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Annual reviews and raises

TINK

TINK

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 7, 2000
Messages
2,768
Location
Southern California
So, I have been with this company for a little over 2 years. I work in the IT division but it is a major healthcare organization. Approximately 175,000 employees. You would think a company this size would have their shit together right?

Well, I am supposed to get my annual raise effective tomorrow along with everyone else in my department. Not a single person has been told what their raise is going to be. We had our annual preformace reviews and we were told as soon as management approved the numbers we would be told what our raises are.

WTF? Am I the only one that thinks this is rediculous? We are one of the non unionized departments in our company and I think they take advange of that. There has got to be some sort of law they are breaking or something. Then when I ask, my supervisor says why are you worried about a raise, you should be happy you have a job. I swear, that is the most insulting statement to me. I work hard at my job and I do my job well. I earn my job, its not just given to me. If you want someone that is just happy to have a job then hire a fucking moron. I work with people that just skate by, doing the bare minimum to keep from being fired, but thats not me. I have pride in what I do, even if that is cleaning a toilet. And, for you to tell me I should be happy to have a job is just stupid. Of course I am happy to have a job. Who isn't in these tough times. But, fuck punish the underachievers instead of everyone. The sad thing is, its mainly my co-workers lack of professionalism and prinde in their job that causes most of my stress. Because, then their messes fall on my desk, and of course I can't just put a bandaid on the issue, I have to fix the fix and follow through.

Anyways, enough ranting. Does anyone here have to deal with this sorta BS? Or does anyone here know what sort of laws in California might help me get my employer on the right path? We want to go union, but no one is willing to step up for fear of reprecussions.

thanks
 
Wow. I can completely relate to this.

I've been with my company (an Architectural/Engineering firm) for just over 4 years now. I'm not in IT, but I deal with them closely as a DBA/CAD tech. Our projects are mostly healthcare, and I work relatively closely with these organizations in dealing with their business logistics. None of this really matters, rather just some background.

We also do the whole annual performance review/raise scenario. I felt so much like you sound at around my 2 year mark as I was partially the new guy trying to prove my worth, and meanwhile being the mentor to the people who had worked there for years, yet slacked off leaving me to pick up their work. IMO they showed no real drive or passion for what they were doing and took the job for granted.

Fast forward two years to now and those people are no longer with the company. I am the sole person responsible for about 5-6 of their jobs. I beat myself up sometimes because I was friends with some of them, but at the same time I sort of realize I have to let that go. I began to realize that they did not pay my bills, they did not have the care that I did, they did not sit in my shoes during the reviews, and they are also no longer there.

From all of this I also started to realize, as much as I hate to admit it because I feel like I am a caring person, the job you have is like a game and you have to know who is important and how you can call to their attention value you provide and to make sure you get the credit because the scores add up. Eventually the people who slack off will no longer be there, whether it's the management or the regular workers... especially in the current state of job market.

You have to ask yourself whether you really want to stick with the current company for the longterm and realize that there will be people like that who will come and go. In the end if you make your case to the right people and play the game well, you will be rewarded. And if not... move on with the experience you have and use it to your benefit at the next job.
 
^^^ true... thanks for sharing.

The job market is so bad right now leaving is not even an option right now. Plus, I make really good money. I just get so frustrated. I am trying to move forward and change positions but the competition is tough. I usually don't have problems getting promotions or transferring positions, but I have not been able to get anywhere since the market crashed.

I would like to stay with the company I am at, just not the department I am currently in. I guess I am just frustrated that I get a raise tomorrow and have no idea what it is.
 
i would talk to your hr department in the first instance. are the conditions of your annual raise detailed anywhere in a contract you signed? if so, your company may be in breach of contract and, if you let them know politely that's the case, you should light a fire under them.

alasdair
 
UPDATE: I really need some help here.

So I finally got my review and my raise and it was above what the department average got. But I have a problem. I am interviewing next week for a promotion in a different department and the hiring manager is asking me to bring her a copy of my annual review. I printer the review out and had a supervisor in her department look at (he has been pushing to get me in that position). He told me that my supervisor and/or manager made some errors and that they need to fix it before I take it to the interview. I called my manager yesterday and explained to him the errors in the review and told me I was being paranoid and scoffed it off like it was nothing. The funny thing is the things that are wrong will not change the outcome of the review, all they have to do is changed literally 4 words. Thats it.

Here is the problem. I am friends with my supervisor and manager. I know their wives and kids. Been to holiday functions at their houses. So, if I go over their heads to get this addressed and don't get the promotion, I have a feeling things are going to get all weird. We all work right next to eachother, so its not like I can avoid them. Moving to a different department is not an option.
 
you need to explain to your manager that it's not nothing and you need him to take care of this. if he can't or won't, you need to talk to your hr department.

if there's nothing to it, why won't he just do it?

alasdair
 
So I talked to my manager about the errors and he told me that I was being paranoid. (this was over the phone) So when I got into work I talked to my supervisor and we went and had a brief one on one so he could explain some stuff to me for clarification. Well my manager got pissed that I went below him after he already gave me the answer. He has been acting like a little girl that got her first period. He will not make eye contact with me, say hello or anything. I am like whatever, this is a joke.

Well, the other night I was getting ready to leave and the director asks if I would come see him. I was like shit I am fucked, this is not good. Apparently he heard what had happened and felt that I was not being treated fairly, in fact stated that he felt I was being bullied. I was like ummmmm....ok. We ended up talking about the situation for 2 hours.

My interview is tomorrow and he was nice enough to go through a mock interview with me and go over the review and told me how to explain the errors in my review until they can be corrected.
 
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