Assuaging peoples concerns about the present by promising a better future is ok in the short term, but I tend to see it as a long-term pattern of some managers.

Assuaging peoples concerns about the present by promising a better future is ok in the short term, but I tend to see it as a long-term pattern of some managers. Stringing people along for a nonexistent promotion, letting on-call remain bad because next quarter we will have enough time to fix it (we won’t), that sort of thing. I say “abusive” but maybe “manipulative” is better.