This day and age companies will claim to value loyalty, tenure, experience & great performance but in reality they could care less.
I have been at the same company for over 11 years now. I started at an entry level position making 11$/hr. I quickly learned and had excellent performance. Within my first year there was one other person from the same training as me of which I surpassed in all metrics. A supervisor role opened up so I expressed interest in applying. I had recently received a verbal for attendance so my supervisor told me I wouldn't be able to get the position so I didn't apply for it. Next thing you know The other person from my training ended up getting the promotion. Good for her. I went to my manager and asked how she got it considering my stats were better and she was on a written (worse than mine) and he told me I was ineligible. He gave me some BS excuse. This was my first experience in favoritism, she was buddy buddy with the TL's.
Shortly after, one of the managers for a different part of the business told me I should apply for a position that opened up. Wasn't my first choice but it was a promotion so I went for it. I updated my resume and got dressed to impress and went to the interview. He asked me why I was all dressed up and why I brought my resume saying that he knows me and I already got the position and he didn't need to interview me and was juat doing interviews as a formality. Later I found out due to my high performance it was actually the client who recommended me for the position. My second experience in favoritism.
Over the next few years I applied for a supervisor role in Operations at least 3 times. The client I worked on struggled in quality which was my expertise and was one of the main things they were looking for in the supervisor role. First time around was BS, they said I didn't have experience doing administrative work (timecards mostly) which is so easy a child could do it. Second time they promoted a newer employee who wasn't even eligible and who didn't even want it. The operations manager tells me that I am ready and that she wanted to give it to me but the other OM overrode her which was also BS because the person that got it was her buddy. She proceeded to tell me next one that opens is mine and they might not even open the position for interviews. She then quit shortly after. Third time when they went to tell me why I didn't get it they told me something along the lines of one of the questions they asked I didn't answer correctly and that they wanted behaviors “they know that I have” and I responded with actions which made no sense because the behaviors they were looking for they just acknowledged they know that I have. I told my supervisor and he wasn't happy and demanded they explain. When he got back to me he didn't know what to saybecause everything they told him was that I was ready and well qualified and didn't need to work on anything to have a better chance the next time but ultimately they went with someone else because she was already supporting a TL in that role, favoritism at it's finest.
Fast forward a bit, they were in need of supervisors and asked me to apply, I said no thanks lol, at this point I had already received some raises and it was no longer beneficial to me and they should have promoted me when I was interested.
I was bounced around to different clients and locations over the years and seems they always keep me around when going gets tough I assume due to my performance. I also received yearly raises which brings me to discussion related to my title.
As we know theres cost of living increases, minimum wages go up as well as they want to remain “competitive” so new employees will want to work for them. I am thinking I get paid a decent amount for a long time.
At the beginning of the year we got our yearly raise.At the time I helped train 2 peers that were promoted after being with the company not even a full year. Great! However, my raise was laughable, I am talking less than .20c. They explained that everyone over XX amount got the same exact increase whereas anyone below that threshold got bumped up however much to get to XX amount. For my peers they were ecstatic having received 1$ or 2$ or more of a raise. They werenow making as much as me just about except it took me 10 yearsto get there.
Eventually we all got moved to different clients. They were moved and got another raise to where they now make more than I do. I was originally supposed to go to X client which was hyped up, was told I would get a raise, incentives and bonuses. Less than a week before I was set to transfer my manager tells me that client isn't launching yet and instead I would be going to X client but she doesn't know anything about it and suggested I don't bother them with questions yet as it's still being finalized but that I would be transfered in a few days and report to them the following Monday.
I joined this client that was struggling in quality. Not only that there was no quality team at all and I would be managed by operations. I quickly found myself doing work for 3 people. Not only that, I was doing duties normal to my role but also two roles above my pay grade. I started voicing this and was told when we improve they might expand and if that happens I'd likely get promoted and would hire more peers for me to manage.
Fast forward a bit and I am to the point where I feel I should be getting paid more money, not only are my peers working on other clients already getting paid more than me, I am doing work designated for a supervisor and even manager roles, have done everything they've asked, even work off the clock at times. I explained that my previous manager toldme when I inquired about a pay increase that the company no longer pays based on tenure, experience, performance etc. and pay based on the position meaning all employees at the same position would get the same pay and if I want more money I need to job hop or get promoted.
He explains to tell me that isn't true and that he'll look into it. He even says he doesn't know who he needed to reachout to about my pay but that it isn't right and he'll look into it. Shortly after I have a 1 on 1 and receive a verbal warning (corrective action) because I was late one day and didn't communicate it 30min before my shift of which I had a family emergency and no access to communicate anything and did soon as I could but this didn't matter.
A few months pass by and I bring it up again because I haven't heard anything at all. I explained that it was being looked into or so I thought and he proceeded to tell me he will look into it and I deserve it for all the hard work I do to help improvement. Probably less than a week later I have a 1 on 1 and guess what, I receive a written (next level corrective action) because I was sick one day. I had said I was sick and even jumped on hours beforemy shift to update a report but do to not feeling well I crashed and ended up waking up late. In the written it indicates I didn't communicate 30min prior to my shift I would be late plus they throw in there that I didn't hit my attainment goals and I should communicate if I can't hit my goals.
Of course I have to acknowledge we had the conversation via email so I acknowledge that we “had the conversation” (not that I agree with it) and in each one I included my own comments “for the record” including that I have communicated multiple times that I am doing the work of 3 people and it's not sustainable and literally impossible due to time constraints and that in the event of an emergency there might be times where it's not possible to communicate in advance. I also mention the fact that when I was transferred I was never given any information, what my goals/expectations were, what pay would be or anything and I have records of being told not to ask questions as well as my initial verbal didn't say anything about my performance or attainment goals so I that should not have been included in the written. I also included how I felt each time after asking about my pay “coincidentally” I received a verbal and a written which surely will not look good when trying to justify a pay increase and that it is demotivating when a teenager can work flipping burgers and get paid more than me and I have been with the company for 11 years as well as the average salary for someone in my position with my experience makes at least 20k more per year and the company claims to love it's employees.
The response to the written was that they will look into my pay increase.
Talk about a slap in the face! It almost feels like borderline retaliation or writing me up for mundane reasons to avoid giving me a raise. Keep in mind I have not missed a day and any day I was late I stayed later and worked a full shift and even when I was sick I made it up on the weekend. In fact, with my tenure I max out at 120 hours of pto/sick time (they are combined) of which I am maxed out. Besides considering looking for another job, I am quickly learning to put out what they are paying for which isn't much at this point! At least I have a paper trail if things get worse.