Company's New Executive Demands All Employees Take Lunch At Noon—And It Backfires Hard

A TikToker encouraged new leaders in a managerial positions to check themselves before power-tripping after her new Chief Operating Officer (COO) implemented a new rule about taking lunch at noon, "no exceptions."

Spoiler alert: It backfired big time.

TikToker @unpluggedmoments posted a story time video about how things went down when the incoming COO thought he could shake things up because he had the authority to do so without consequences.

As a member of the executive team, the TikToker said she had always allowed the flexibility of employees taking their lunch between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and there were no issues with that system for four years.

When she mentioned this, the response she got was, "Well, I'm the new COO, so that's the rule," and he added that it also applied to her as well.

Seeing that it was non-negotiable, she humored him with malicious compliance and said, "Okay, got it."

When it was time for the new lunch hour, the TikToker exclaimed, "Let’s go!" to which hesitant employees asked, "Are we really doing this?"

She replied:

"You, secretary, admin, custodial, you on the Zoom call with China, go ahead and hang up."

"You over there on the sales call, and you in the presentation, come on out. We're all going to lunch right now."

She was just encouraging everyone to follow orders.

When the COO called her during the lunch break, she stuck to the "no exceptions" rule and sent the call to voicemail.

He apparently left a message requesting to see her in his office afterward.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked her, to which she responded with, "What's the meaning of what?"

At that moment, the CEO of her company called her and asked what the reason was behind the entire staff leaving their stations at the same time.

The TikToker explained the implementation of the new lunch rule, prompting the CEO to speak to the new COO ASAP.

She gladly handed over the phone. A minute later, the conversation was over, and she went back to work only to immediately discover a new email that popped up, alerting everyone that lunch can now resume from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., just as it was before and always had been.

TikTokers were thinking the same thing.

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

Others were shaking their heads over the bizarre rule.

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

@unpluggedmoments/TikTok

"Not everyone's meant to manage," said the TikToker, advising new leaders who are just stepping into their roles to give it six months to a year to observe "what's working and what's not working before you start rocking the boat."

"That's what a good manager does in a leadership role like that," she added.

Take notes, everyone.