Getting Layered at Work
When it comes to doing your job, you're productive, responsive, cooperative, creative, caring, supportive, enthusiastic and loyal.
In short, you're crushing it.
And what do you get as a reward for all this hard work?
You get a new boss -- a new boss who represents a new layer of management between you and your old boss, who you thought really likes you, but, apparently, hates your guts.
You haven't been fired. It's worse.
You've been layered.
I learned that 'getting layered' is a thing in 'When a New Layer of Management is Hired Above You,' an article by Melody Wilding in the Harvard Business Review.
Often, layering occurs when a company is growing. Thanks to your hard work, the business is booming and can now afford to hire someone over your head -- someone who didn't contribute to the growth but will now benefit from a much higher salary than they ever dreamed of paying you.
'The company can't keep hiring at the bottom,' explains Wilding. It's a useful reminder for a bottom-of-the-barrel hire like yourself, who sometimes forgets where they stand.
According to experts, layering can produce 'a mix of emotions -- surprise, frustration, resentment, even anxiety.' This is understandable. It can also produce positive feelings as the layered employee comes to appreciate a new level of dedicated mentorship and focused guidance. This is also understandable -- if you're a robot.
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