Breathe, just breathe

[mngreeneyes 674]

I have a rant about work that has got me very frustrated right now and I need to vent. I am sorry for everyone reading. I hope this all makes sense. So today was my annual review. I have never had a bad review in my life and this one wasn't "bad" per se.

Let me start at the beginning. Until this last July, I had the best boss in the world. She was amazing. She was my boss for the better part of 3 years. They were a rough 3 years at times and she was pretty burned out when she got a different job in July. I was sad to see her go, but know the stress she was under from above and wished her the best. One of the reasons it was such a rough year was that we had a leaderless department. She was my boss, but everyone else in the department is above us. (We are administration in a fundraising dept.) Everything ran down hill and she protected us from a lot, but it fell on her instead. With no leader, there was no one to reign anyone in when they were behaving badly.

Then my boss left. All the rest of the crap stayed as it was only now she was gone and we (my officemate and I) were to do our job AND her job. We busted our butts for 5 months doing everything that was thrown at us and then some. WE went so far above and beyond. We kept each other going during the worst times and kept praying for something to change. Two days before my surgery in November our new leader started as well as my bosses replacements. Yes, you read that right. My boss was replaced by two people! At no point during the 5 months did anyone notice or acknowledge that we were holding the department together or even going above and beyond. We were denied any extra compensation for the additional responsibility, except for overtime (union required). I don't do my job for the recognition, but one thank you would have been nice. Usually my review is the only place I know that the people I support have even noticed what I do. My boss let us know throughout the year, but the people I support didn't.

Thanks to new boss and new leader, things within the department have started getting better. Today, we had our meetings with new boss about last year's performance review. Because I was out for two weeks immediately after they started and was only in the office for about 3 weeks before the beginning of the new year, they didn't have much to evaluate me on. I acknowledge that. Part of the review process was to get feedback from the 7 fundraisers that I support and the 7 people my coworker supports. NOT ONE of them mentioned what my coworker and I had done during those 5 months not to mention the previous 6 to the beginning of 2015. I got meets expectations on all categories! As though I had just done my duties and nothing more. She did get 1 exceeds expectations rating on something, but I don't know what that was.

I asked my new boss what it would have taken to get exceeds expectations in any area of my review. I take pride in my job and in doing what it takes for the team to be successful. I could have done just my job duties and just my 40 hours a week for those 5 months, but we didn't. We were at work early, late, and on weekends to make sure that they had things done on time, well, and they looked good. HIs only answer was that if I completed all my goals for this year, then next year I would get higher ratings. I said, I completed all my goals for last year, what is different? I asked if the months that we had covered for old boss even counted for anything. He said that it was acknowledged that I had met expectations. I pointed out that for the last three years, everytime we went above and beyond the stick moved and that became the new expectation! I asked again what I needed to do to demonstrate going above and beyond in view of what I had done in 2015. He couldn't give me an answer.

This has no bearing on my raise as I am union, but it is seen by any department that I interview with for a different job and it just frustrates me that I was killing myself last fall working so much and not only wasn't it appreciated, it wasn't thought of as even being above and beyond. I earned two weeks of comp time and more than 25 hours of overtime during those 5 months in a job that does not generally allow overtime!

Okay, vent over.

Just feeling a little more underappreciated and my give-a-dam is busted for today!

Feel a little better venting. Thanks.

pam

[Valentina 2,642]

So sorry for your needing to vent.

So glad that you knew you could come here and do so.

Take a deep breath.

Prayers going up for you.

PS: I am soooo thankful to be retired

[LipstickLady 25,682]

Vent away. I'll even help you throw around a few creative expletives.

[lisacaron 5,075]

@@mngreeneyes I feel your pain. Now I am not union...I work corporate and the last 3 years every year I have gotten a great review. I have gotten raises and promotions..and this year my new boss tells me...well you know you can't be great every year.....excuse me? Why not? If I work hard and I put the effort into it. I change the scope of the way things are done in the company and make it a better place for all, that's pretty great isn't it? Shouldn't that be recognized and rewarded? Telling me I can't always have a great review...well makes me feel as though I don't need to work so very hard then, if I am going to be seen as "average" then I can do an average job and still make the middle of the road comfortably without much effort.

I understand that there are budget restraints and changes and many other factors that drive a business I used to own one I get it, however for me it seems that it's a boy's club. They take care of their own, and I am the wrong gender in this mans game. Being new to the team I'm considered the expendable one when it comes to doling out the high fives....I don't like it at all...but it's the least of my worries in the scheme of things So I let it roll off my back and took my foot off the peddle for now. I'll conserve my recourse until I find a destination worthy of putting the peddle to the metal.

[mngreeneyes 674]

@@lisacaron

Very true. I am actually 3rd in seniority behind my officemate and one of the fundraisers! Everyone else is new in the last 3.5 years! I am good enough to come to to teach all the new people how to do things, but I am the low person on the org chart. Like I said, crap rolls down hill and my office mate and I are at the bottom. We frequently had to remind ourselves of that during the aforementioned 5 months along with the notion that this too shall pass! I flat out told my new boss that to me it felt like a slap in the face after what we had done this last year and he tried to tell me I wasn't being called average and I said no I am being told that all the work I put in last year was now the expectation since I hadn't been exceeding expectations!

I have been job hunting, but I am trying to hold out until I am vested in the pension (or I lose more than $30K in retirement earnings), but today that one year and 4 months seems kind of interminable. I am VERY under employed, but I am still figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. That is my job for the next month. Take my foot off the gas and spend more energy trying to figure out my new career. (I am a "retired" teacher who is really good at teaching, but can't figure out how to use that without being a teacher. I also have a Masters in Non Profit management, but I am an administrative assistant - that requires a high school diploma to do the job!) Losing weight is helping me be more confident about what I can and should be doing and not selling myself short.

Thanks again,

pam

[LipstickLady 25,682]

(I am a "retired" teacher who is really good at teaching, but can't figure out how to use that without being a teacher.

You know how many tutors in a box places are out there that would love to have you? And homeschool groups who pay a LOT of money for subjects they don't want to teach their kids via computer software?

Girl, you've got this.

[mngreeneyes 674]

@@LipstickLady

I hadn't thought of that. I'll have to look and see what I can find. I taught English, theatre, and writing for more than 8 years. I also have a background in history, although I never taught. Can't have a woman and non coach take the football coach's job. (Sorry, that was snarky)!

Edited May 2, 2016 by mngreeneyes

[LipstickLady 25,682]

My kids earn $15/hour tutoring where I live. Retired teachers around these parts make $30ish. Look into private tutoring companies, too. I'd bet they pay better than the Mathnasiums and like franchises.

[theantichick 2,204]

I once worked somewhere that our boss was required to give x% of people meets, x% below, and x% above. That sucked. It lasted exactly one year and then her boss went to the corporate guys and said "we don't hire, or at least don't keep on anyone who doesn't meet expectations, and we work to hire top talent, so don't hold us to some malarkey bell curve nonsense". They still had to limit merit raises to a certain % of the department, but at least our boss didn't have to cater to that nonsense on the reviews anymore.

[mngreeneyes 674]

@@theantichick

I've been places like that, but that was not the case here. The people I work for had simply decided that all the work I/we did was just meeting expectations and nothing more. I wouldn't have been nearly as upset if that was the kind of place I worked. I don't think I would have been this upset if I had gotten even 1 exceeds expectations. I knew I was invisible when I was at my largest, but they sure notice and kick up a storm if I don't meet their expectations, it seems like it should go the other way as well. In the past it has. I looked back at my past reviews and the only one I got all meets expectations was my training/probation review. I was still learning my job! Since then I have had at at least one part of my job that has been exceeds expectations, usually more and I never felt like I went that far above and beyond to earn those.

pam

[James Marusek 5,244]

Many times - out of sight means out of mind. I remember years ago, I had to go on travel for over a year for work and I worked 2 shifts (swing and nightshift) around 80 hours a week. I did this for over a year. But those who were not away got promotions whereas I didn't because I was essentially invisible.

A few weeks before your next annual performance review, jot down your accomplishments for the year. Highlight where you thought you did above and beyond. And then in a nice way, give your supervisor a copy. This must be done prior to the start of the review process.