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Luckylu · 61-69, F
@Ontheroad True, and they use quotas and ratios as excuses and every rational they can come up with. Though I worked for 33 years in my job, I didn’t get paid like the others, reasoning was because I didn’t have a college degree even though I proved to them time and again I had the skills.
Ontheroad · M
@Luckylu You are spot on. I literally had to fight with our corporate office over that very thing. It got so bad over the promotion I wanted to do that I threatened to quit if they didn't approve the promotion and pay raise.
I won the battle, but I was so frigging angry I nearly did quit. I will add that after that battle I found it easier to get the pay raises I wanted. I think I wore them out 😂
I won the battle, but I was so frigging angry I nearly did quit. I will add that after that battle I found it easier to get the pay raises I wanted. I think I wore them out 😂
Luckylu · 61-69, F
@Ontheroad Good for you! I only had a couple managers in my lifetime who fought for me, to either get raises or to protect me from being laid off. My last manager in that position when he retired and a new person was promoted. They promoted someone who had no experience as a manager, and I was laid off. I had a 13 year old to take care of and no other source of income. The worst period in my life.
Ontheroad · M
@Luckylu That's something I faced for many years. I was an area manager for long-term care facilities with about a 95% female workforce. Many of the employees were single parents and not long after I was hired, I began to notice a trend when I reviewed annual performance evaluations.
Since I was constantly visiting the facilities I got to know the people, and I was able to connect the highly rated (on paper) employees to faces.
So, wondering why some were rated higher than others doing similar jobs, I started reviewing their work history, how long they had been with the company, education, training, etc., and of course since I was looking at their files, I saw who was single, a single parent, married, etc.
After doing this for a few months it hit me that 1. Education meant almost nothing as far as work performance went, and 2., Many of the higher-rated employees were single mothers.
After more talking and watching, I realized that single-parent mothers (by-in-large) were rated highly because they worked harder than most of their married or single with no kids coworkers. It was just that simple. They had children to support and they were damn well going to do the best they could to provide for their children.
The realization that education had little to do with performance didn't come to me until one of the employees who came to talk to me during one of my "Open Door" days, said she was being penalized for not having a college degree.
That's when I started forgetting about education as a deciding factor for promotions and pay raises that I wanted or had to approve, There were some positions that required degrees, but other than those, I totally ignored education levels.
I also, without ever saying or documenting it, pushed just that little bit more for single parents when it came time for promotions and/or pay raises. I was careful not to let it be known (corporate would have had my head), but all else equal, the single parent always got my recommendation or approval for the promotion and /or pay raise.
Since I was constantly visiting the facilities I got to know the people, and I was able to connect the highly rated (on paper) employees to faces.
So, wondering why some were rated higher than others doing similar jobs, I started reviewing their work history, how long they had been with the company, education, training, etc., and of course since I was looking at their files, I saw who was single, a single parent, married, etc.
After doing this for a few months it hit me that 1. Education meant almost nothing as far as work performance went, and 2., Many of the higher-rated employees were single mothers.
After more talking and watching, I realized that single-parent mothers (by-in-large) were rated highly because they worked harder than most of their married or single with no kids coworkers. It was just that simple. They had children to support and they were damn well going to do the best they could to provide for their children.
The realization that education had little to do with performance didn't come to me until one of the employees who came to talk to me during one of my "Open Door" days, said she was being penalized for not having a college degree.
That's when I started forgetting about education as a deciding factor for promotions and pay raises that I wanted or had to approve, There were some positions that required degrees, but other than those, I totally ignored education levels.
I also, without ever saying or documenting it, pushed just that little bit more for single parents when it came time for promotions and/or pay raises. I was careful not to let it be known (corporate would have had my head), but all else equal, the single parent always got my recommendation or approval for the promotion and /or pay raise.
Luckylu · 61-69, F
@Ontheroad I currently work with single men and women and I have to bite my tongue as I witness the difference in their commitment to hard work. I end up doing the heavy lifting and I’m the oldest there.
I want to commend you on the person you are and worked hard at being. Your insight and determination to do what is fair. There aren’t many like you in the corporate world where I work.
In a recent situation I was yelled at and falsely accused by a manager in another department all while in front of my current manager who stood by and did nothing. As far as I know he did not report her actions to upper management either when I pushed him to do so. I’m working on getting the hell out of there as soon as possible.
I want to commend you on the person you are and worked hard at being. Your insight and determination to do what is fair. There aren’t many like you in the corporate world where I work.
In a recent situation I was yelled at and falsely accused by a manager in another department all while in front of my current manager who stood by and did nothing. As far as I know he did not report her actions to upper management either when I pushed him to do so. I’m working on getting the hell out of there as soon as possible.