Am I being treated fairly, or am I overreacting?

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

Well you appear to have two options here. You can ask for more money, or ask for people to start treating you with less respect. It seems that either would make you happy. Put the choice to the company and see what they say.

TELLIT01

Yes ask. You are unlikely ever to be in a stronger position to do so than you are in now. Your supervisor clearly both respects and values you, the sandwiches wouldn't be happening if that wasn't the case.
Bear in mind that the majority of people you work with, probably including your supervisor, won't have the faintest idea how much you are earning.
If the response to your request for promotion / payrise isn't met favourably you will need to consider your future.

ReadingTim

If the company has them, it might be worth waiting until your annual performance appraisal - you may find they've got a payrise and promotion in store for you already, and you don't have to bring the matter up. If not, that's the perfect time to mention it.

If not, or you don't want to wait, bring up the matter now, but remember - no-one likes having a gun held to their head and being given an ultimatum: "a payrise or I'm off" sort of thing. In such cases, you might find what they really think you're worth, and it's not always pleasant - "refusal often offends". You then either have to make good on your threat and find another job, or back down and look weak.

getmore4less

ReadingTim wrote: »

If the company has them, it might be worth waiting until your annual performance appraisal - you may find they've got a payrise and promotion in store for you already, and you don't have to bring the matter up. If not, that's the perfect time to mention it.

If not, or you don't want to wait, bring up the matter now, but remember - no-one likes having a gun held to their head and being given an ultimatum: "a payrise or I'm off" sort of thing. In such cases, you might find what they really think you're worth, and it's not always pleasant - "refusal often offends". You then either have to make good on your threat and find another job, or back down and look weak.

Even with appraisals you start the process in advance. What do i need to be doing now so I get a good appraisal, pay rise and promotion.

Nothing should be a surprise at an appraisal for either side.

ReadingTim

getmore4less wrote: »

Even with appraisals you start the process in advance. What do i need to be doing now so I get a good appraisal, pay rise and promotion.

Nothing should be a surprise at an appraisal for either side.

OK, wait until your annual (or interim) performance appraisal process starts, rather than the meeting itself. Yes, come the actual meeting, little should be a complete surprise, yet in all of the places I've worked, outside the window allotted with the process, performance, payrises and promotions aren't really discussed, unless things are getting worse, rather than better.

The other points remain though: employers don't always appreciate being given ultimatums, and employees shouldn't issue them unless they're prepared to act on them.

Finally, whilst we always suspect it, it's never very nice having it pointed out in black and white or by your manager in person that the company doesn't rate you as highly as you rate yourself, and doesn't think you're worth a pay rise.

getmore4less

The process is continuous, the day you you walk out of the last appraisal the new one starts, if you believe you are exceeding expectations you make it known early.

You can wrap it it up with I am already meeting/exceeding targets what's next... The discussion is about setting expectations, your boss will need to be batting for you well before the pot gets discussed at the higher levels.

If you don't realise when you are underperforming that's a fairly serious failure.

takemetothehill

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Yes ask. You are unlikely ever to be in a stronger position to do so than you are in now. Your supervisor clearly both respects and values you, the sandwiches wouldn't be happening if that wasn't the case.

Oh wow, so the response was hilariously bad. It's so obvious when management can't take you seriously. Halfway through my work stopped being praised as my individual achievement and suddenly became "group effort" and "teamwork".

What hurt most was being squabbled with. One minute it was the whole friendly professional routine, the next it was these nasty immature comments. These are people who work with me regularly so it was completely out of place. Never even got near the promotion or pay rise suggestion either.

It's crap, because there were other things I was hoping to talk about, like how process X could be improved, or how database X could be more helpful. But at the end of the day if I'm so disposable they definitely don't need me.

BorisThomson wrote: »

I'd also be aware of being seen as a rollover. Are they buying you a sandwich because you're invaluable (none of us are), or is it because it's cheaper than paying someone else to do the stuff you're doing for free? How much is a letter of praise worth compared to your hours of unpaid overtime?

Placation is never something that should be tolerated. In the first campaign, a handful of people got promotions from their work so it was pretty harsh to get passed over. You know what gets me, when the manager says forget about it over a snickers bar, when my results are directly positive towards a million pound bid? I'm the mug of the century.

stuartJo1989

Sounds like a good job.

I did a similar thing for £2 less than you with no sandwiches and no letters of thanks from my boss.

Fancy trading places?

Potbellypig

takemetothehill wrote: »

OK, so for masochists only, get ready to read some egotistical nonsense if you like.

My admin job is for a medium-sized property-based company. At first, it was working on easy, boring campaigns, sometimes incoming calls from the general public.

One day my manager tasked me to deal specifically with a high profile customer's most important work. I liked the high pressure, the results got me praise from the campaign director, and helped turned the campaign around.

Afterwards my job transferred to do the same but for the most important campaign we have. In the early stages I received an exceptionally rare letter of thanks from the company management. I work hard on this account.

Recently I discovered the statistical performance of results from before-and-after my involvement began. The change is turning the campaign from millions into billions worth. But at the end of the day, my pay and rank remains the lowest possible in the company. It's two pounds above minimum wage for christ's sake.

There's other stuff. If other people have me asking for something to be done, it takes top priority without asking. If an issue requires a decision, mine seems to instantly win without question. If I forget lunch, my supervisor will buy a sandwich without asking. It's so bizarre.

It's offensive to me how people act towards me. They legitimately treat me like a manager even though my rank is the same as them. All I do is ask and offer a weak alternative. It's like there's a secret memo that went out that said, "Do not !!!! with this person". Honestly, it's coming up to winter and you will find stronger tree branches than me.

So what do you think. Time to ask for a raise and/or a proper promotion? Or stop over-reacting and be glad to have a job?

How long between the 'one day my manager' line and then 'honestly, it's coming up to winter' line? Many people work hard for years before they get rewarded with a pay rise. I could be wrong, but it reads like ''I've done a decent job for a bit, so I deserve some more money''. It's good to have the desire to earn more, but don't take it as a given just because you done a good job for a bit.

takemetothehill

Potbellypig wrote: »

Many people work hard for years before they get rewarded with a pay rise. I could be wrong, but it reads like ''I've done a decent job for a bit, so I deserve some more money''. It's good to have the desire to earn more, but don't take it as a given just because you done a good job for a bit.

Then why were they tasking me with their highest profile customers barely 6 months into the job? Why have other people being getting promoted left and right on minor campaigns? Also, why did it suddenly become "teamwork" when I highlighted my own work after months of personal praise and thanking?

It's not just that. I like these fast-paced, competitive environments because you are offered rewards when you do very well. Here, I've kept my head down while my superiors have spent all year creaming off my results. It's so offensive. But being told to my face to get lost for trying to talk about my future? Priceless.

Anyway thanks for the discussion. Time to dress up that CV and get looking again.