This Business and Moment...

Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2006
Posts
5,264
I've always hated those questions - someone who isn't overall a good candidate might have ready experiences to hand, someone who may be far better might not be able to answer them easily - in my job any given period I might come off very differently depending on what happened in recent months. As well as the potential complication of previous roles or jobs.
You might also be looking for a change of role back to something you've done before.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Mar 2008
Posts
11,804
Location
London
Something on my mind quite a bit lately work wise - scope creep/expectations on top of my base role seem to be ever expanding while the uplift for performing those extra duties hasn't moved on, even though I've had some increase to my base pay. Wouldn't mind so much but increasingly lately it is a headache due to other parts of the business dropping the ball and I'm having to do a lot of damage control.

Looking around for the same level of headache I could be getting 20-30% more money with the possibility of progress (possibly even double the salary) but on the other hand I don't need the money and there are benefits to where I am in terms of autonomy, fitting with my lifestyle and work with some decent people. (I've previously worked with some very difficult people so always leery on that aspect of going into somewhere new).

But I'm certainly feeling less and less motivated and more and more edging into the quiet/slow quit mindset even though that isn't me.

I know that feeling - it seems to be the new norm now where the "good" people are picking up work to fix things because of other areas dropping the ball, without getting any real recognition for it.

This whole recent mentality of "do more with less" needs to change, as it's becoming an inevitable race to the bottom
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2006
Posts
5,264
Something on my mind quite a bit lately work wise - scope creep/expectations on top of my base role seem to be ever expanding while the uplift for performing those extra duties hasn't moved on, even though I've had some increase to my base pay. Wouldn't mind so much but increasingly lately it is a headache due to other parts of the business dropping the ball and I'm having to do a lot of damage control.

Looking around for the same level of headache I could be getting 20-30% more money with the possibility of progress (possibly even double the salary) but on the other hand I don't need the money and there are benefits to where I am in terms of autonomy, fitting with my lifestyle and work with some decent people. (I've previously worked with some very difficult people so always leery on that aspect of going into somewhere new).

But I'm certainly feeling less and less motivated and more and more edging into the quiet/slow quit mindset even though that isn't me.

I'm pretty much in that position. I'm a hairs breath from looking to be transferred out of IT into another unit.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
25 Oct 2002
Posts
31,781
Location
Hampshire
It sounds to me like there's only one way it can go from here at your current place and that's downhill. You have autonomy, lifestyle balance and like the people - yet you STILL aren't content. That speaks volumes, basically you are making excuses to yourself for staying where you are.
That said, if you haven't already obviously you should be discussing with your line manager that your increased responsibilities mean that your current package no longer falls within either acceptable levels nor market rates, and as such that you need to agree a tangible plan with them on the steps and timescale to rectify this. If they cannot sign up to such a plan, then the writing is on the wall. Given what you've written previously about staff recruitment and retention, I wouldn't hold your breath!

As for the "don't need the money" thing, speaking from experience feeling underpaid will gnaw away at you regardless of whether you actually 'need' a raise or not. Rightly or wrongly salary can act as a measure of worth and nobody likes feeling undervalued, in terms of self-esteem the number on your paycheque can matter even if the cash in your bank account doesn't. There's a lot written in management theory about money not being a much of a motivation factor for staff, but my personal view has never quite aligned to that and IMO being paid less than you deserve is a demotivator. The vast majority of my job searching over the years has been based around the knowledge that I should be getting paid more, yet I've not really had a situation where I've gone "I *NEED* to earn more money".
 
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Associate
Joined
1 May 2010
Posts
650
Have a new interim Boss in who has asked me to list out my responsibilities for what I currently do and indicate if they are critical.

Pretty unsettling. Last time this happened in a role I was made redundant. Currently know I am not working to my best but have been feeling quite overwhelmed in terms of workload. Had my yearly review recently that was documented as good performance. There is a lot of change and growth in my area and I am responsible and the main contact for more than what I should be but it hasn’t been documented. Hoping it’s a case that they can see I am stretched and want to give more resource.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2006
Posts
5,264
I've had a week of senior managers insisting a gallon will fit in a pint pot in terms of resources. Today they literally tried to stuff 10 gallons into a pint pot. While producing a litany of check box items that are now complete as a result.

I'm sure in a month they'll be back wondering why they only hit 10% of their targets. Of course they might redefine 10% as 110%.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Jul 2003
Posts
1,717
Location
Chelmsford
My company is having a cull of staff.

We all work remotely, they did it the usual way, one of the team I'm in got a call to say "can you meet Bob at this hotel, and oh btw bring any company equipment you have", at that point you know it's curtains for you.

Chances are they'll be other people going, but nothing is never announced after, not even an email saying "Unfortunately the following people have left the company", all we can do is watch the staff list and see who's chat status is set to Archived.
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Dec 2006
Posts
5,264
Been through that once before. Pre remote working. Had a company meeting, when people got back to their desk their PC was gone a security guard was waiting with a box and escort them to the door. Horrible to see long term colleagues treated like that.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Mar 2008
Posts
11,804
Location
London
I've had a week of senior managers insisting a gallon will fit in a pint pot in terms of resources. Today they literally tried to stuff 10 gallons into a pint pot. While producing a litany of check box items that are now complete as a result.

I'm sure in a month they'll be back wondering why they only hit 10% of their targets. Of course they might redefine 10% as 110%.


This kind of attitude of do more with less has somehow become even worse since COVID.

We have the same at work, and coupled with team members who are not able to produce at the same level as me ... it's causing for things to grind to a halt unless I pick up their extra work onto myself.
 
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Associate
Joined
15 Nov 2020
Posts
491
Location
Switzerland
Been through that once before. Pre remote working. Had a company meeting, when people got back to their desk their PC was gone a security guard was waiting with a box and escort them to the door. Horrible to see long term colleagues treated like that.

Never nice to be honest. I get why it's done if you're working with ultra secure/sensitive stuff but always has to be done in the best possible way.

Something on my mind quite a bit lately work wise - scope creep/expectations on top of my base role seem to be ever expanding while the uplift for performing those extra duties hasn't moved on, even though I've had some increase to my base pay. Wouldn't mind so much but increasingly lately it is a headache due to other parts of the business dropping the ball and I'm having to do a lot of damage control.

Looking around for the same level of headache I could be getting 20-30% more money with the possibility of progress (possibly even double the salary) but on the other hand I don't need the money and there are benefits to where I am in terms of autonomy, fitting with my lifestyle and work with some decent people. (I've previously worked with some very difficult people so always leery on that aspect of going into somewhere new).

But I'm certainly feeling less and less motivated and more and more edging into the quiet/slow quit mindset even though that isn't me.

Do you have a yearly plan? Is there scope for progression and has that been articulated, written down and followed? Some places are quite bad about doing such things even though they might see you positively. Or they haven't even considered it or you're not building up a recordable track record etc.

This will determine if there is a sense to this pattern or not. And it will definitely help with compensation. Don't be dismissive about it, money earned is hugely compounded and will help significantly in the future with other interesting roles. 30% is a lot of money to leave on the table especially if there is chance for even more progression.

Say you're on 50k, that's 65k, so another 5 years of work so you've earned another 75k. That's 1.5 years of currently salary. Then the next job you like might be too much of a leap if they don't see progression and seniority there.

I would have a look at the classic where do you want to be in X years question and use it to either fight for more in current role or to look for something else.

Hangtime is right, eventually the pay will gnaw away at you and it can be very frustrating when it happens. If you have the opportunity to change it now, do it. Work is only work, so therefore the more you get for your time.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Mar 2006
Posts
3,746
Location
Scotland, UK
Well Well... I currently lead sales of an "incubation" product across EMEA / APAC which was essentially the baby of one of the product VPs... VP up and left around 3 weeks back and from that moment the writing was on the wall as the product hasn't exactly hit great heights and doesn't really fit into the core business.

Currently approaching the job hunt (awaiting notification redundancy and negotiation of exit) like a job... I have 14 referrals in for various Tier 1/2 Vendors and SIs over the last week and 47 total job applications submitted so I am hopeful a positive exit (package + right into a new job).

If anyone works somewhere hiring for Senior Enterprise Sales (either account or specialist product) then let me know... :)
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2003
Posts
23,741
Well financials got finally approved on Friday. Seems that the board thinks my portfolio is the bees knees and now they want to move more to use it..

All the noise/delays etc are all politically driven.. I'd be expecting people's resignations if they tried that in a company I owned.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,730
It sounds to me like there's only one way it can go from here at your current place and that's downhill. You have autonomy, lifestyle balance and like the people - yet you STILL aren't content. That speaks volumes, basically you are making excuses to yourself for staying where you are.
That said, if you haven't already obviously you should be discussing with your line manager that your increased responsibilities mean that your current package no longer falls within either acceptable levels nor market rates, and as such that you need to agree a tangible plan with them on the steps and timescale to rectify this. If they cannot sign up to such a plan, then the writing is on the wall. Given what you've written previously about staff recruitment and retention, I wouldn't hold your breath!

As for the "don't need the money" thing, speaking from experience feeling underpaid will gnaw away at you regardless of whether you actually 'need' a raise or not. Rightly or wrongly salary can act as a measure of worth and nobody likes feeling undervalued, in terms of self-esteem the number on your paycheque can matter even if the cash in your bank account doesn't. There's a lot written in management theory about money not being a much of a motivation factor for staff, but my personal view has never quite aligned to that and IMO being paid less than you deserve is a demotivator. The vast majority of my job searching over the years has been based around the knowledge that I should be getting paid more, yet I've not really had a situation where I've gone "I *NEED* to earn more money".

Do you have a yearly plan? Is there scope for progression and has that been articulated, written down and followed? Some places are quite bad about doing such things even though they might see you positively. Or they haven't even considered it or you're not building up a recordable track record etc.

This will determine if there is a sense to this pattern or not. And it will definitely help with compensation. Don't be dismissive about it, money earned is hugely compounded and will help significantly in the future with other interesting roles. 30% is a lot of money to leave on the table especially if there is chance for even more progression.

Say you're on 50k, that's 65k, so another 5 years of work so you've earned another 75k. That's 1.5 years of currently salary. Then the next job you like might be too much of a leap if they don't see progression and seniority there.

I would have a look at the classic where do you want to be in X years question and use it to either fight for more in current role or to look for something else.

Hangtime is right, eventually the pay will gnaw away at you and it can be very frustrating when it happens. If you have the opportunity to change it now, do it. Work is only work, so therefore the more you get for your time.

I'm not looking to progress within where I am, if I was money motivated I'd be going into a different career - I could be earning considerably more in other fields. The pay structure is fairly rigid and I'm already at the top of what my manager has discretion to pay me.

What bothers me a bit under the current circumstances is that I could be earning the same, without all the headaches that I'm having to deal with at the moment, but it would mean working directly under someone else, I'm not really that bothered about earning more but I do like the freedom I have currently - I cover the duty manager role overnight.

I'm not liking the ever creep of extra responsibilities/expectations while the remuneration for doing duties beyond my core role hasn't moved on but what is really bothering me is the extra headache lately due to a seeming ever increasing amount of incompetence and laziness from people outside of my immediate ability to influence and that comes with further complication that while I'm trying to document it those above me don't really see the full picture of the problems while I'm tearing my hair out doing damage control and making up for other people's failures, while still trying to do my job as well, but if I let it go so they can see things falling apart it looks bad on me before it does anyone else :(
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Oct 2008
Posts
11,536
Location
Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Been busy launching a new product today, new 60,000mAh powerbank. It's quite the beast lol. Biggest capacity in my product stack so far.

Next thing will be a new power "station" ....powerbank but on steroids lol, 1200W.

black60000mAhmainproductimagenobackground_590x.jpg
 
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Soldato
Joined
25 Aug 2006
Posts
6,449
Been busy launching a new product today, new 60,000mAh powerbank. It's quite the beast lol. Biggest capacity in my product stack so far.

Next thing will be a new power "station" ....powerbank but on steroids lol, 1200W.

black60000mAhmainproductimagenobackground_590x.jpg

That's awesome! Just got one from Amazon, £80 from £120. Charges my lappy twice. What's yours retail at? Linky? Forum discount? lol.
 
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Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,666
Location
Cumbria
Our spot is increasing matching pension contributions soon, 7% mine, 9% contribution. Never know might help me retire before whatever the retirement age is when i get there.

Do many of you have issues with self-doubt when going up the chain? When i applied for my job i am doing now there was a lot of doubting myself prior to applying, then when starting it. I am actually quite good at my job i'm doing. Another role has come up that when i look at what's required i can do it, i have done it to an extent as a stretch assignment but when it comes to applying for the role there's the self-doubt bugging me. I'm getting nearer 40 now, you'd assume it would go away with age.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2017
Posts
8,612
Location
Beds
Do many of you have issues with self-doubt when going up the chain? When i applied for my job i am doing now there was a lot of doubting myself prior to applying, then when starting it. I am actually quite good at my job i'm doing. Another role has come up that when i look at what's required i can do it, i have done it to an extent as a stretch assignment but when it comes to applying for the role there's the self-doubt bugging me. I'm getting nearer 40 now, you'd assume it would go away with age.
36 and moved into a location/people management role (1 lab, 4 people including myself, 2 are my direct reports) a year ago.

Only in the last month (Month 13) have I felt like I'm even slightly capable of this role without being stressed out :)

Have 2 more direct reports starting Monday, taking my line management count from 2 to 4. I'm also now the oldest person in the lab :eek:
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 Mar 2008
Posts
11,804
Location
London
.
Do many of you have issues with self-doubt when going up the chain? When i applied for my job i am doing now there was a lot of doubting myself prior to applying, then when starting it. I am actually quite good at my job i'm doing. Another role has come up that when i look at what's required i can do it, i have done it to an extent as a stretch assignment but when it comes to applying for the role there's the self-doubt bugging me. I'm getting nearer 40 now, you'd assume it would go away with age.

Still definitely have self-doubt when I'm pushed outside my comfort zone of what I do, or when applying to new more senior roles with a wider responsibility.

It has definitely got better - but still always there in the back of my mind.

Once I start doing something however, that doubt very quickly evaporates.
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
22,959
Our spot is increasing matching pension contributions soon, 7% mine, 9% contribution. Never know might help me retire before whatever the retirement age is when i get there.

Do many of you have issues with self-doubt when going up the chain? When i applied for my job i am doing now there was a lot of doubting myself prior to applying, then when starting it. I am actually quite good at my job i'm doing. Another role has come up that when i look at what's required i can do it, i have done it to an extent as a stretch assignment but when it comes to applying for the role there's the self-doubt bugging me. I'm getting nearer 40 now, you'd assume it would go away with age.
Say yes and figure it out later
 
Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,666
Location
Cumbria
Thanks for the responses, not just me then =)

In our org there's some people who just seem so confident and so really well.
You also have lots of have a job they know they can do and just do that through to retirement.
 
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