My husband and I deal with this problem regularly, too (well, him more than me because he has been at the same company for over five years now). He had the best job in his department for him, but was taken out of it and given a position he hates, and his boss thinks he did him a favour. His boss thought he was stagnating at the position he was happy at. On the plus side, it is possible for Jim to move back to his old position after his current project is finished (after about another year and a half) because of the nature of his company. His company also values having people doing what they’re good at, and being happy workers - his boss doesn’t understand why Jim wouldn’t want to get as far as possible as fast as possible, but he sounds like he will respect it after this project.
I usually work part-time or as a temp, and bosses never understand why I don’t want more hours or to become a permanent employee. I always have to come up with an acceptable way to tell them that I don’t need more hours, more duties, more responsibility, or more money - my first job is looking after our household. Working for them is my extra job, but I can’t just come right out and tell them that.
HPL, I think you can stand your ground on this one and convince your boss that the company’s best interests lie in you working happily. I think the key is the “balance” as others have said. You usually don’t have to take an offered promotion, and as you say, you probably won’t stay there forever, it might not be that big a deal.
Surprisingly, I’ve found that companies don’t like it when it comes time to state your goals for the following year and you put down “I want to do the least amount of work required to keep my job.”
I have to wonder what sort of shitty place you work where they don’t at least pretend to have a work/life balance?
It’s kind of like the “flair” scene in Office Space. There are a lot of middle managers who don’t just want you to do your job well, they want you to WANT to do your job well. From a practical matter, a person who loves their job will typically go at it with extra effort and enthusiasm over someone who doesn’t care but is equally competant. But a lot of companies take it to an extreme and create almost cultlike environments for their emploees.
Don’t know your situation but for many companies I deal with, if a person does not express a desire to “grow” (ie take on additional responsiblities), they are pegged for elimination.
Sometimes when a manager says, “it will help you get promoted”, it’s actually codespeak for, “it will help keep you from getting fired.”
At many white-collar companies, they expect workers to “grow”, to move up, to progress. For example, at the big consulting firms, the phrase is “up or out”. Many years ago, I had a friend who had a similar attitude to yours. He just wanted to stay where he was at and explained his feeling to the manager. His manager’s response was, “I understand your preference, but here at XYZ company, your employment here is a career and not a job. Therefore, you need to find another company that aligns with your goals.” So, my friend wasn’t fired but he was “encouraged” to leave. So he did.
You have to understand the culture of the company you work for. If you don’t want pressure from managers to advance, then you either work as a consultant, or be a cashier at Wal-Mart, or enlist in the Army.
I’m very fortunate in that I’m close to retirement and my boss completely understands when I tell him I don’t want to be in charge of anything. Period. I’m not a good manager - I found that our when I was in the Navy. I’m a good engineer, I’m a good analyst, I’ve even been a good team lead, but I do not want to have to manage people.
When I first started in this position, 5 years ago, the division head asked if I wanted to stay in a technical track or a management track. I told him I preferred technical, and he proceeded to tell my why I was wrong! :eek: Fortunately, he was a military guy and he transferred a year later. And I’m still technical. Working for the Fed Govt isn’t typical of for-profit companies, tho, so my case may not be applicable for you.
This is definitely something you need to be cognizant of. When a manager talks to their employees about advancement there could be a couple of things underlying it: sniffing out ambitious employees who they can pile more on, identifying the stable ones who will be content to stay put (good for you if that is the case), or if it’s an up-or-out culture picking out the slackers for elimination.
Also consider, one thing that motivates some managers to promote their employees is empire building. They want their people to advance and promote because it makes them look good. The more managers that work for them the more they deserve to be Executive Vice President! It’s kind of a like the alpha of the pack siring the most offspring. And you aren’t supporting their personal goals with your attitude!
And thirdly, you run the risk of sounding like you are saying “no” to your boss. Bosses don’t like to hear “no”. If your boss says, “Hey, can you run this report for me?” You would probably have no problem saying, “Sure, coming right up.” Now the boss is saying, “Hey, can you take on this additional work for me?” And you are responding, “Nah, not interested.” Probably not what they want to hear.
SO, I would say go ahead and stick to your guns, but don’t be surprised if it turns into a slow downhill slide to the exit.
Well, I’m already in the military, and being that I’m under contract for the next couple of years, I’m not terribly worried about being fired. Hell, I’ve seen a number of people get into trouble(read: NJP) and even then they weren’t kicked out.