What do you guys think of this? My boss told me...

TheBigDipper

robgilmo said:

I work in stores, I was a fitter but applied for the stores position around this time last year. I make sure the fitters get the parts they need from production mostly dealing with shortages and following up missing parts within the production process. One location, quire rural, around 200 staff manufacturing world leading agricultural machinery in an international market. The company cant get the machines out the door quickly enough, constantly expanding to the point where we struggle to keep up with demand. I really do like my job, its a constant challenge and keeps me very busy but I do tend to take on more than my job description entails.

So, if you do your job badly, would it affect production and the work of others? That's quite a responsibility and it can be measured. Which means you can quantify your performance. The fact other people work long hours could just as easily be seen as their inability to do a standard volume of work in a normal timeframe, not something to be rewarded.

If you do your work in normal time and don't slow down production because they need items from the store, why wouldn't you be worth a decent payrise? Put together the evidence and then ask the question. 

In the meantime, find another job! There's no guarantee your firm be receptive to this approach even if you show them you're doing well - but it might be something you can show a future employer as proof of competence and thoroughness in doing your job. If your manager won't measure you, well so what? You're measuring yourself.... 

Good luck! 

Axe_meister

I got passed up for a Pay rise because I was too efficient. I wrote a script that would run through 500 Virtual Machines to check they where configures correctly.
This was a job that was supposed to be hand cranked by our Indian team (who had screwed up the original deployment). I'd originally floated the idea of using and orchestration tool to do the deployment, but was told no otherwise we could not bill the customer.
I was pissed off at the lack of quality which would have damaged my reputation.
I'm so glad I left CSC. When the customer terminated their contract they personally thanked me but did not have anything nice to say to the management.

mr-mac

Look elsewhere.  If you panned your arse I'll bet you easily did more work in time you were there than some of worst workers who do loads of overtime.

it won't change and the company will always be a cunt to work for.  So your right, jump ship and find somewhere that does recognise hard work.  

heavyrocker

Sounds like he’s just trying to get more work out of you. If you’re looking for another job anyway I’d just ignore it and carry on what you’re doing.

Fretwired

robgilmo said:

on Friday when the subject of annual pay rises cropped up that working hard and using your initiative goes unnoticed by the company, only the people who work long over time hours get noticed and their pay rise will reflect that, the people like myself who dont work long hours will probably get a pay rise not worth mentioning even though ive been working my arse of.


So , basically , men with family's and kids who cannot work long hours will get very little and the guys with no responsibility's get a decent rise, somehow that doesnt seem right to me, especially after working my arse off for a year in the hope that this job might get me somewhere. Needless to say I am looking for other work. Thoughts?

Odd way to look at things. It's pointless just measuring effort/hard work. How about results?  Stats have shown people become less productive  and more error prone the longer they work. I also bet that in many companies 'working hard' simply equates to spending more time in the office - chat gaps, internet browsing, messaging etc - doesn't mean they are focused on productive work. Not a clever way to run a business.

PolarityMan

quarky said:

Isn't it part of his job to ensure that people who work hard *do* get noticed, and do get rewarded? That is the line I would be taking..

I would rather see compensation aligned with performance than effort.

ESBlonde

In our factory production remains similar week on week. If they are allowed to do overtime, some will earn lots of extra hours. But productivity goes down as does the bonus. So those that mess about all day can take a bigger slice of the wages in overtime at a greater cost to the company. Overall output is not shown to increase except where a problem needed to be overcome following say a breakdown.

Hard to quantify who is the most efficient in some tasks, but management should be able to do that - it is thier job after all.

Phil_aka_Pip

Here, overtime is not paid unless the management reckon it is necessary to do overtime.

I got passed over in the last pay round (can't be sure but I think The Man decided that I was paid enough already - he told me recently that I'm the higest paid in the company so I dread to think what other people are having to live on). As a result, I'm moving on. Last day = Friday.

Blueingreen

Unfortunately it's embedded in the culture here, in some sectors at least. I worked with a Norwegian girl for a while who told me that the type of person who did well/got promoted etc in the UK would not do well in Norway, because habitually working very long hours would be taken as a sign of someone who had poor values, didn't have a well-balanced personality and wasn't suited to being in control of other people.  She thought exactly the wrong people were being put in responsible positions and I think she had a point.

Early in my career I was typically arriving at work at 8.30 and leaving around 8, occasionally coming in at weekends and still finding time to study for professional qualifications.  I gave up when I realised that at 8 or sometimes even later I was still leaving before almost everybody at my level.  I wanted to do well, but not at the price of having no life apart from work.  Not criticising the others, they were doing what they felt they had to do, but they were paying a price I wasn't willing to pay.  Eventually got out and never regretted it for a second.

prowla

Last year the company I was working for took the pee a bit and whittled a team of four into three and then one weekend got rid of the other two, leaving me to apparently do everything (including having Microsoft Australia call me out of hours!).

I put my foot down and said no, and said I was off too.

They asked me to stay to deliver a couple of projects and I told them that they had been trading on goodwill, with low pay rises and no remuneration for on-call & out-of-hours, and enough was enough. I put a number in front of them saying I thought they owed me quite a few quid in arrears and they agreed to pay it as a bonus if I stayed on for 3 months to deliver a couple of projects.

I agreed, stayed, delivered the projects to plan and left with a bonus (roughly an extra 3 months pay).

A good outcome (and those last 3 months were probably my best and most productive time in the company!).

ESBlonde

I've said so often in the context of charity gigs, show/demand your worth and get treated accordingly (you can always give back some or all of the fee at the end). You get treated like stars and with respect.
The same applies to work, if you always cave/go beyond what is asked etc. you are walked on and treated like old furniture. Stand up and get better treatment, if you don't then go elsewhere.

vale

robgilmo said:

on Friday when the subject of annual pay rises cropped up that working hard and using your initiative goes unnoticed by the company, only the people who work long over time hours get noticed and their pay rise will reflect that, the people like myself who dont work long hours will probably get a pay rise not worth mentioning even though ive been working my arse of.

presentee-ism seems to be a form of arse-licking surprisingly acceptable to those self-styled alpha-men who usually boast so loudly and proudly of being above arse-licking.
even stranger seems to be their assumption that those who don't engage (because they really are above it) don't see them for what they are.
crawlers are what crawlers do, and pride and denial go together when big egos are insecure.

"unnoticed the company" sounds kind of faceless, and faceless can deny personal resposibility.
but the fact is it always falls to one person (or team) to decide these things, so you need to take up your case with them. explain your concern and see what they say. all you can do.

whether you think this is worthwhile will depend on your trust in those people, and whether you think they place a value on you and wouldn't want to lose you (push to shove).
but if you don't feel you can trust them and you don't think they value you, it won't make leaving such a wrench if you have to. maybe even a pleasure.
but worth talking first. especially if you have major financial commitments and family.

robgilmo said:

So , basically , men with family's and kids who cannot work long hours will get very little and the guys with no responsibility's get a decent rise, somehow that doesnt seem right to me, especially after working my arse off for a year in the hope that this job might get me somewhere. Needless to say I am looking for other work. Thoughts?

try women with families and kids (to whom the childcare responsibilities usually fall first in a couple with children situation) and then factor in single mothers who can't even begin to share those responsibilities with anyone else.
they are totally shut out every time in these situations, for decades at a time.
then add in people who have caring responsibilities for family (particularly those with elderly parents, which most of us will have eventually).

this is one of those workplace diseases that needs to be stamped out sooner rather than later, because (as you rightly say) it is totally discriminatory across a wide range of social categories. most often the more vulnerable employees, who are least likely to have the freedom to walk out on a bad deal.
if you are fulfilling your job description as outlined in your contract, fully and to a good/high standard during those hours you are contracted to work, then you are meeting your obligations to your employer in full and renumeration should be based on that.
not based on hanging around after hours trying to look busy, or arse-licking behind the scenes.

if they are genuinely putting in extra hours to finish off a project that ran overtime, then they should be rewarded for that as a separate one-off thing. that sometimes happens and no one should work for nothing. but that should be recognised as work undertaken outside of contracted hours.
to award someone a pay rise on their contracted hours on the basis of any hours worked outside of that isn't fair on all those who don't have the option of working outside their hours, but who work just as hard during contracted hours.

if you can prove the above to your union rep then you may even have a tribunal case, especially if this is a feeling held by a few in your company.
if you aren't in a union then there are unons you can join if you are not represented, though by the time you have set this up you may have found a resolution. but if you stay and put up for the time being, it may be a card to get into your pack ahead of next years rises.

i totally sympathise with your plight, it sounds a sh*tty situation. i hope you can work something out.

Wolfetone

This guy sees long hours equalling higher productivity and therefore those that work longer are of more value to him especially as they can't get the machines out of the door fast enough.

As far as he's concerned, a stores operative is there to do job and he probably cannot see where you can add extra value and that's why he undervalues your contribution. Basically (and you probably know this) you need to understand your value to the company and act accordingly. If your function is critical, you'll be rewarded. If your function is easily replicated, too bad, don't rock your own boat.

I know exactly the type of industry you're in and he probably suffers from a lack of welder/fabricators and therefore rewards them better.

It's a tough life and the trick is to make yourself as indispensable as you can. 

PolarityMan

Wolfetone said:

It's a tough life and the trick is to make yourself as indispensable as you can. 

Up to a point. You also get the other side of this coin where you cant step upwards because you are too critical to lose in your current role and most managers won't try to solve this. Most big companies suck the big one at succession planning so make sure you ahve a solution yourself.