I came to know my boss advocated for a lower bonus than me relative to peers.

Anonymous

December 8,2021 at 10:53PM UTC

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I came to know my boss advocated for a lower bonus than me relative to peers. This is when I worked harder, acquired more expertise, did the work that got another person promoted, and was still constantly demotivated by my boss. I still want to learn some material in this group. How do I stay motivated to achieve my personal goals in an environment that gets people promoted on the basis of my work and then turns around to give me negative feedback?

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Jackie RukaDecember 8,2021 at 11:44PM UTC
It’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
Document your wins and send them out monthly or communicate them in a way that supports the companies and your business areas initiatives.
I have learned you have to speak up to stand out. If you don’t, your efforts just leverage others instead of you.
.
AnonymousDecember 9,2021 at 1:02AM UTC
Are the positives of the job worth challenging or brushing off the toxicity? In a similar environment, my "squeaking" was not perceived nor treated equally. I made some progress, but not enough and it was soul crushing. Too much "filtering" and bias in my workplace. For me I needed to find a better boss, better workgroup, better company. Good luck finding what will work for you.
AnonymousDecember 9,2021 at 1:07AM UTC
To stay motivated with so much working against you is hard. Especially since your value is not at all acknowledged.
Since you are resolute in staying put, I would concentrate on keeping track of your experience gained and new things you are learning. Track the wins and promotions of those around you and take secret pleasure in your knowing what you contributed to make those promotions happen. Try and take solace in gathering enrichment in the depth abd breath of your personal body of knowledge.
Try any share all you are gaining with your family and friends. Celebrate that and forget, for now, that your colleagues do not recognize your contribution right now. Maybe someday they will.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistDecember 9,2021 at 2:59AM UTC
I'm not exactly sure why you'd want to stay in that environment.
Who's to say you couldn't learn the same or similar material in another company. As an employee, all you really have to invest is your time. Instead of staying someplace you already know you want to leave and where you're being treated unfairly, consider investing your time in a company where it will pay off for you in the long term and that will appreciate and acknowledge your contributions.
AnonymousDecember 9,2021 at 1:25PM UTC
I recommend making a list of your accomplishments in excel. List when it happened and who benefitted. The purpose is to remind yourself of all the great stuff that you’ve done. At some point you could share it with your boss. Perhaps good PR is what you need. The opinion / perception of a boss can ebb and flow with each project. It’s important to manage perception in any job. Consider researching ways to improve perception. Hint: it may not Mean doing more work, rather. The way one shares their wins and who shares those wins.
AnonymousDecember 13,2021 at 1:17PM UTC
I think my boss is very aware of my wins as she asks others for feedback on me continuously and it’s all been great. Then she gets even more frustrated at me.
Paula Manczuk-HannayDecember 11,2021 at 3:18PM UTC
I was in this situation several years ago and after almost four years there I realized it was never going to be permitted to grow. I found another, better job that paid 40% more right away and ended up being the catalyst for my career growth. You deserve a job that values what you bring to the table.
AnonymousDecember 11,2021 at 5:17PM UTC
I was in a similar situation but I think you need to identify your motivation to stay 'the why'. My 'why' was that I was 2 years from meeting my credited service years to be eligible to retire. This is from a very healthy retirement system and my 'why' was a big goal and mentally allowed me to continue. I worked on staying mentally healthy during that time. I hit that milestone, and within months applied for one of my many dream jobs, was hired and resigned. First, be sure your mentally safe and healthy, if so, then identify your 'why' you stay. If you are not mentally safe, then the why is not important.
AnonymousDecember 13,2021 at 1:52PM UTC
Maybe your boss is aware of your goals, strengths and the enjoyment that you have for your work. If the role is a shift from individual contributor to manager, those are fundamentally different roles. Perhaps your boss knows this and is keeping you in a role that makes you happy. Many people think that they have to move from IC to manager to keep advancing in their career. For some companies you can only go so far as an IC then have to jump tracks. But moving to managment isn’t for everyone.
Karen GongawareDecember 13,2021 at 2:19PM UTC
Your boss is an idiot (based on what you wrote). Did you present your accomplishments and take credit for these or did you passively sit back and get railroaded? How are you being demotivated? Schedule a meeting, have an impartial witness there, and present your accomplishments (steps on how your work got someone else promoted) and point blank ask what the reasoning is behind lower bonus and not valuing your work,