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Halloweenqueen

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Joined
Mar 21, 2007
I started a job in November with a great new company with lots of potential. I've been working my behind off and am the top producer out of about two dozen employees. In March I was approached by management and offered a promotion. Myself, along with two other peers were sent for training for almost three weeks. When we returned we were told that our positions were not ready and we had to wait a month to start. We were put back into our old positions.

I understood. The company is new and experiencing some growing pains. April turned into May. I was obligated to continue training and attend all meetings as if I was in my new position off the clock. In the last 3 months I have counted almost 40 hours in unpaid work.

On Friday during the management meeting the lead announced that they were only going to promote one out of the three of us in June. The others would have to wait until the Fall for possible promotions. The three of us looked at each other in stunned belief and met after the meeting to vent.

At the same meeting my lead congratulated me on my performance and stated that I bring in 1/4 of all business to the company. I think I will be not offered the position since my numbers are so important to our success. The second best performer is also one of those trained for the promotion. I think the promotion will actually go to the candidate with the lowest numbers.

As we gathered after the meeting I discovered that we are actually being paid less than many of our new hired peers. I'm just shocked by how this has been handled.

I see such potential and I've been so patient, but I think I've been taken advantage of. I'm actually thinking of walking away.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
I started a job in November with a great new company with lots of potential. I've been working my behind off and am the top producer out of about two dozen employees. In March I was approached by management and offered a promotion. Myself, along with two other peers were sent for training for almost three weeks. When we returned we were told that our positions were not ready and we had to wait a month to start. We were put back into our old positions.

I understood. The company is new and experiencing some growing pains. April turned into May. I was obligated to continue training and attend all meetings as if I was in my new position off the clock. In the last 3 months I have counted almost 40 hours in unpaid work.

On Friday during the management meeting the lead announced that they were only going to promote one out of the three of us in June. The others would have to wait until the Fall for possible promotions. The three of us looked at each other in stunned belief and met after the meeting to vent.

At the same meeting my lead congratulated me on my performance and stated that I bring in 1/4 of all business to the company. I think I will be not offered the position since my numbers are so important to our success. The second best performer is also one of those trained for the promotion. I think the promotion will actually go to the candidate with the lowest numbers.

As we gathered after the meeting I discovered that we are actually being paid less than many of our new hired peers. I'm just shocked by how this has been handled.

I see such potential and I've been so patient, but I think I've been taken advantage of. I'm actually thinking of walking away.

Any advice would be appreciated.


Completely your call.

Can't hurt to look for other employment. You have to weigh it out. Are you willing to wait out the company or not? Would leaving the job less than a year in look bad to potential new employers?

I am old school and very loyal and would probably stick it out longer. I work at a church, probably underpaid for what I do, but I like the intangibles-close to home, being my own boss, flexibility for my family when needed, knowing all of the parishioners that I support, etc. I often put in time outside my normal hours to help others, so your working 40 hours without compensation doesn't phase me.
 
If you can, I'd walk about. This stuff happens. They will take advantage of you if they can. Decide if that's the corporate value you want to work for.
 


I'm all too familiar with this OP.

I understand you want to stay where you are, but if you're seeing the reality that you are, I'd have to say it's up to you what you want to do. I'd take the new skills you're learning, along with the results you get and shop it. Your company wants the 2 people who don't get this job to be able to be a safety net for if the promoted person leaves/get sick/goes on vacation and step in to keep the job going. Also, if they train all 3 of you now, when something happens, the other 2 don't need that training, they already have it.

So yeah, if they're not going to pay you for the level that you're operating at/being trained on, then it's time to bring it to their attention. If you do that, make sure you have an idea of what those skills are bringing in at competitors and I'd maybe even find a clever way to hint that you're not comfortable with doing more for less. If you decide to say nothing, well, then you have nothing to complain about.

Good luck and keep us updated.
 
If you can, I'd walk about. This stuff happens. They will take advantage of you if they can. Decide if that's the corporate value you want to work for.

OP is a new employee (6 months) in a new company. Kind of premature IMHO to walk, or even think about walking. There are growing pains with any new company. There could be huge rewards if you hang in there as they adjust things to make things fair.
 
Speak up with your concerns. Request a meeting with a manager. Tel them how you feel. Best case, you end up rewarded. Worst case, you get fired. If you are thinking of quitting anyway, nothing to lose with this strategy. I have never been one to just sit back and get taken advantage of, in my personal or work life. If you never say anything, that's exactly what will happen.
 


OP is a new employee (6 months) in a new company. Kind of premature IMHO to walk, or even think about walking. There are growing pains with any new company. There could be huge rewards if you hang in there as they adjust things to make things fair.

Sure, they're newer in their job, but they're not stupid either. How many times would you take getting hosed to be acceptable? Depending on the job and the requirements, 1 time is 1 time too many. Granted we only have 1 side of this, but... if true, 3 people were sent to train for new jobs, now 1 person will have this job in the imminent future, and there's a slim chance that there may be 1 or none by the fall. That's a lot of personally wasted time and effort (remember, they're not being paid for this extra stuff) to set yourself up for nothing, when, in fact, you could take those newly acquired skills and go somewhere that they'll have the decency to pay you for that time and effort.

Speak up with your concerns. Request a meeting with a manager. Tel them how you feel. Best case, you end up rewarded. Worst case, you get fired. If you are thinking of quitting anyway, nothing to lose with this strategy. I have never been one to just sit back and get taken advantage of, in my personal or work life. If you never say anything, that's exactly what will happen.

I'll agree to a point. Right now there's a waiting game. 1 person is getting this job within the month, supposedly. So I'd have to say to wait and see how things turn out then start taking more measures. That said, I would be getting the other 2 people together and, as a group, go in recommending that they be compensated in some form now, for the fact that 2 people are gonna get screwed over and may never get that job in the future. I think it would be in the companies best interest to appease all 3 of them now, that way the 2 who do get turned down DON'T go looking for new work.

We all have that "moment" when enough is enough. Sure, being relatively new to a company doesn't give you much to stand on, but your gut feeling also tells you a lot too. If you can see what they're doing, and what's going to happen, then why not be looking out for yourself? The company sure isn't.
 
Speak up with your concerns. Request a meeting with a manager. Tel them how you feel. Best case, you end up rewarded. Worst case, you get fired. If you are thinking of quitting anyway, nothing to lose with this strategy. I have never been one to just sit back and get taken advantage of, in my personal or work life. If you never say anything, that's exactly what will happen.
I agree with the principle here completely but in this specific scenario, I'd urge @Halloweenqueen to respond instead of react and to step back far enough to be sure she's seeing the whole picture. It's often pretty difficult to objectively assess something when you've assumed you knew everything there was to know about a situation but then get hit out of left field. Clearly there's some reason plans are changing on the fly.
 
I agree with the principle here completely but in this specific scenario, I'd urge @Halloweenqueen to respond instead of react and to step back far enough to be sure she's seeing the whole picture. It's often pretty difficult to objectively assess something when you've assumed you knew everything there was to know about a situation but then get hit out of left field. Clearly there's some reason plans are changing on the fly.

I get what you are saying. I wasn't suggesting being confrontational or demanding. However, I think a 1 on 1 meeting with a manager to simply ask "what's going on here?" is warranted. Remind them of the time she has put in training for a new role along with the additional workload and hours put in and ask how they plan to compensate her should she not receive the promotion. And, if others are TRULY doing the same work and getting paid more, she should ask what she needs to do to earn a similar rate of compensation (maybe they have previous experience or education that warrants their higher pay). There is nothing wrong with asking questions about your job situation when things are not happening as you were led to believe they would.
 
There is nothing wrong with asking questions about your job situation when things are not happening as you were led to believe they would.

Best example I can think to this are the companies that boast about "we promote from within" and then when a job becomes available, they hire someone from the outside. I know of a few companies that are very notorious for this.

I just don't get a good vibe from this. Sure, the company is apparently eating the cost of the training, but it's not making an adjustment either to the increase in skill level that these 3 are getting. Now, the OP could be the one that gets the job, if they are, great. But now at that point, do you still say something on behalf of the other 2 who get turned down? Is the company ready for any possible fallout from this? Rejection is something that some can handle and others can't. On this level where things were supposedly promised and now the story is changing, I could see 1, 2, or possibly all 3 people leaving depending on how the company were to handle this, or they could all stay. I only mention this because, as the OP mentions, 2 of the 3 in this group are also #1 and #2 in bringing in business. Well, IMO, if you screw over your best workers, they're not gonna hang around long.

Managements words in all of this are crucial. Since we won't know exactly what was said, it's a little tougher, but it's all about value, as mentioned earlier. The company has value, but so do you. If you're newer to the workforce, I could see hanging around and waiting to see what happens, be it good or bad. Same can be said for a more experienced employee, but the more experience you have, the more you see that business is business and you just have to have a point where... enough is enough.
 
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I'd also look at the revenue that is being brought in and being paid to compensate for being a valuable asset.
 
Sure, they're newer in their job, but they're not stupid either. How many times would you take getting hosed to be acceptable? Depending on the job and the requirements, 1 time is 1 time too many. Granted we only have 1 side of this, but... if true, 3 people were sent to train for new jobs, now 1 person will have this job in the imminent future, and there's a slim chance that there may be 1 or none by the fall. That's a lot of personally wasted time and effort (remember, they're not being paid for this extra stuff) to set yourself up for nothing, when, in fact, you could take those newly acquired skills and go somewhere that they'll have the decency to pay you for that time and effort.

I have worked in some great companies and some bad ones, but even in the great one's sometimes you get hosed. Just life. You certainly can spend your entire working life jumping from employer to employer every six months, but sometimes you have to take one of the team, because next time you'll get the brass ring and someone else will get hosed.
 
I'd also look at the revenue that is being brought in and being paid to compensate for being a valuable asset.

Spoken like someone in upper management looking down. Not like someone being teased with a job, trained on their time with no extra pay and now possibly not getting said new job. All the while continuing to keep pace with their numbers. Win for management, not the employee.
 
I have worked in some great companies and some bad ones, but even in the great one's sometimes you get hosed. Just life. You certainly can spend your entire working life jumping from employer to employer every six months, but sometimes you have to take one of the team, because next time you'll get the brass ring and someone else will get hosed.

Or not. You know what they say... "it's not who you know...."
 
Spoken like someone in upper management looking down. Not like someone being teased with a job, trained on their time with no extra pay and now possibly not getting said new job. All the while continuing to keep pace with their numbers. Win for management, not the employee.
Not sure what you mean here.:confused3

What I meant is that she was told she brings in 1/4 of the revenue for the company, yet is paid less than some of the new employees. I would think that she deserves to be paid more because she is valuable. So, to me this is kind of a double whammy.
 
Not sure what you mean here.:confused3

What I meant is that she was told she brings in 1/4 of the revenue for the company, yet is paid less than some of the new employees. I would think that she deserves to be paid more because she is valuable. So, to me this is kind of a double whammy.

Having worded it that way, I agree. The way you first responded, it sounds like a response from someone in upper management.

The OP has to make an ethical call on this one. You could be at a job 10 days, 10 months or 10 years, it doesn't matter the length, your ability to be able to see through the corporate fog is what will keep you from either making a wise decision or a huge mistake. Again, we don't have the company stance on this, but from the info given, I'd have a hard time with being told something, then go for additional training, working my normal job + all the extras for this new thing and then be told, well, 1 of you will get it now, and maybe the other 2 in the fall. Do things happen and businesses need to recoil? Absolutely. However, with a staff as small as this and the talent level that's there, this business can't afford to make a bad choice here.
 
I would be tempted to wait until fall and see what happens. The part that would bother me the most is the part about being paid less than new hires. That is not right. My DD started working in 2012 when the job market was still tight. When her company started offering higher salaries the next year to new hires, they brought everyone from the previous year up to at least the same salary.
 
If you don’t get the position there’s nothing to stop you from asking for a raise. You should research what your worth in the industry, get the info on how much you worked above and beyond with training and new management-like jobs, and how much you are brining in at your current position.

They may say no, but there is rarely a downside to presenting your case and asking what’s possible. Plus it’s a fairly easy next step before going through the hassle of a job search.
 
If the company was established I would wait it out though I would be cautious in the near future.

Since the company is new I would have a bit more reservations.

1) You're doing training work that IMO should be paid. Have you looked at labor laws in your state?

2) You're initially told all 3 would be promoted and now it's only 1 being promoted after you've already done training for the new position

3) New hires are getting paid more than you but the company presumably cannot afford to pay all 3 of what I would assume is increased salaries if all 3 of you were promoted. Now this isn't a big issue because you don't necessarily know if they are coming in with more/better experience or whatnot but still sounds a bit iffy to me to offer 3 promotions, then back out and offer only 1 while also hiring newer people on a higher salary. I could also be off base on not being able to afford 3 new salaries as well as assuming the promotions come with higher pay. Guess it could also be you three are the only ones who can do the work you currently do but I would still be wary about the initial offer of 3 done to now 1.

4) You shouldn't be passed over for a position..because you do great work...that sounds iffy to me and I wouldn't want management to hold me back in my career like that.

I do agree a discussion with management should be done in a polite yet firm manner.
 

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