There’s this guy, let’s call him Bob. Bob feels as though he is trapped in his job, by the following factors:
[ul]
[li]He has financial commitments and feels that he cannot just quit without subjecting his family to risk.[/li][li]Although he’s good at what he does, the job market for his skills is somewhat narrow, so although there are opportunities out there, they don’t come up too often (which is another reason quitting outright might be disastrous)[/li][li]There is no limit to the volume of demand placed on Bob by his superiors; he works a minimum of 10 hours each day, and very often a lot more; not often less than a 60 hour week; often 70 or more. He’s paid for 37 of these weekly hours.[/li][li]His superiors are not interested in a conversation about applying more resources to Bob’s team, or limiting/throttling the level of demand. In their view, if Bob just did all the things, he’d have less things left to do.[/li][li]He can’t recharge his batteries - every time Bob has booked annual leave, it has been cancelled so that new, urgent priorities can be inserted in his workload; Bob hasn’t had more than a couple of days off work in the last 6 months. He’ll write off half or more of his leave allowance without any compensation.[/li][li]He works at senior management level - and his responsibilities at work are such that if he tries to ease up on the hours or effort, something important will fail and it will probably be regarded as Bob’s fault.[/li][li]He’s in a state of constant exhaustion, making him less productive per unit time (but demand doesn’t let up, so that means just working longer)[/li][li]The exhaustion is impeding the effort he can expend on making his situation better (e.g. searching for a different job). In the event that he gets an interview, he’s unlikely to be on top form for it.[/li][/ul]
Clearly, Bob can’t keep this up indefinitely, but he also can’t stop. What advice would you offer him?
Sure it can. He’s volunteering to do it. He has no choice but to volunteer, but in the case of a legal dispute, the company’s lawyers will point out that nobody ever actually asked Bob to work more than his paid hours - maybe he’s just terrible at managing his workload.
If this is just a hypothetical, then Bob needs to venture out and look for a job that might be beneath his station and skill set, but more likely to offer the hours and recompense that he deserves.
IOW, he’ll still probably be getting the same wage, but for less hours and less demanding employers.
With that kind of schedule and that kind of stress, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bob’s family has their own opinions on this, Bob’s own sense of obligation notwithstanding.
Let’s say: Bob’s family are supportive, and acknowledge the genuine nature of the problem, but they are pretty powerless to help (or at least, they can’t think of any way to help, other than shouldering more than their share of the housework etc, so Bob can collapse in an armchair.).
So, hypothetically, their financial situation is dire enough that they feel they have no choice but to watch Bob work himself to death, and not encourage him to quit for his health and sanity? (Not trying to disparage the family here, since I don’t know them, but I want to be sure this isn’t a “solution”.)
Bob has painted himself into a corner. He needs to get his big boy pants on, cut down as much (as little) as he can, document document document, and start looking for another job. Family can help filter the wanted ads.
Bob needs to reduce his financial commitments and then get out of that job even if it means working at a job that earns him significantly less money.
If Bob reaches the point where he’s ready to do this, he might consider negotiating with his current employer in an effort to fix his current job. But it doesn’t sound like they’re interested in fixing the problem. So Bob should go into any negotiations with the willingness to walk out the door.
Yep, killing yourself for little or no recognition/compensation is ridiculous. Better to deal with a period of uncertainty than to work yourself into a stroke.
Have you ever watched when a company decides to fire someone? Not layoffs, nor termination for misbehavior, just outright fired-for-not-working-enough. It’s a long, drawn out process involving HR, Legal, and an astonishing variety of work-plans, recovery goals, re-evaluations, etc. And it can take a year or more.
My experience (in large corporations) is that managers will almost never go through with this. Not only do they get a lot of attention from HR and their senior management, they have to make the tacit admission that they failed, either in leadership or promotion decisions. I’ve worked at Uber-mega-corp for 25 years and I’ve seen exactly one person fired for non-performance.
So… if Bob doesn’t have any real hope of good raises or promotions, he should just slow down and work a reasonable amount of time. Seriously. They’ll fume and threaten and carry on but nothing will happen. Then Bob can get a little more rest and spend some time looking elsewhere.
Disclaimer: I’m assuming Bob works for a corporation of some size.
My gf found herself in a similar situation. In addition the pay was so incrediably good. She thought she’d “grin and bear it” till retirement.
Then a new startup approached her with an offer. It took a year of back-and-forth discussions, but she eventually jumped ship and has been smiling ever since. Their final offer didn’t match her previous salary, but it was close, and is a four day work week instead of five.
Hope something similar happens to you, [del]Mangetout[/del] umm, Bob.
In 2006 I was “Bob”. Running a team of more than 10 members, some remote, and trying to provide technical and administrative management. We were engaged on two major projects, both of which were behind schedule and management held daily red team meetings that did nothing but delay everything. Too many extra hours, not enough recognition. I used some of the following strategies …
Maintain a list of current tasks. Every new task involves an email to line management asking where the new task fits in the priority list, and results in a proposed rescheduling of all existing deadlines.
Don’t volunteer for extra tasks. Make them ask if they need you to work extra hours. Document these requests. I’m assuming “Bob” is in the UK, so dismissal processes have to be rigorous and can be challenged - employers cannot easily dismiss a staff member for not meeting unreasonable working demands.
When asked for time estimates, add additional time so that even if tasks take 15-20% more than the realistic estimate, they are completed on time and within normal working hours. Most tasks should then complete earlier, than expected.
“Bob” is not indispensable. He does not have to do every task - other people can do them. It may be slower, not done quite as well as “Bob” would, and may need some review and supervision, but it can be done by others.
“Bob” has to manage his time by setting strict working and break times. I am actually really bad at this, but at some times I have managed that strict division between the hours they paid me to work and the hours they didn’t. Those times are much easier to survive.
Keep eyes open, cv current, skills updated, build your network. Be prepared to take an opportunity when it presents itself.
“Bob” needs a financial buffer to survive 2-3 months with no income. It takes sacrifice and discipline to achieve this and maintain it. It gives some freedom when changing roles.
In the end, I went looking and was offered a contract role with a guaranteed 18 months period. It turned into 8 years continuous contracted employment, with a few hairy spots along the way.
I’m back in salaried employment now. And I still have to try to keep myself under control and stop myself doing too much. But I do apply those strategies to keep myself withing my scheduled hours.
Mangetout is in England. If “Bob” is Mangetout or supposed to be a hypothetical Englishman a lot of the advice given here will not apply as we have much stricter employment law than in the US.
One more constraint (and I’m not just making these up to try to render the question unanswerable, honest) - Bob is in charge of a service that, if it fails, causes the whole business to come to a standstill (and this will be regarded as Bob’s failure, not an inherent failure of the prevailing situation). It this specific problem that prevents him taking leave.
Bob has a team to which tasks can notionally be delegated, but resource demand from mandatory/urgent work is already pegged constantly well above capacity (125% normally, peaking 175%) - so any dip in effort pretty immediately causes serious outcomes.
I was in a very similar situation just last week. I wasn’t working long hours, but I was being treated poorly and the environment was so bad that I felt myself falling into a bad depression.
Looking for a job was just making things worse as there were so few prospects, but I didn’t see another option and so I slowly started to lower my absolute bottom line wage needed and that opened the field a little bit. Then I got really really lucky.
I’d interviewed for an office manager assistant position, which ended up being not enough money, but just a day later, the office manager gave her notice and they called me back for another interview. It ended up being the most fun interview I’ve ever had. It lasted two hours.
I got the job and I start today. I ended up getting a bump in pay and a title.
So, my advice is just to apply for anything and everything. You just never know what it can lead to.
Good Luck to you. I hope your situation improves like mine just did.