions be women,” said Katie.
Brenda scowled,
“I bet even Claire got an interview. Did you?” asked Katie.
Claire didn’t want to get drawn into this, but they had offered her a promotion interview. It was her first attempt. Brenda and Katie were both on their third. Claire nodded to confirm and then went back to her computer screen.
“I rest my case,” said Katie. “Claire has only been here five minutes. There’s no way she’s going to get it. There’s only three spots and we know the two guys who are getting promoted, no questions asked. There will be one woman, or the union will kick off. They can’t just give it to me. It has to look like they’ve done a proper process.”
“I agree,” said Brenda. “The last thing we need is your foghorn broadcasting across the office more than usual, which would have happened if you hadn’t gotten your pity interview.”
It carried on like that for the rest of the afternoon. Claire was a project manager, like Katie and Brenda. She had applied for promotion to Senior Project Manager, although had been told that people didn’t get it on their first attempt. Her manager had suggested that applying early would give her experience of the process, so she would be better prepared when it was her time. It was the worst kept secret that the job was going to go to either Katie or Brenda. Claire didn’t envy the promotion panel, as whichever wasn’t successful would not take it well, although neither of them would leave. They were both what Claire would describe as backbone workers. They only did what the company required; no more, no less. They had been with the company for years and would never leave. They believed that promotion was something they were entitled to as loyalty for their service. They were only interested in the higher salary that came with the promotion. It was that simple. If Claire was on the panel, she wouldn’t give it to either of them, but the Board had made an agreement with the union about quotas, so they would promote one of them this time round. No other women had applied for promotion to that level in this division.
***
A week later, Claire was in the staff kitchen making herself a coffee after her interview. They had as good as told her that she was unlikely to be successful, which had stung a bit. However, she had found the overall experience challenging, yet enjoyable, so knew she’d look back on it as a positive experience once the sting had worn off. She finished making her coffee and decided to take five minutes for herself as there was nobody else in the kitchen. She leaned against the side, inhaled the aroma of the fresh coffee, closed her eyes, and took a sip.
The sound of Katie’s voice shattered her moment of solitude.
“Well, they as good as told me they were promoting me,” she said, as she walked into the kitchen.
Claire opened her eyes, irritated to see that Brenda was with her.
“That’s funny, Katie, they said the same thing to me.”
“They were just humouring you. I bet they said the same thing to Claire. Did they?”
“No, they didn’t.”
“What?” asked Katie.
“I said, no, they didn’t. They told me I had a lot to offer, but that it wasn’t typical to promote someone on their first attempt.”
“Well, it’s true,” said Katie. “I smell bullshit from you anyway, Brenda.”
Brenda went to speak, but Claire cut in.
“Katie, have you ever heard of empathy?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I’m your colleague. I just had my interview. I’ve been told that it was unlikely I’d be successful. It was what I expected, but it still stings a bit, and all you can say is, I told you so. Perhaps you should have some consideration for other people’s feelings.”
Brenda said nothing, but her face implied she was loving how the conversation had turned.
“I keep it real,” said Katie.
“Perhaps that’s why you’ve not been promoted then,” said Claire. She was annoyed, but she kept her voice calm.
“Excuse me?” boomed Katie.
“Well, as a senior, you need to manage a team, so keeping it real
isn’t the only traits a line manager needs to have.”
“Boom!” said Brenda, who had now found her voice.
Katie was about to respond when one of the female Partners walked into the kitchen. She had been one of the interviewers on the promotion panel. Claire wondered how much she had heard. Katie gave a look to imply that their conversation was far from over before walking away. Brenda smiled at Claire before leaving, clearly loving the drama.
***
Two days later, the atmosphere was still frosty. Katie had demanded an apology, which Claire had obliged.
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
“That’s not an apology. You need to apologise for what you said.”
“That would be insincere. I am not sorry for what I said, but I am sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
Nothing more had been said, but there was still an uncomfortable silence. This was exacerbated by Brenda being quiet, which was unnerving, as you could usually never shut her up.
Katie let out a scream.
“What’s wrong?” asked Brenda.
“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
“What?”
“You’ve stolen my promotion.”
“What? You didn’t get it either?”
“You mean, you didn’t get it?”
“No, why do you think I’ve been quiet all morning?”
“So, neither of us got it. We need to raise this with the union rep straight away.”
“Shall we go together,” said Brenda, standing up.
Katie agreed. There was a first time for everything. They left together with a shared sense of purpose.
Claire thought it would be a good time to take an early lunch. She did one last check of her email, remembering her conversation with the Partner the night before. She smiled to herself as she saw the follow up email, which started with the word Congratulations…