Last month I got my annual review. I have a new boss, who’s off-site. My performance score was “On target” and my raise mediocre (2.75%, average for my company). I never think of myself as a average performer, and have in several cases developed custom reporting, short cuts, and macros that have eliminated at least 1000 man hours of labor, in addition to my regular output.
I wasn’t happy and I let my boss know it and the division VP as well. I made no bones about the fact that I work for money, and that if a better package comes along, I’d take it. A risky move, which could backfire, but I was mad.
Today my boss was in town and took me aside and told me that they were giving me an additional 6% raise and allowing me to work from home 1 day per week, increasing that work at home time if it went okay.
It feels wonderful when work steps up and makes that extra change, because they like you, doesn’t it? I got an out-of-the-blue quite sizeable raise a few months ago - because I was doing good work, and my management knew I had taken a pay cut to go there. They totally didn’t need to do it, but it put a huge smile on my face…so I can picture yours, too!
Nicely done! Hope the telecommuting works out for you, too. There is almost nothing I do at work that I can’t do at home. It would save me $200 a month in train fare and 3 hours total travel time if I didn’t have to make the commute.
Since I’m not too tightly supervised, occasionally I will work from home, and on those days my utilization rate is often much higher than when I go downtown. I can work the hours that I would normally be commuting.
Too bad my bosses are old school, and generally frown on a permanent work-from-home situation. Which is strange because I often end up working on projects that originate in one of our other offices (NY, PA, CA, for example), so to them I might as well be in Istanbul as far as they are concerned, as long as the work gets done.
The only time I need to be in the office is if we are meeting with clients. Fine. I’ll come in for that.
There isn’t anyone else in the office that does what I do. I’m a business analyst, specializing in reporting and data analysis. There are other people on my team, but they don’t have any real impact on my job, we’re all just under the same director. I’d basically told my boss and the VP that it appeared that if I wanted more money I’d either have to look elsewhere, either inside or outside the company.
I told them today about the work from home and they seemed happy for me. The pay thing will be held a little closer to the vest. As is usual in corporate America, we don’t discuss our pay.
Congratulations on speaking up and being recognized.
But, be prepared - nothing comes without a price. Since you have poked your head up and shown initiative, you will likely be asked to jump in on more stuff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and it may suit you, but just be ready.
And don’t think there’s anything nefarious in it when it happens. Your boss would be saying to himself, “Who can I count on?” And you will be selected.
Icarus - I’m already the go-to person for any question that pops up. That’s the stuff that I like in my job. Troubleshooting, finding easier ways to do things. I was telling the VP yesterday - I’m smart and I’m lazy - I’ll always find the shortest way to do something.
How are your reviews written? Ours have a series of areas that are evaluated with Needs Improvement/Satisfactory/Exceptional (with examples of achievements throughout the year) and cumulatively support an overall assessment. Was there a writeup that supported the “On Target” rating?
Yeah, but think about all of the things that your bosses do that you don’t know anything about. If they’re normal, they’re always on the lookout for someone competent to offload to and “develop”.
