If Raj and Dave don't improve, they lose their engineering jobs and future
Two engineers, same skills, different futures
Dear Future Leaders,
Let me tell you about Raj and Dave.
Both smart engineers. Both offshore analysts assigned to support incidents. Their job was simple: pick tickets from the queue, research, close them.
But here's what happened next.
One day, out of the blue, their manager sent this message:
"Raj continues to struggle with basic SQL and relies heavily on his lead for repeat incident types. He’s handled only 14 incidents in the past 20 days. Dave’s availability is inconsistent, averaging 1-2 incidents a day, compared to another resource who’s completed 65. With incident queues growing, I recommend replacing Raj and Dave as they haven’t been able to ramp up effectively."
This isn't feedback, but a dictum.
In tech, one person's noise can shatter your future. Not because you underperformed, but because you let someone else control your destiny by keeping your work invisible.
Raj and Dave were taken by surprise. No one had given them feedback so far.
Dave insisted he was online all day. But because the process forced him to reassign to other teams instead of closing tickets, his metrics looked weak.
Perception: low output. Reality: steady effort.
Raj had skill gaps. SQL issues forced him to ask for help repeatedly.
Perception: not improving. Reality: he just hadn't closed the skill gap fast enough.
Neither was lazy. But leadership doesn't judge on intent. It judges on visible impact.
The manager doesn't have time to dig deep. They rely on the lead for answers. And if that lead is creating noise against you, you're in trouble.
Both Dave and Raj's futures were being decided by another "lead" who wasn't even a manager. Even if they handled more incidents than listed, it didn't matter. The metrics showed lower numbers.
Why hoping someone else tells your story doesn't work
Dave and Raj's options are limited. They can fight with the lead or quit for another job. But neither works.
Fighting creates a bad reputation. The lead won't change their opinion for you.
Quitting means lost income until you land a new job. Being fired for "low performance" (even if untrue) also takes a toll on confidence. It also means you might run into the same problem elsewhere.
The reality is that leadership makes decisions based on what they see and hear from people they depend upon. If the people they depend upon aren't advocating for you, your excellent work becomes invisible.