Didn't get 1 year raise. Time to move on?

[Double J]

I work for a small company had my one-year evaluation yesterday. My boss had the nicest things to say about me and gave me high marks in 4 of 6 areas. He noted that I needed improvement in the other two and established goals he said I should strive to meet in order to demonstrate improvement and overall growth.

 

When it came down to talking about raises, it didn't get pretty. My boss said that he spoke to our company president, who in turn told him that our revenues are down and consequently no one is eligible for a raise. I told him I'd been informed that everyone in the sales department got at least a small raise. He got upset that other people would disclose that information, saying that should have been kept strictly confidential.

 

Interestingly, he then retracted his earlier statement that no one was getting anything and said that it was only OUR department that wasn't getting raises due to falling revenues. I asked if I would possibly get one in a year, and he said he couldn't promise me anything. When I asked if he thought I deserved one, he replied, "that's not a fair question" and just dodged the question completely. (Note that he was completely dry and unsympathetic while telling me I wasn't going to get a raise.) So, my boss failed to meet revenue goals, and that means everyone should take the fall? My boss never came out and said HE hadn't been given a raise.

 

I question whether my boss even spoke to our president to begin with. He seemed a bit rattled once I filled him on what people in the other department said --almost as if he'd been caught in a lie. My boss is also known for being mightily disorganized and, most of all, STINGY. The guy brought a repackaged gift for last year's holiday gift exchange, and a few months later, when a set of Tupperware went unclaimed, he didn't hesitate to take them home with him. He also acts as if the company's money is his own. His maxim: "Free is always best," and the guy will stop at nothing to get things as cheaply as possible.

 

Aside from being highly unstructured and disorganized, my boss seems completely inept as a manager. He'd been a consultant for about 5-6 years before accepting his position at our young start-up in 2009. I heard he tried starting up his own company and it wasn't long before it tanked completely -- no surprise there. So, he really hadn't worked in a business setting since 2004. Unfortunately, since my dept consists only of 3 people (my supervisor, a co-worker who won't get her first year evaluation until January of next year, and me), I was the first person ever from my dept - excluding my supervisor - to receive a 1-yr evaluation; hence, I seem to have served as the guinea pig.

 

One of my boss's main criticisms centered on my tendency to "simply complete tasks and wait for the next step." He said that I do a great job completing them, and never fail to deliver when it comes to quality, but that he'd like to see me self-manage myself better. "I can get anyone off the street to simply complete tasks," said my boss. Since this is a small/entrepreneurial start-up, the company seems to resist routine as well as any semblance of structure. Therefore, according to him, it seems unacceptable to expect my supervisor to farm out tasks as bosses typically do. In his opinion, I should seek out tasks and opportunities for growth myself. If that's the case, does he not just want me to do his job? I thought I was doing a good job of self-managing myself, considering he provides little if any guidance on how to do the tasks he's assigned up until this point. Granted, this is not to say that I would want a micromanager for a boss. But what's so bad about depending on your supervisor to tell you what he'd like for you to do and how he'd prefer for it to be done? There's no doubt that structure is nil in this company, and it feels like he is lazy enough to want the easy way out.

 

Adding insult to injury is the fact that now he wants to impose goals on me after not giving me even a small raise. I don't think there'd be many people who would have in them the motivation to work harder to make the company more money after being left feeling unappreciated. It's not going to be easy to keep my head up every day and act like all is dandy.

 

The story doesn't end there. Some 3 hours after we got back from lunch, he calls me to the reception area and tells me that he doesn't want me to feel despondent over what took place. "I don't want you to think there's no more money in the cards for you sometime in the future," said my supervisor. For the second time, he ended up retracting an earlier statement: At lunch, he'd said he wasn't sure if he'd be in a position to offer a raise at the time of my second evaluation. All of the sudden, it's possible I could get a raise if he sees me making headway in achieving the goals. But wait a second...if I remember correctly, there was no money for raises because my department's revenues were down. Did they somehow manage to raise more funds for raises in the 3 hours since we'd returned from lunch? Right.... I think it just dawned on my supervisor that the disheartenment resulting from all this could drive me to find another job in no time, and so he had to say something to keep my spirits and hopes up. I asked when it is I could be reevaluated and he said he couldn't answer that.

 

I sense the only way I'll get my supervisor to open up the wallet is if I give him a resignation letter.The overriding goal now is to find a good job with a more established and better paying organization in the next 6 months. I plan to start polishing up my resume in the coming weeks. I have ample experience going to interviews and have what it takes to find -- and potentially land -- jobs that pay approximately 10K more than my current one. Unfortunately, it seems this company does place as much importance on what I'm able to offer (excellent writing and research skills, etc.) as it does on sales.

 

I'm interested in seeing what you guys think. Is my logic valid here? Based on what I've told you, do you feel my boss blew it and that I'd be better off working for a company that better appreciates what I have to offer?

[Anthropic]

Given that you're even asking these questions, I'd say, yes, it is time to move on.

[DN]

I agree that you should look for a better job - even aside from the money this guy seems like someone that you don't want to work for anyway. It also seems like he is a bad liar.

[avman]

I don't think things are likely to change there for you. To lie repeatedly to you doesn't show very good character. And if your boss is really that cheap, that isn't something that will change either. Whether revenues are up or down and regardless of your performance - the boss is always going to be cheap.

 

By the way, if you turn in a resignation and they offer you a raise to make you stay - quit anyway. It almost never works out to take the companies offer and stay. Companies will start looking for your replacement immediately and as soon as they find it they will then fire you.

[Dako]

Time to move on, and I agree with avman about spurning any enticements.

[annie24]

I agree with the others. I would quietly look for work. but beware - don't use company resources, not even the company printer to scan or print your resume. I've been hearing that some companies monitor what people are printing/copying!

 

good luck

[DN]

I agree with the others. I would quietly look for work. but beware - don't use company resources, not even the company printer to scan or print your resume. I've been hearing that some companies monitor what people are printing/copying!

 

good luck

Especially e-mails. And also be careful where you post your resume.