Got a huge raise....but still want to transfer inside company

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by oceangaia

Suck it up for awhile, say 6 months, then look for a better job and use that raise as your new salary basis. At least you are being well-compensated for being the guy who gets dumped on. Document it carefully when he tells you to push back other deadlines or hands you new work to take priority over existing work. Do what you can to influence your image as not the guy always missing deadlines but the cleanup man who handles the crap nobody else can deal with. You'll be viewed as valuable because every manager wants one of those guys in his department.

Don't badmouth your boss or show animosity. Maybe joke about in a friendly manner how he has you on the 8 day workweek and you expect you'll be waxing his brother-in-law's car next. You aren't going to change who your boss is and your "job scope" is what your employer says it is so just find a way to turn it to your advantage. There are many in your situation but without the pay increase. You may feel dumped on but you can't feel unappreciated or valued.

OP, I want to say that the above is EXCELLENT advice.

Other readers please rep Oceangaia's post! This is not to denigrate the follow on posters, it's just the OG's post was the firstest with the mostest.

Definitely, suck it up for awhile. Keep a note in your pocket reminding you of the pay raise if that's what it takes to keep your attitude positive. Never let them see you cry - so to speak.

In a positive manner, talk to people generally, particularly in other departments, about how you are the "Clean Up" man. This is very important. Be positive when you say this, (don't be a complainer) but you absolutely MUST sell yourself as the person who solves problems, not the person who is the source of missed deadlines.

I don't know if this is good advice or not, but can you go to Human Resources? Not in an accusatory manner, but express to them a generalized concern that these missed deadlines caused by your supervisor reallocating you to a new top priority will be viewed unfavorably. Say it in a professional manner, and with as much of a smile on your face as you can muster. Say it without casting blame anywhere. Don't even hint that you believe that the manager is mismanaging your time. This could be a way of getting it "on the record", which is important, without other managers viewing you as a poison pill should you eventually be considered for a move to a different department. Managers like problem solving team players. They don't like Grumpy Guses (even, as in your case, you have something legitimate to be grumpy about).

You can parlay this whole situation into a win. The pay increase is a Half Win. Using your new salary as a basis for a lateral move can make it a Whole Win.

[hunterseat]

I'd be quietly offering to transfer with a slight decrease in pay if necessary. Your boss sounds like he knows nothing about project management.

[BusinessManIT]

Originally Posted by hunterseat

I'd be quietly offering to transfer with a slight decrease in pay if necessary. Your boss sounds like he knows nothing about project management.

Certainly that boss does not know anything about project management. But perhaps that is by design. In one of the IT companies that I worked for, under no circumstances would people be promoted into project management positions if they knew anything about it. This was so that they could arbitrarily set deadlines that was convenient to management and the client, but took no serious consideration of the actual work that had to be done for each project. This way, the programmers had to pull constant overtime to fulfil deadlines that had no basis in reality. Everyone would be working nights and weekends trying to make that important deadline and that is what management wanted to "get their money's worth" out of each employee since overtime hours were not paid for. Overtime was on each employee's dime, so the more free hours put in the better.

In my group of programmers we just had to grin and bear it. If anyone tried to complain or tried to reason with management, the management would pretend to become confused and say "We are just asking you to do your job. If you don't know how, then what kind of professional are you?"

Later, the project managers were encouraged to study for and earn their PMP. Unfortunately, they could not apply the concepts that they learned. Deadlines were still set the same way. The PMP certificates were there to add "legitimacy" to the project managers and were just a "showpiece" to increase credibility with clients and other outsiders. What a joke!

[Adhom]

Originally Posted by cpero824

I have been extremely vocal about all this. I've even threatened to leave and he immediately turned around and gave me a 22k raise... the tricky part is that he took it out of my other coworkers year end increases.

I'm kind of curious how you knew the raise was at the expense of your coworkers. I'm not sure why you would only look internally if you left this job but I can't imagine a good profitable company having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

[hunterseat]

Originally Posted by Adhom

I'm kind of curious how you knew the raise was at the expense of your coworkers. I'm not sure why you would only look internally if you left this job but I can't imagine a good profitable company having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

And how did they know it?

[BusinessManIT]

Originally Posted by Adhom

I'm kind of curious how you knew the raise was at the expense of your coworkers. I'm not sure why you would only look internally if you left this job but I can't imagine a good profitable company having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

I used to work for a company that made huge profits but had a budget for yearly raises where a manager had to select one employee to get a larger raise than the others, and one employee to get a lower raise (or no raise). One good, one bad, and the rest mediocre. This had to be done even if all the members on the team were equally outstanding employees. Even though this company was making an awful lot of money, there was only so much money in the budget for raises.

[move4ward]

Originally Posted by Adhom

I'm kind of curious how you knew the raise was at the expense of your coworkers. I'm not sure why you would only look internally if you left this job but I can't imagine a good profitable company having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

At corporations where I worked, the managers would get a staffing budget each year. They had to allocate based on what Finance and senior management gave them.

If the budget increased 2%, they could allocate it based on annual employee evaluations. If they gave one guy 20% raise, then the remaining amount would have to be divided among the rest. If the total salaries is over budget, Finance and senior management will reject it and the manager has to resubmit.

[cpero824]

Originally Posted by Adhom

I'm kind of curious how you knew the raise was at the expense of your coworkers. I'm not sure why you would only look internally if you left this job but I can't imagine a good profitable company having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

they way we do year end merit increases, is our department head gets a pool of money that is equivelent to 3% pay increase for every employee in the dept.

then its left up to dept head to distribute the money across the department as he sees fit. so obviously, if i got a massive merit increase.... it was all distributed to me.

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by cpero824

they way we do year end merit increases, is our department head gets a pool of money that is equivelent to 3% pay increase for every employee in the dept.

then its left up to dept head to distribute the money across the department as he sees fit. so obviously, if i got a massive merit increase.... it was all distributed to me.

Probably similar at most large companies. In my case, I was able to get a 35% increase last year. My boss was fully behind me but explained that would never happen as a "raise" because he had a fixed amount allocated to pay raises so he pushed it through as a "market adjustment" that was covered outside the budget. It took a few months, had to pass through several layers of management, and ultimately approved by the VP.