TheBanyanTree: Give Me the Money!

[Margaret R. Kramer]

Back to work on Wednesday.  Sometimes those three day weeks seem longer than
five day ones!  But I slipped easily into the routine of getting up early,
hitting the gym, and then driving to work.

We’re in the detail design stage of our project and the tension is mounting.
My team lead will be traveling to Bismarck, ND next week, so our
documentation had to be completed and polished to present to the client.
That was our focus this week.

I won’t have to travel (yippee!), because business analysts aren’t traveling
for this phase, so I’ll keep the fires burning in the office.

But, my “get back to it after the holidays” week was disappointing.  Our
raises were due in October, however, my company made the decision to put
them off until January.  And they’re not prorated either.  We found out
right before Christmas that raises were approved and were to begin on
January 12.

Well, my project manager called me into his office and told me I wasn’t
getting a raise.  I had a performance score of three; five is the highest,
so three is “average.”  And that’s true, I am average.  I don’t extend
myself that much.  I do what I do and I go home.  I don’t have a problem
about my score.

Our performance reviews were done in November.  I felt good about mine.  I
was OK with being a three.  I learned a ton of new stuff this year and I
felt I had a better handle on what is going on in my job.

But my project manager told me that threes or “average” weren’t getting
raises this year.  In fact, he could barely get the words out.  He stumbled
and bumbled around, which made me think that he knew what he was telling me
was a bunch of crap.  I bet if I could get a hold of who got raises, I’m
sure there were threes in our office that got them.

Then he said something about my work on another project, which, by the way,
wasn’t part of my review, because it was outside the time period.  He said
that the team lead told him that I “didn’t get on things fast enough.”  Don’
t you love it when people are specific?

That floored me for a couple of reasons.  First, working on this other
project was outside of the review time period.  Second, I thought my work on
this other project was good.  Now there were a few things that the team lead
had me do that were outside of my abilities.  For example, I’m not that
technical, but I was asked to do very technical things.  I bumbled through
as best I could.  I tried to contact the people I needed to contact, etc.
But I always got on things quickly, or at least, I thought I did.

Besides, my project manager often has me do side projects for him, because
he knows I get them done and done well.  What gives?

Plus, if there is a performance issue, then wouldn’t that need to be in
writing?  And my performance score didn’t reflect an issue.

Well, I let him stumble through his explanations.  I think he was surprised
that I didn’t say anything or tried to argue.  I’ve been in the professional
workforce for almost 30 years.  I know how the raise and performance game is
played.  What’s the point of wasting my breath?  I could make this a battle
or I could let it go.

I did talk to our human resource person.  She didn’t know anything and
besides her position is being eliminated in March.  Our company is
eliminating the onsite HR people and going to use a call center.  Our
payroll department was eliminated and our payroll is being handled in
Mexico.  The development of our project is being done in India.

My company is based in Dallas, TX.  I find all this foreign outsourcing
amusing, since isn’t Texas the conservative state where “America is
everything”?  No, America isn’t everything, money is everything.  And my not
getting a raise is probably helping our CEO pad his own paycheck as he
continues to offshore and/or outsource all our company’s functions.

Our HR rep thought I might be close to a midpoint and that’s why I didn’t
get a raise.  Now, that’s another interesting thing.  Our company does not
post salary ranges for positions, so employees have no idea if they’re
within the range for their job.  I can’t believe that I make so much money
that I can’t get a raise.  And if that’s so, why didn’t my project manager
just tell me that?

A couple things come to mind.  First, I didn’t get a raise because I’m going
to get laid off in a couple of months.  One of my former employers did
that – obvious, but why give someone a pay raise if you’re going to
eliminate them?

Or second, I didn’t get raise, because I’m being sent a message.  Well, what
is the message?  Does my company want me to work 80 hour weeks, travel
constantly, and spend most of my free time working on work stuff?

Or else, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, and there are other people
who didn’t get raises for the same reason I didn’t get one.  But I can’t go
around asking, can I?

Now should I escalate this up to my big manager?  Should I start looking for
another job?  Or should I just stay where I am and let it go for now?

I’m confused.

But I’m not going to let my confusion ruin this beautiful winter day.  It’s
going to be warm, snow will be melting, and it will feel like a little
preview of spring.  And that’s what I’ll think about today.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com

I think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's.
~Henry Moore