The Employee Who Was Asked to Train His Replacement

For eleven years, I was the first person to arrive at the office and usually the last to leave.

I knew every client by name, every system we used and exactly who to call when something went wrong. Whenever a new employee joined the company, I was the one asked to train them. So when my manager called me into his office one Monday morning, I never imagined I was about to lose my job.

“We are restructuring the department,” he said.

I stared at him waiting to hear more but he stayed silent.

“What does that mean?” I finally asked.

“It means your position is being made redundant.”

I sat there quietly, because it wasn’t what I had expected to hear. After eleven years, that was all it took. One meeting. One sentence. One polite smile from a man who had been my manager for only eight months.

I went back to my desk and packed my things slowly. Then, just before lunch, he called me again.

“There is one more thing,” he said.

I already knew I was not going to like it.

“We need you to train your replacement.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“My replacement?”

“Yes.” He said. “He starts next week.”

I almost laughed.

“You want me to train the person taking my job?”

“I understand how this looks,” he said quickly. “But we need a smooth transition.”

A smooth transition? Was the man kidding me? I wanted to refuse.

I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of the company that had accepted eleven years of my loyalty and repaid me by asking me to train the person who would replace me.

But I needed the reference, so I agreed.

The man arrived the following Monday. His name was Daniel, and he was pleasant enough. He had no idea he was replacing me until I told him.

For the first few days, I showed him everything. The systems, clients list and passwords. In fact, I showed him things no manual would ever explain. Then, on Thursday afternoon, Daniel asked me a question.

“Why do you do things this way?”

I turned to him.

“What do you mean?”

He pointed at one of the reports.

“This process seems unnecessarily complicated. I was told you created it.”

“I did?” I ask, then I looked at the screen but it didn’t look any familiar.

“Why?” Daniel asked.

“I'm serious. I didn’t.” I finally said.

He frowned then told me that my manager told him I designed the whole system.

I felt something cold settle in my stomach, so that evening, I went through old emails and files until I found the original system I designed? The only thing was that it had never been approved. The company had rejected it years ago. But someone else had later presented the exact same system to the directors and even received a promotion for it.

I kept searching and discovered the name on the approval documents was my manager’s. He had taken my work and had built his entire reputation on it. Now, after eleven years, he was replacing me because the company believed the system belonged to him.

Anyway, the next morning, I went into his office.

“I’ve finished training Daniel,” I said.

He smiled. “Excellent. I knew I could count on you.”

I placed a folder on his desk and looked him straight in the eye.

“What is this?”

“Everything you need.”

He lifted the folder and opened it. Inside were copies of my original work, the emails proving when I created it and the documents showing how it had been presented as his.

His face changed.

“You’ve been looking through company files?” He asked.

“No,” I said. “I have been looking through my own emails.”

He said nothing.

I picked up my bag. “I won’t be staying until the end of the month.”

He looked up sharply. “But you can’t just leave.”

I smiled.

“Actually, I can, and I take with me all the blessings you stole from me.” And I left.

As I walked out, Daniel followed me.

“Are you really leaving?” he asked.

“Yes.”

He hesitated for a moment bfore he spoke. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

I looked back at the office I had spent eleven years keeping together.

“Ask the person who got the credit for my work.”

I left that afternoon.

Three months later, the company called me saying they wanted me back. The manager had been dismissed and the system had stopped working without me.

They offered me a higher salary and the position I should have received years ago. I thanked them, then I declined.

Why, you may ask. Because sometimes, the best revenge is not getting your old job back. It is finally realising that you were never the problem. But that’s me. May be you would have acted differently.

Anyway, I started my own thing without searching, managed to gather my own clients through old contacts who wanted to work with me. Now I ask myself why I did leave that company earlier.

So, my dear readers, would you have trained the person replacing you, or would you have refuse? And about the job, would you have taken the new offer and stayed there?