Please I want to know what to do in this situation. I am a management staff in my office. We all discussed with the boss that increment is due for staffers. He agreed. Only for my boss to increase only two management staff including my subordinate. Excluding me. I felt used and abandoned. Am so embittered. I have decided to just do my primary duties and to shed the administrative work.

Please I need advice. It not that am jealous but I think I deserve the increment due to my input in the establishment.

Thanks

Hi Blessing

It sounds like the conversation that took place was not specific enough. Maybe the boss agreed just to bring the meeting to a swift end and later thought it through, maybe did some research, and decided not to increase everyone’s salary.

I do understand how you are feeling, he has not handled this well at all. He should have discussed it with the group again.

What you ideally want to know is the reason he made his decision, and ultimately you may have to discuss this with him directly, or else choose to put it aside and move on. Otherwise as you are experiencing, the situation will prey on your mind and affect your performance. The morale of the whole team will suffer and the boss should know and understand that.

Presumably there are others in the same position as you. What are they doing and saying?

This needs to be handled carefully -you may create an untenable situation if you raise the issue.

In preparation for that eventuality I think you need to research the market, and look at what salaries are realistically available to you on the open market. Also, whether there are suitable vacancies you could apply for. Then if you are confident you will get another job, you would arrange a meeting with the boss to discuss the problem, and be prepared to leave if you are unhappy with the outcome.

Let’s think about what the boss may say in his defence and prepare a response to each possibility we anticipate in advance.

He may say he cannot afford to give everyone an increase. Are you prepared to walk if that is the case? If not, try to discuss future increments and to get an agreement in place that will guarantee future increases.

He may say he reviewed everyone’s salary and felt that only two people were underpaid for their role and contribution, so he decided that he must “level them up “. In that case your action would be to ask him how he sees your future prospects and salary, and act accordingly

You have to consider the possibility that he does not value your contribution as much as others. The research that we discussed above should give you a good idea what your services would be worth on the open market. Perhaps document that and offer examples as argument that you should receive an increment.

I must counsel that just doing your primary duties will not endear you to him, and not encourage him to increase your salary. Neither will displaying an embittered attitude. Perhaps a safer tactic would be to go the extra mile and make yourself indispensable.

You must either tackle the problem with the boss, or mark it down to experience and leave your embittered and abandoned feelings aside. They will not help you; you will become stressed if you hold on to them. Ultimately you may decide to look elsewhere for employment

Good luck and kind regards