The senior execs could argue that this doesn’t matter. This woman was retiring–they’d never see her again, so they didn’t need to recognize her upon her retirement.
But everyone else saw that they weren’t there. Everyone else saw that you put in 21 years with a company, and the bigwigs don’t give a flying fig.
My bet, unless this was a family-owned company, is that this employee was there longer than anyone in the corner offices.
The message that the whole staff gets when execs are too busy to show up to such an event is that the staff is expendable.
Now, I will say that the bigger the company, the fewer retirements the CEO can show up to. But the senior person from that location should be there for such an event.
Or am I off my rocker, and this is no different than someone who just quit? We don’t throw a party when you quit to go work a different job.
I think you are right, not off your rocker. I retired recently after 30 years and my grandboss couldn’t be bothered to show up because he was working from his vacation home. He was the one who insisted we all come back to the office full-time, too. That sends a message.
Not off your rocker. 1) Being at a company for 21 years is almost unheard of these days. 2) This is a retirement, not just going to a different job. For the bosses/ execs ups not to show up is very sad and sends a clear message to the remaining workforce. Like you said, everyone notices. I would be disappointed too.
That is sad…but worse is that the boss of that department doesn’t bring it to the executive’s attention with a passive aggressive email to say they missed an executive at our office for a retirement goodbye hour and that they hope for more of a commitment to attend these milestone events moving forward. This allows you to get a sense for how the Executive office feels about the situation. Otherwise, its ‘quiet quitting’ on your part, along with your department and begin seeking a new workplace, as you will have no hope for any better behavior in the future. Thank you for sharing as I don’t feel this is not the only company that would do this!
You’re not off your rocker. This was a huge miss on the part of the executive team, and frankly, insulting. This woman gave 21 years of her life to make that company better, and they couldn’t even show up to say “thanks and goodbye”? SMH
Not off your rocker at all. Heck, at my company we usually do throw parties for people who quit, thanking them for their work and wishing them well.