I emailed my big boss after two years in the job and said that I wanted to renegotiate my contract and either wanted a payrise or a day off a week for less money. He wrote me back immediately and said that he will get back to me asap about it.

The next day he said that he was going to handball it to one of my junior bosses pending the outcome of the 360 reviews that they were about to conduct.

To cut a long story shorter, a month ago, I did the 360 review where 6 people I work with are asked a series of questions of what they think of my performance. Weeks later - when I asked about what the hell was going on with my initial request, I was asked to fill out another form that detailed what I thought of my performance.

Finally today I sat down with my junior boss - over a month later - to discuss my 360 review, I received a ton of paperwork and skimmed over it - what I read was surprisingly positive. My boss bought me a tuna salad for lunch and we discussed my 360 review. After about an hour he got a call and said he had to go. I butted in and asked him what about my request and he said that he wasn't in a position to give me either a payrise or a day off a week. He said I had to do a some other thing - can't remember the initials for it - before my request would be considered.

It's not the payrise or even the day off a week I was after. It was really just to gain some insight into what makes our company tick, and what the hell we are doing with our lives trying to keep this corporate beast alive.

I see my workplace like that MS game mechwarrior where all the staff are peddling away like mad powering the robot while my bosses are in the head having a great deal of trouble keeping the retarded beast steady.

There is so much wastage in corporate Australia, I don't think it can ever be fixed.

nothing in almost 3 years; I can't even be bothered to ask for anything any more... so I just turn up late, go home early, talk in the kitchen, if they call me I don't answer...

I don't even mind being fired

I still do a good job, but they don't get the extras previous employers enjoyed.

Pay rise, ha ha.

latedropeddy said...

Gday Oliver. What industry do you work in? Many still have pay freezes in place, if it a european or US owned company then they may be directed to not give a pay rise because business may be crap in the parent country.

I work in advertising. It wasn't about a payrise. Personally I'd prefer one less day per week - less hours of bull****, pointless duplication and waste. The thing that gets me is if I'm useless I'd think they would want to see me less and pay me less. But if I'm good I'd think they'd do some token thing to keep me and spare the cost of retraining some other sod who will inevitably replace me down the track.

I'm fortunate that I also work for a small company that turned huge - in terms of turnover/profit. I work for them one month per year.

I've never needed to ask for a payrise there. When I started I think I was on 2k for the month, which was pretty good at the time. 5 or 6 years later my boss took me aside and said you haven't had a payrise for a while and gave me 10k for the month - I was gobsmacked. Been on the same rate for the past 10 years and will never ask for anything more. On good years I even get a 1 - 2K in bonuses. I base all other companies I work for on this one - no one ever quits - it's a well oiled machine that's so much fun to be a part of. This is the only job I've ever had where loyalty means something.

red thumbs for saving lives and a bargining power!!

busterwa said...

16 percent over 3 years.

Oh here we go - and that's a good thing why exactly? lol

oliver are you saying you are unhappy on 10k a month with 1-2k bonuses?

lifes tuff hey.

Buster,

while your union was securing 16% over 3 years did they also make sure that all of the jobs they were fighting for stayed in australia?

no point securing pay rises when there is no jobs left because of it

ahh, you beat me to it ginger......

oliver said...

I've never needed to ask for a payrise there. When I started I think I was on 2k for the month, which was pretty good at the time. 5 or 6 years later my boss took me aside and said you haven't had a payrise for a while and gave me 10k for the month - I was gobsmacked. Been on the same rate for the past 10 years and will never ask for anything more. On good years I even get a [b]1 - 2K in bonuses. I base all other companies I work for on this one - no one ever quits - it's a well oiled machine that's so much fun to be a part of. This is the only job I've ever had where loyalty means something.

sweet, if only you could turn the 1 month into 6 months.

Gestalt said...
Buster,

while your union was securing 16% over 3 years did they also make sure that all of the jobs they were fighting for stayed in australia?

no point securing pay rises when there is no jobs left because of it

ahh, you beat me to it ginger......

It is impossible to compete with labour costs in countries that have no credible workplace health and safety rules, no workers compensation system, no superannuation protocols and no compulsory employee training and advancement system (not that it is enforced in this country).

One thing that is sadly lacking in Aus these days is worker's solidarity, even within the union memberships. Most people just look out for themselves only and F You Jack, pal, buddy.

Much of the essence of the Australian character that built and defended this country can be found in the writings of Henry Lawson. They should be to us what the Quoran is to others.

"Corporations and Companies"

The purpose and duty of corporations and companies is general enrichment;
Enrichment of the lives of consumers of their products, enrichment the community in which they operates, enrichment of the people who they employ, enrichment of the people who run them and finally enrichment of their shareholders.

The community as a whole are the shareholders.

All most of them seem to be doing these days is enriching their executives and to hell with the shareholders.

There has been some news and so I thought I'd give an update.

Since my 360 review I lost the vibe to go into work, and magically every week since that day there was some issue, so I couldn't go to work for at least one day out of the five. During that time I got my C.V. together and started looking around for alternatives.

A month has passed and this week I ran out of valid excuses to take a day off. This morning I went to work feeling pretty p1ssed and some new guy suggested that I should do my work in a certain way. I responded that he should mind his own business and he had no right to to micromanage me. My boss overheard this and pulled me aside, as he could see a negative confrontation developing.

To cut a longer story short. I was on the edge of a cliff and he pulled me from it. I was more than ready to throw the the past few years down the toilet over this minor issue, but my boss agreed with me and decided it was in all our best interests for me to work 4 days a week.

WhoooHooo Fcking Hooray - There is a god afterall.

Anyone looking to escape "Corporate Hell" I have a Kite Surfing, Sail Board and/or Sailing Instructor postition working at Hilton Iru Fushi in the Maldives.

Must have IKO or Sailing equivalent in order to get work Visa.

Second language a big advantage.

Send your resume and a photo to irufushi@sunwatersport.com for more information

There is no god. I came into work on Monday and they changed all the rules. There were all these draconian conditions attached, saying it would be reviewed every fortnight and depending on the business rules bla bla bla I could be made to come in five days a week. I thought about it overnight and wrote my boss an email this morning - the subject was: I quit

I might go for the second job also, does anyone know where I can buy a second language and IKO? I tried on ebay but there was nothing going.

You think you have problems. How about this guy??

Timing Is Everything
A guy shows up late for work. The boss yells, "You should've been here at 8:30!"
The guy replies, "Why? What happened at 8:30?"