Job review...

[Arc weld]

Sorry for long post, I've got a bit of a dilemma, work related.

I think I mentioned a while ago about a performance and wage review at my work. Over the last 1 1/2-2 month's I've been told by 3 different people that it was coming soon. When I was hired I was told there would be a review after 3 month's and it's been over 6 month's now. I'm not pushing the issue any more but how long should I wait? I realize they had inventory and maybe some other unavoidable delays but I'm starting to feel a little under appreciated or not important enough to them. Apparently it's common for others to have to wait indefinitely too. I think I'm doing a pretty good job and could certainly improve on some area's but how am I supposed to judge my own performance other than I'm still there after 6 month's?

There's a little more to it as well. They are expanded and building a new shop and fill plant that is costing a few million dollars. The current location will be closed but a small local branch a few blocks away will be opened in addition to the main facility they are building. My supervisor will not be going to the main location and the other person on the order desk is going to be doing cylinder tracking which will take most, if not all, her time. That leaves me as basically the senior inside sales person for the new location. The sales manager will be the supervisor to start with and they are hiring more people for the new location. The current location is literally 5 minutes from where I live and the new location will be 30 to 40 minutes away. I saw an ad from a job placement agency advertising for the exact job I have. I'm about 98% certain it's the company I work for and it makes sense they are looking for additional staff. Here's the kicker, the ad lists the wage range and I'm right about in the middle of it. While I don't know if I'm deserving to get the upper end of the range right now, I meet and/or exceed all the qualifications listed in the ad. I think they may be hoping to entice someone from one of the other big welding supplies to apply. I don't know if I should try to apply to the job listed under an alias or try to find out for sure if it is for certain my current employer? Either way, the wage range listed goes about $8000/yr above what I currently make so I don't think I'm wrong to be frustrated. If I applied and the company found out I'm looking elsewhere, even if it is their ad, I don't know if they'd be worried I might leave and offer more money or be pi$$ed and want to replace me. What would you do in my shoes?

 

[300UGUY]

I would SCHEDULE a meeting with your manager - whoever does the hiring decisions. Lay all your cards out. My experience with small companies is that you make your best deal coming in the door, they really aren't concerned with developing employees, they just hire what they need. Larger concerns have career paths, small shops don't. You probably won't hurt yourself applying for a new position. You might get your resume in order, look for other jobs.

 

[Arc weld]

When I was hired I said I wanted more of a career position than just a job, kind of like going through my apprenticeship. I want to be able to advance in the company. I think I'd eventually flip outullinghair: on someone if I stayed working the counter indefinitely. I might like outside sales, although I don't think there's much training for it. What I think would be a huge advantage for an expanded welding supply would be a demo room and in house welding equipment/process consultant. There is a big farming community around the new location that I think is a missed opportunity. The factory reps aren't interested in individual farmers, hobbyists or small operators and I think if customers could try out the new machines and technologies, they would buy them. I also think if you had a few seminars that people could attend would increase sales. Every time there's trade show, most of these companies have really good sales as a result. What's wrong with having your own in house trade show? I think it would be value added service and as long as your price was competitive, the customers would come to you instead of the competition. Demo rooms used to be popular and they've gone by the wayside. I don't understand why they aren't common anymore. If I was a farmer and might be interested in a MIG welder, I'd sure want to try it out before I plunked down $700 or more for a good one. Same thing with a plasma torch.

 

[PoorPlowboy]

You've been employed 6 months and you are paid right in the middle of the range they offer for that position? I think you're in a pretty good spot where you are. More experience will raise your value to the company. Do your time and learn!

 

[Shield Arc]

I never worked in sales, so I have no idea how that game is played. Working construction all my life you develop a bad attitude to jobs real quick. Because your job can end at any minute. One year I quit 13-jobs, 3 in one week. My first thought is only being there 6-months, it's not very long! But the start of the 2nd year of my apprenticeship I was working on a shut down in a General Motors assembly plant. Working 7/12s. I was in the crew installing the monorail system that carried the engines. I ended up doing the welding. At lunch time talking to the other crews I discovered I was making more joints a day than any of the journeymen! So I got up enough nerve to stop the superintendent when he was going by, and I was on the ground. I hit him up for journeymen pay. I got it! $900.00 a week bring home pay for an 18-year old kid isn't to bad, (wish that job would have ran longer)!:licking::laughing:
So the moral to this story, sometimes you have to speak up, but you better have a back up plan too!

 

[Arc weld]

I know it's only 6 month's but it's also 3 month's after they said I would get a review. I took them at their word and guess that was a mistake?

 

[k0ua]

If you are in the middle of the pay range and your service length is just 6 months, I would let it go. I say you are doing pretty good. The only person that has the review on their radar is you. This economy is not doing well, Lots of people are out of work, I am one of them. Be satisfied you have a job in the middle of the pay scale. Sit back and let things develop for a while. Give it a couple of years and revisit this. You asked for opinions and this is mine.

James K0UA

 

[yomax4]

I know it's only 6 month's but it's also 3 month's after they said I would get a review. I took them at their word and guess that was a mistake?

I know the industry you are in. I was there in a very similar situation.. I floated around the mid level pay for 14yrs. One day a great opportunity came along and I left. 2 days later they contacted me and asked if I would ever entertain coming back. I set the terms to go back and spent 2 more years waiting for their end of the deal to happen. Didn't happen. I had another even better opportunity and left again. The moral of the story is that you can also be too good at your job. it can cause you to not get promoted because knowledge in certain levels of the company is hard to find. Each branch gets a payroll allocation yearly. What doesn't get spent on raises is a Bonus for the regional manager. Sore managers, Opps managers and sales managers suck up to the regional for promotions and one way to do it is by saving money on payroll. I would give it 18 months and call a meeting. You should get a review every year..6 months is not going to happen I don't think.

 

[3930dave]

You have the luxury of being in Alberta, with a strong job market like most of us haven't seen in many years.

So, as much as it is a PITA and takes time away from other things, I'd say it's worth it to spend the ergs researching jobs at competitors, including the mystery listing you spoke of.

A public library will have books on what I'll call Selling Yourself to Your Boss.... you get the idea. You don't have to get too fancy, but many of us (even Sales folk) can use some help in structuring a presentation to Mgmt about What I'm Doing for the Company, that displays how you exceed your Job Performance targets.

If your company does not have defined Job Metrics for your position, then you have the opportunity to put a framework in place that allows you to define How I Make Money for the Company.

Even if you go through all this and don't get any traction with your present company, it will be time well spent as this is valuable material for your communication with future employers.

It will vary by company, and sector, but unfortunately for many people, if you want more money you have to leave. Is what it is, and like I said, enjoy the fact you are in AB, nowhere else in Canada has a job market that strong.

Rgds, D.

 

[Beltman60]

I would sit down with your manager and ask them is there something you can do with the new move coming that would promote your skillset
wouldn't hurt and the worst they could say would be we our hiring from the outside

 

[Shield Arc]

I know it's only 6 month's but it's also 3 month's after they said I would get a review. I took them at their word and guess that was a mistake?

You are a lot like me! When I say I'm going to do something I bust a gut trying to do it. But guess what, most people aren't like that:confused3:. Give it some time, it's way to early to draw a line in the sand. Your boss just might step over that line. Then what will you do?

 

[mikehaugen]

Where I work we are "supposed" to get 6 month reviews. In 7 years I have gotten 3... the same the other guys. I don't fret too much because I know I am not doing any worse than anyone else in my department. The manager will decide that he is doing reviews and do everyone in the same week. I have also been through 3 managers (really 4 but one of them came back for a second term) in those 7 years.

 

[3930dave]

Where I work we are "supposed" to get 6 month reviews. In 7 years I have gotten 3... the same the other guys. I don't fret too much because I know I am not doing any worse than anyone else in my department. The manager will decide that he is doing reviews and do everyone in the same week. I have also been through 3 managers (really 4 but one of them came back for a second term) in those 7 years.

In many places, it ends up being No News is Good News..... if there is a Problem, then you Get Yelled At, otherwise not much gets Reviewed.

If an employee is perfoming well, many companies don't want to document this.... just the famous olde Because It's Cheaper That Way motivation at play.

Negotiating pay plans is usually a PITA, mostly because the companies want it that way.

Rgds, D.

 

[Arc weld]

I'm not saying I would go in and demand an immediate raise. I would like to know how the company/my boss thinks I'm doing though. It doesn't really matter how I think I'm doing because it's not up to me to decide. I think I'm in a pretty good position though because my supervisor and a few others are already thinking there could be a big problem with not having enough knowledgeable people at the counter for the new location. The sales manager will be the interim supervisor for the counter but he's always in and out with no set schedule. They already lost a really good employee because he didn't have much faith in the upper management. I think a big part of the problem is they have no set policies on most things. Too many people have different ways of doing things or telling you how to do things and you don't know who to listen to. It can be frustrating at times.

 

[Shield Arc]

When I worked in the trade, I always figured I was doing a good job if nobody was screaming at me. Or handing me two paychecks in the middle of the week. Or just one paycheck at the end of shift Friday night. When I went into management I never had a job review. Only thing that was even close is if there was a problem on the job. One or more of the owners of the company would come on site to figure out what was going wrong. That was about the only time we got any feed back from the main office, or if we didn't get a bonus at the end of the year. If the job / jobs you were on made money hand over fist, and you didn't get a bonus, guess what? Somebody somewhere thought you did a bad job.

 

[Hiltz]

I would agree with the posts above that recommend talking with your boss. Why wouldn't you? Its your life your talking about here. Have a talk about your plans, desires, career, the company, and what their plans are for you. Why wouldn't you want to go in and find out what their plans are for you? You certainly need to have a pow-wow before you get all mad and cant talk to them without getting madder. Talk to them now. Your only a door mat if you chose to be.

 

[3930dave]

When I worked in the trade, I always figured I was doing a good job if nobody was screaming at me. Or handing me two paychecks in the middle of the week. Or just one paycheck at the end of shift Friday night. When I went into management I never had a job review. Only thing that was even close is if there was a problem on the job. One or more of the owners of the company would come on site to figure out what was going wrong. That was about the only time we got any feed back from the main office, or if we didn't get a bonus at the end of the year. If the job / jobs you were on made money hand over fist, and you didn't get a bonus, guess what? Somebody somewhere thought you did a bad job.

Yes, your last sentence is a possible correct conclusion.

Also possible - the owner of the business is just too greedy or short-sighted to bother sharing the wealth with the people that made it happen.

Many organizations are quick to cry poor when things are slow, and expect to get concessions from employees under these conditions. Only a few of those same companies will share the wealth on the upside. Nature of the game.

From a (personal) business standpoint - when your local economy is really strong, AND your company sees enough future business coming in to expand, THEN you are in good place to be making a pitch for more money. IE. it doesn't get much better than that, business wise. Of course, I'm assuming your performance as an employee is strong in all key areas.

Making sense out of the chaos is a big part of the battle, esp. in small companies. Lacking structure from management, I view this as an ongoing discussion. If I present a detailed summary of what I've accomplished to a manager, AND receive no negative feedback, AND a significant amount of time passes with no raise, WHILE the company continues to expand and make money - well, to me, that is a pretty significant data-point telling me to move on.

Many small businesses don't make money, and are often badly managed. For the few that do make money, it is often incumbent on the employee to fight for a fair salary.

Also in business, there is a general assumption that Sales people are obsessed and extremely aggressive about money. Right or wrong, that means business owners may expect to be chased by Sales people for raises more so than by other classes of employees. Again, just part of the game.

Rgds, D.

 

[milkman636]

If management is busy focusing on expansion and recruitment efforts, they probably are not going to take time out to think about retention. The company probably has their budgeting strecthed out with all their curent payroll as an almost fixed number. If you want feedback from someone you are likely not going to get it without asking.

It would be better for you to approach your boss and ask for some feedback rather than stew on it for the next year and devlop suspicions of people getting hired in at a higher rate of pay. Talk to your boss, tell him you would like some feedback, and ask if the ad you saw with the salary range was for your company. If he likes you he'll get the hint. If he blows you off and says that it is not their ad then you better send a resume.

 

[Shield Arc]

3930dave, our cost reports came out on Tuesday afternoon, if you had a cost code in the toilet, by Thursday morning there would be one of the owners on your job site wanting to hear your side of the story. We and everybody in the company management new where a job was financially.