“SO I know a certain someone who is in a really tough situation at work and I have no idea what to do. Basically, he’s had 2 ppl up the ladder from him leave the firm over the last and he’s dutifully taken over their responsibilities. His current role therefor is far more involved, including regular travel and 60+ hour weeks. Previously it was a cush, mostly headache free role- now he has face to face with clients and has really stepped up to the plate bringing in to accounts to the firm. Now the mngt has recognized his ability to take on these roles and decided to hire in new (and very junior) ppl below him instead of replacing the ones who left. (due to a variety of reasons he took this position even though it was a step down from his experience abroad). The kicker is that during his recent review, there was no promotion or adjustment to reflect the new responsibilities he’s successfully taken on. Basically, he took a downgrade to have the opportunity to “prove” himself at a big firm and now that he’s done so it seems to have backfired. To make matters worse he is stuck in the middle of his 2 senior mngrs who’s relationship has deteriorated to the point that they basically don’t communicate to each other. Its just an all around crappy position and tricky to deal with bc the ppl above him include the president of the firm… so what can he do?? Has anyone hear of this type of situation? Is it just time to pack it up and move on?”
It happens with alarming regularity, unfortunately. I know someone who got a nice promotion in January. Along with the new title and responsibilities was to be an increase in comp. They finally got around to discussing comp in APRIL and it was a measly 5% (WTF) raise, not retroactive to the January promotion. This isn’t an isolated case at this particular company; 15+ people have left year to date and they started with 50. I would stick it out long enough to make the position/experience count on the resume and then bail. He has to fight for the promotion at least. They should be willing to do that since it’s no money out of their pocket.
I think the issue is that he is threatening his mngr’s ego (the president has really taken to him bc of his success on the sales side, an area where they are currently struggling). So unfortunately no their relationship is very awkward and bordering on antagonistic. I don’t think he can really get even an adjustment in title with the way things are there now. + he’s very passive and refuses to go stand up for himself bc he feels like the general office mood is unrepairable, he’d rather quit and move on.
sounds like the company is just trying to cut costs. i think that company believes their work practices are okay and it doesn’t seem like the type of thing that is likely to change. i agree with XSellSide – your friend should extract as much as he can out of the situation and the move on to better things. this sounds like the type of situation that can only be fixed if he moves on. by the way, did you get my email from a couple days ago? i sent it to your gmail.
… arg I’m so crappy at checking email at home!! I will tonight.
I’m not sure how it works in his firm, but did he ask for a raise and not get it? It is not immediately obvious from your post.
this is a tricky time. employees have little leverage. best to hang in there and wait till you have some leverage.
Instead of a full raise, since it’s a “bring money in” role, maybe he can request higher commissions. This is less risky for the firm and allows him to benefit from good performance. Also when he interviews, he should be clear to establish that he is doing work that is whatever his senior guy’s title (the one he’s filling in for) happens to be.
Thanks for the advice everyone. I wish I could be more helpful, but its a completely different industry (advertising) and I have no idea how things work. It seems very disorganized in general. bchadwick- I think you’re right about highlighting this fact in interviews, but I don’t think commission is an option since he’s on the creative side and doesn’t get any sort of sales related compensation. He has however lately been part of the pitch team and has had a lot of positive feedback as to getting deals closed. As for not having leverage, yeah their company is not in the ideal time now revenue wise, but part of the reason is because they are not willing to invest the necessary funds to provide a staff capable of taking on the big $ clients. EG, they had a shot at a KO acct due to a project he did for McD, but due to lack of resources they were ill prepared. I think thats the part that frustrated him- its like they are shooting themselves in the foot. After thinking this out out loud here (without being screamed at for nagging, hehe) I think it is best he just find a new place. Its gonna be tricky when it comes to reasoning through the “why” when he gets asked though.