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Last year, my manager left the company. Though I am the youngest team member (experience and age), I was tasked to take on the role and became the interim OIC while they are still looking for replacement.  after 3 months, the management decided to hire an L2 staff instead to help me. My interim role is now permanent. 

I just had been promoted from L2 to L3 about 3 weeks after my manager left. eventhough i just got promoted, I dont think that the new role of leading a team and handling the operations equates to L3 role in terms of responsibility and pay. I've seen what an L3 role is (2 of my teammates are long time L3) and I've also seen what a manager role is.

over that period, I was commended several times by our mangement and by my peers for several achievements like cost savings of $80k, added new accounts worth $400k and improved turnaround from 81% to a consistent 94%. We just had our annual review 3 week ago where I asked about my current role and explored the possibility of promotion.  The only thing I can get from my new boss is, he'll discuss it with the mangement. Im highly doubtful about that because I've heard that same response before and nothing materialized.  

Do you think I should still push the promotion to a boss?

Do you think its fair to pass the task to an individual  but not the title?

donm's picture
Training Badge

I waited two days for someone else to chime in, but since no one has, I'll give my own personal input. Us DISC "I" types like to tell stories...

When I was 19 and still in school, I was working as a computer operator (back in the 1970s). I ran both the night shift and the mid shift. My title was "operator 1" which is one level above "operator trainee." I had four other gentlemen on the two shifts; one operator 1, two operator 2's, and one operator 3. I did not have the title of supervisor, nor the pay, but I was expected to set up everything and make it all work and get it done before 6:00 the next morning, which we always did.

One night, very specific orders were not followed, and it was a big pain for the programming and analysis group to correct the records by first restoring them, then re-processing them. I got my butt reamed. I went through the trash and the logs, and showed my boss that I had left VERY detailed and specific instructions; I had set aside and labeled everything to be used for the job; I had written specific instructions on each of the items to be used in addition to the master list of instructions. Verbally, I went over every step of the process with the mid shift before I left. The operator 3 screwed up the job by "flushing" the wrong partition when a different job crashed. He then tried to dispose of all of my instructions/evidence.

My next review was due in about 2 weeks. I told my boss right then that he had a choice: Either give me a 25% raise or give me the title of "Night shift supervisor," with no pay raise. Basically, I said, "You hold me accountable. I assign all the tasks. Yet, I have no authority to do this. Either give me the authority, or give me enough money to make the aggravation worth my time."

When I got neither the raise nor the title, I ended up quitting the job, at which time, I was offered both the title and a 10% raise, which I declined. I said, "You didn't respect my work enough last week to give me what I asked for, even when it cost you nothing at all."

So, from the tale above, you can see that you probably won't get what you want, unless you issue an ultimatum. Your choice is Hobson's choice: Issue the demand and live with the reward or punishment, whichever way it might go.

Or just back down and live with the way things are now. Is the title worth losing your job over?

MichaelP's picture

Paul,

I am in a similar boat, except I have now been "ad interim" for two whole years with no change in compensation. It was originally a "3 to 6 months" replacement while they started the recruitment process. The recruitment process never started. I am still covering my senior engineer job, a team leader job and the replacement of two managers. There is no hint of me getting a compensation adjustment this year either.

The first review (2 millions euro OPEX saved year-on-year, doubled team output, implemented new processes and policies) didn't get me an increase as I had only been in the position for 6 months and I was also told I wasn't communicating enough. The entire compensation budget was "spent on a single contributor seen as a key player" who left 7 months later.

The second review (an extra half a million OPEX saved year-on-year, doubled the team output again even tho I lost directs, even more new processes and policies, noticeable improvement on all the KPIs) didn't get me an increase either as higher management complained that I was spending too much time with my manager and taking extended lunch breaks when I was only having late lunches. My remaining directs got a compensation increase or a promotion, so the year wasn't a total loss.

Management won't let me go back to simple contributor and they won't compensate me for the work. I was offered 3 choices: continue as it is, apply for a position in another division or leave the company altogether. I picked up the first choice, to get more experience and because I have an awesome team.

Life is unfair, business doubly so.