I have been very happy in my job for four years and never raised a complaint. I’m self employed even though I work for a company and rely heavily on commission.
My diary is at times empty but I am busy enough. Of course the more clients I have the more commission I earn. Ideally I want to be working more there which they are aware of.
We have a relatively new manager at work who has been recruited to help grow the company. He is now bringing into the company someone he knows to do a similar role to me. This person is more qualified than I am and therefore will bring additional skills which is great. But…
I have been really keen on a new skill I have been offering and hoped to really develop my knowledge and expertise in it, it is a high ticket item. I’ve been told this new recruit will also offer this high ticket item and given that they are more qualified than me, the clients are more likely to choose them. If this person wasn’t recruited I would have had more capacity to offer this skill.
I have been upset since hearing of this as it can potentially impact the commission and professional growth.
I have raised concerns (a couple of times now) with my boss about this situation and advised them why I have concerns and that I want clear guidance on who will be offering what.
I have been advised that hiring this person will not impact my role as they will be bringing a different skill set and won’t overlap with what I offer. However the more time that has gone by, the more I see the overlap there is with other skills I offer. This person has not started yet but I can already see the set up and I truly believe it will impact me.
My main concern is that this person has more credentials than me and therefore if performing the same skills – any new clients I may have naturally acquired are likely to choose this person instead.
As my role is commission based I have felt upset about this. I have raised this issue again with my boss because I see more and more evidence to suggest this is the case and also advised them I am concerned that there will be a bias towards this new hire given that they are the new managers contact.
I emailed them explaining that there has now been several incidences where I have been advised of one thing but I see them doing something different. Ie they sent me an email to say I will receive all new clients for the more basic skills but are now stating that the new recruit will see new clients and I have noticed his services are displayed more clearly than mine.
I get it isn’t my business and I don’t get a say but it concerns me as it is my main job and I have advised them it has impacted my mental health – which it really has. I also told them I feel the new manager is hindering my development and I am concerned about the bias.
They have reassured me again that this persons role is not to impact me (though the evidence indicates to me otherwise) and that I have made several negative remarks and they feel I am against them instead of supporting them.
I have felt even worse for emailing and explaining how I feel. I’ve been happy in this role for four years and it isn’t easy to change jobs without having to start from scratch again. I am upset because I feel I have been now marked as disruptive even though I just wanted them to understand how I am feeling and find a solution so that I am still prioritised with new clients.
I emailed back and apologised for coming across this way as it was not my intention and I am just anxious about my role. But I still feel the situation is unresolved and I wasn’t actually heard or offered a solution.
It would be great to get opinions on how to handle this. I’m not entitled to any support given I am self employed and therefore not protected.