During the award ceremony at our annual dinner, my boss, Hank Reid, suddenly announced an impromptu addition to the agenda.

“Annual department competition! The department that ranked last has to come up and receive a little award of motivation!”

The screen lit up. They scrolled through all the departments’ results.

The sales department got first place, the operations department got second place, and the marketing department got third place.

However, there was nothing from the administration department.

That was because the administration department did not have KPIs.

Hank smiled at us. “Let’s welcome our colleagues from the administration department to come up and receive their awards!”

Two of my colleagues carried a whole basket of brooms onto the stage.

Everyone was laughing.

“You should sweep away your bad luck from last year. Let’s hope you won’t get last place again next year!”

Hank personally passed the brooms to all of us. Cameras flashed as people took photos of us with their phones.

The sales department was laughing the loudest. “Finally, the administration department has some recognition!”

After we returned to our work desks, Ben Anderson threw the broom onto his table.

“What are they implying by humiliating our entire department in front of everyone?”

Patricia Leeland whispered, “Lower your voice…”

“Why should I?” Sam teared up. “I’m going to get married in the spring, and I’m looking forward to the year-end bonus for that. Instead, they gave me a broom?”

Autumn hung her head, and her shoulders trembled as she cried.

Patricia sighed and said, “My husband has to go for a check-up next month. Initially, I thought…”

She did not finish her sentence.

My phone buzzed. It was a text message from my boss, Hank Reid.

[Mindy, don’t overthink this. We’re only doing it to hype up the event. You’re an old employee, so you should be generous. Focus on motivating your team. Deliver a good performance next year. Try your best not to be the last.]

Generous?

There were five of us in the administrative department. We handled a variety of tasks from big-ticket items like negotiating with suppliers and authority liaisons to small-ticket items like receiving parcels and fixing the printer. We did everything.

Who were the ones who did the documentation for the sales department’s contracts? Who were the ones who pulled all-nighters to prepare research materials for the marketing department? Who were the ones who arranged Hank’s business trips?

We did all the tedious tasks, and the only feedback we got was that we did not have clear KPIs. Was that a valid reason for them to give us brooms?

Sam stared at me. “Mindy, are we planning to just let this go?”

I placed the broom on the table.

“Don’t worry. This isn’t over yet.”

After the annual dinner ended, I immediately marched into Hank’s office.

It was very crowded when I entered.

The sales director, marketing director, and finance director were smiling ear to ear as they made promises to Hank.

“Mr. Reid, we were only able to double our sales because of your great leadership!”

“Let’s try even harder next year and take our company to the next level!”

Hank’s smile froze for a moment when he saw me entering his office.

“You should all head home and rest. Let’s start again in the new year.”

The crowd dispersed. Hank gestured for me to take a seat. Then, he lit a cigarette.

“What’s up? You look so ghastly. Does someone owe you money?”

I suppressed my anger. “Mr. Reid, don’t you feel like that segment during the annual dinner is a bit too much?”

“Which segment?”

“The one where you distributed the brooms.”

Hank blew out a smoke ring and laughed.

“Mindy, you’re too fragile. Isn’t it just a small game to hype the crowd up? Didn’t you see all the other departments laughing?”

“They were laughing because they weren’t the ones who received the brooms.”

“Hey, why are you being aggressive?”

Hank snuffed the cigarette out on his ashtray and leaned back.

“Fine. Let me ask you this, then. Why wouldn’t your department deserve the last place in our annual review? The sales department managed to drive 300 million dollars in sales. The operations department reduced our costs by 40%. The marketing department tripled our exposure. What data can the administration department show?”

Rage washed over me.

Data, data, data!

During the mid-year increment, every department had gotten their increments except for us. Our salaries remained the same.

I went to learn the reason for that.

[The salary for the administration department is fixed. Your income is not affected by any targets, so we have to delay your increment. Mindy, you’ve been with us for a long time. Don’t be narrow-minded. Just wait until the end of the year. I’ll give you a little more for your year-end bonus, and everyone will be happy about it.]

It was true that we did not receive commissions in addition to our salaries. However, we did not receive increments for over three years despite the huge inflation that impacted our expenses and rent.

He lied to us every single year.

However, as he promised a higher year-end bonus, we stayed and kept quiet.

I suppressed my anger. “Mr. Reid, we accepted that we would not get an increment during the mid-year adjustment, but you promised to make it up to us with the year-end bonus!”

Hank slammed his cup against the table.

“Mindy! Watch your attitude!

“The company has its own considerations. The administration department has no KPIs, so naturally, according to the amount of contributions recorded, you’re the last! What’s wrong with that?”

“But in the past…”

“The past is the past!” Hank interrupted me. “We have to change if we want to grow. In the future, the administration department has to balance its own profits and losses. You can’t just depend on the company to cover all of your expenses!”

I stood up.

“I understand now. In your eyes, we’re not a critical department.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to say it. Your actions were loud enough.”

I turned around and left.

“Wait!”

Hank’s voice became cold.

“Mindy, you’ve been the administration manager for eight years. Why are you so narrow-minded? Just because of the year-end bonus, you’re giving me an attitude. How would the other departments view you?”

I turned around and met his eyes.

“Mr. Reid, I don’t mind suffering, but my subordinates are waiting for the year-end bonus. Patricia’s husband has to go for a check-up, Sam’s going to get married soon, and Autumn plans to bring her mother to see a doctor…”

“Those are their family matters. What does it have to do with the company?”

Hank waved impatiently.

“We’re not a charity. We can’t just give employees more money just because they’re facing some family problems. If you’re unhappy with this, you can bring it up to the labor court. Let’s see if they’ll handle your case!”

I was stunned.

He was completely shameless.

“Fine. Let me find out then.”

Hank sneered, “Suit yourself. But let me remind you, if you burn bridges, no one will dare to hire you in the future!”

I did not answer him.

I left, slamming the door behind me.

After I left Hank’s office, I bumped into Andrea Carpenter, the HR director, in the corridor.

She smiled and stepped forward to link arms with me.

“Mindy, what a coincidence! I was looking for you. Let’s go to my office?”

I did not reject her invitation.

Andrea poured me a glass of water and sat opposite me. She frowned and sighed.

“Why bother?”

My head snapped up as I stared at her in disbelief.

“Why bother? Andrea, they’re my subordinates. All of them are waiting for the year-end bonus!

“Patricia’s husband has found that there’s something wrong with his liver, and he’s been using conservative treatment methods. Patricia wants to bring him to a bigger state hospital to get it checked out.

“Sam only found a girlfriend when he was over 30 years old. He’s hoping to use the year-end bonus to host a wedding to celebrate.

“Autumn promised to bring her mother on a tropical vacation. Her mother felt unwell during the winter due to arthritis…”

“But the company isn’t a charity. We have to follow our SOPs. We can’t just give some employees more bonuses just because they’re having some issues,” Andrea said indifferently.

“Fine. Then, let’s not talk about their struggles!”

I pulled out a chair and sat down. Then, I took out my phone.

“Let’s talk about contributions! Our department is ranked last in the annual review. According to the contribution distribution, we have contributed nothing! Now, let’s look at the administration department’s contributions!”

I opened my email.

“This year, the company signed 63 contracts in total. The administration department did the approval, printing, and archiving of every single contract. If we outsource this to a law firm, they would charge us three thousand dollars just for the approval process. It would be two hundred thousand dollars for all 63 contracts.

“The company was only able to pass the environmental assessment last year because the administration department visited over twenty government centers and prepared hundreds of documents. We spent over three months on this. If we outsource this to an agency, the market rate is fifteen hundred thousand dollars at the minimum.

“Besides that, we also manage our suppliers, all 47 of them. We managed to lengthen our credit terms from 30 days to 60 days for 12 of our suppliers. With this, we’ve already helped the company to improve its cash flow!

“There are only five of us in the administration department. Our average salary per month is only six thousand dollars per person. The annual spending is just three hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Any one of the contributions I had mentioned earlier is worth more than that! And you don’t think these count as contributions?”

Andrea was speechless. She thought for a long time before saying, “We’re not saying that you didn’t contribute to the company. However, the administration department truly didn’t contribute to direct profit. You’re only spending in our financial report…”

I sneered.

“Then, let’s look at our workload.”

I took out our attendance report.

“For the entirety of last year, the average overtime per person was 42 hours per month. When our office relocated over the Fourth of July weekend, we worked for 72 hours straight without resting.

“When customers visited during Easter, we arranged everything from their flights, accommodations, food, and even the meeting room decorations. We didn’t even manage to eat dinner.

“What was the overtime fee we received? 18 dollars! Even working at a regular convenience store, we’d get paid 22 dollars!”

I paused and said firmly.

“18 dollars per hour, and we’re working so hard. Then, we’re given brooms to ‘sweep’ away our bad luck. Andrea, do you think this is reasonable?”

Andrea’s face turned cold.

“Mindy, stop focusing on your minor contributions. You should look at other departments. Sales, marketing… They’ve contributed a lot more than you.”

I stood up and rolled my eyes.

“What contributions? Delaying our claims?

“The administration department has helped all other departments by paying for their expenses first. More than eighty thousand dollars in claims still have not been reimbursed to us! The finance department keeps delaying their approval, and their reason is that the SOP isn’t right! Which step of the SOP is wrong? We’ve always submitted our claims that way!

“Let’s talk about the planning department, which is led by Hank’s nephew. They came up with three proposals. Our clients complained that one of those proposals had been plagiarized. We forked up fifty thousand dollars for PR. That sum of money was deducted from the administration department’s budget! Are these the contributions you’re talking about?”

The more I talked, the more unfair I felt this was.

“Besides, your department only focuses on attendance and sanctions! You deduct fifty dollars if the person is late by one minute, and you deduct a hundred dollars if they forget to tap in. If their work desk isn’t tidy, they’re fined fifty dollars. Last year alone, you’d have received more than thirty thousand dollars in fines. Where did the money go?”

I sneered.

“How incredible! You’re all huge contributors! Since the company feels that the administration department hasn’t provided any contributions, don’t expect us to stay back and work overtime for free! We’re honest people, but we’re not dumb! With the past promises falling through, we’ve learned that empty promises are all you have!”

I ignored Andrea’s dark expression, turned around, and left.

I heard the sound of a teacup shattering.

I thought she was being nice, but she was just helping Hank.

Andrea must be part of the team that planned that segment of the annual dinner.

When I returned to the administration department, my subordinates all looked at me.

I felt a lump in my throat. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Sam grimaced. “Based on Mindy’s expression, I bet it’s over for us. Forget about it, I’ll figure something else out for my wedding.”

Autumn wiped her tears. “Just now, everyone pooled some money so I could bring my mother to get basic treatment. I’ll bring her to a specialist in the future.”

Patricia did not say a word as she fidgeted with her phone. She was most likely updating her husband about the potential delay of his check-up.

They were bearing the unfair treatment.

I balled up my fists.

“Patricia, don’t you have a good friend over at HR?”

Patricia nodded. “Yes, Connie. Why?”

“Ask her if there is any latest news in the company.”

Patricia immediately texted Connie Smith. A few minutes later, her expression changed.

“Mindy, Connie said that… Mr. Reid wants to fire our entire department. They wanted to cut our salaries for three years, but they couldn’t. So, they want to hire cheap, fresh graduates instead.

“That’s not all,” Patricia said through gritted teeth. “Andrea has asked the legal department to prepare the documents. She said that if we dare to blow this matter up, they’ll go through all of our accounts to find supplier rebates or discrepancies in reimbursements. They’ll find something to incriminate us.”

“We can’t let this slide. Not this time.”

My voice was hoarse, and my eyes were filled with fury. I was forced to a dead end.