The Carrot of Promotion

[Ghel]

I’ve been debating whether to post something about this for a while. I’m afraid it may come across as whiney. I mean, I’ve got a decent job, but it doesn’t pay very well for this type of job.

My supervisor, the Branch Manager, has been Branch manager for about three years now. About a year ago, when he did annual reviews, he said that he wanted to promote me from Loan Originator to full Loan Officer. Sounds great. We moved some of my non-core duties to other employees. I attended training that supported my work as a lender. My lending limits were increased (though I wasn’t told), giving me more responsibility for the loans I originate.

In the meantime, I also got divorced. Now, my only connection to this area is my job. I think I’d be a lot happier living in a city than this small, conservative town. So I’m weighing my options. Do I want to start looking for another job, or do I want to look for a house to buy in this area?

My decision hinges largely on that promotion BM suggested I’d get. If I get the promotion (and a significant raise to go along with it), I’d be fine staying with this job.

Slight aside, but related: A few months ago, BM wanted me to learn part of a coworker’s job. She’ll be retiring within a few years, and her duties will need to be divvied out to other employees. One of these duties is entering new loans on the mainframe. I said I was willing to learn it, but since it’s additional duties, I expected additional pay. He said he would have to contact whoever makes those decisions at the main branch. A couple weeks later, I asked for an update, and he said he hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone. A month later, he says it’s been put on hold, indefinitely.

It was with this in mind that I approached BM last week. He had mentioned annual reviews in a meeting, so I (privately) brought up the Loan Officer promotion he’d promised a year ago. I told him I was looking for a house, and that I wanted to make this a career, not just a job. His answer was so full of weasel words, I expected fur to sprout from his ears. “Nothing’s set in stone.” That decision hasn’t been made yet. And something about how I’ll be able to talk about what I’ve done in the past year, as if I need to defend my job or something.

I’m going to wait to make any decision until after annual reviews are completed and I see what sort of promotion and/or raise I’m given. We typically get 2-3% raises, which is pathetic considering how well the bank (especially our branch) is doing.

I’ve dropped plenty of hints about needing a raise in order to continue with this job. That I’m going to wait until after annual reviews to put an offer on a house. That I want to make this a career, not just a job. That I can’t afford vacations, can’t splurge on anything. And I’ve dropped hints that I don’t like this area and would be happy to move elsewhere. This area is way too conservative for my tastes. There’s nothing to do unless you like bars or churches. My only remaining family (my brother) lives in the Twin Cities.

I guess now I’ll just wait and see if the bank wants to invest in me. If they don’t, I’ll try to find somewhere that will.

[Nunavut Pants]

It sounds like they've already made their decision. I think you should start looking now. You don't have to do anything irreversible, but if they were serious about the promotion they probably would have done a little more about it in the past year...

[EricKei]

Agreed. Start looking now, put out those resumes, but don't make a move until you have a firm job offer in writing. In areas where you anticipate getting the new job, take a good look at home prices and availability, as well as general cost of living. Getting, say, 10% more money won't do you much good if it costs 20% more to live there.

[Pixelated]

I guess now I’ll just wait and see if the bank wants to invest in me. If they don’t, I’ll try to find somewhere that will.

That right there is a great decision. If they don't want to invest in you, the decision is easy. Even if they do, you at least then get to weigh the benefits of their investment with your desire to be elsewhere.

Any chance you could get a transfer to a branch in a place where you'd like to live?

[bainsidhe]

Just offering another perspective about why you haven't been offered the position yet. Branch manager could be busy, and it isn't a priority for him right now to spend time justifying a promotion and higher pay for one of his staff. It could also be that he's been told "not right now"by his higher ups. And being in a manager position sometimes means you can't be as transparent as you'd like when it comes to a frustrating situation like approving promotions.

At the end of the day, the only person that can advocate for you is YOU. Don't take a wait-and-see approach if you really do want the promotion. Make a list of those tasks you've taken on, and why you deserve to grow into a role with added responsibility (and pay!). This is about what you bring to the business and why it's in their best interest. Ask for the promotion, and put it in writing. At least then when nothing changes, you'll know it was absolutely the right decision to move on.

[Shyla]

I think you should do a combo. You should start looking for a new job but don't buy a house. Job searches can take a while. If, in the meantime, they offer you the promotion then take it. It could make it easier to find your next job or you could then reevaluate your job search. Keep your options open.

[RealUnimportant]

I can identify with this a lot. Since my separation, work is my major tie to where I live. Unfortunately the company I work for only serves this area, so I can't transfer internally to somewhere cheaper to live, and any "promotion" prospects either have much less money, worse hours, will cost more to commute to, or some combination of the three. Moving elsewhere, even quite a way out of town, will cost me more than I'm paying (my landlady hasn't changed the rent in 9 years, I'm covering her costs and not causing her the same level of aggro she had from the previous tenants so she's happy.) To move somewhere I can afford, I'd have to change jobs as well, which would change what I can afford... Catch-22.

[mjr]

"Grain of salt" advice here...

I have a cousin who works at a place that could be translated as "Good Taco". For the past several years, they've been promising to make him a store manager, and never doing so for one reason or another.

They've started doing it again, and this time he's absolutely convinced (like he has been before) that this time it's going to happen. I know this because I brought that up to him.

As has been said many times on this forum, it's ultimately up to you. They could be stringing you along to keep you there. It could be almost what I call a "reverse Peter Principle", where you're too good at your current job for them to promote you, because if they do, they might have to find someone to do your current job (unless, of course, they dump that on you, too) and they may not be as good as you are.

It's a possibility. It's ultimately what YOU feel is best for YOU. If you feel like they're stringing you along, by all means, look around for new work. If you think they're not and want to stick it out, go for it.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

[Ghel]

Any chance you could get a transfer to a branch in a place where you'd like to live?

No, the other branches are in small towns in Wisconsin, which would be worse than small town Minnesota.

I think you should do a combo. You should start looking for a new job but don't buy a house. Job searches can take a while. If, in the meantime, they offer you the promotion then take it. It could make it easier to find your next job or you could then reevaluate your job search. Keep your options open.

Yeah, I should do this. I've started looking for a house for two reasons: it will look like I want to plant roots in the area, and it's cheaper than renting around here. But if I actually buy a house, I will be stuck with it because houses aren't selling.

In areas where you anticipate getting the new job, take a good look at home prices and availability, as well as general cost of living. Getting, say, 10% more money won't do you much good if it costs 20% more to live there.

Houses do cost about twice as much where I want to live, but I expect to be able to earn twice as much, too. I am severely underpaid right now.

It could be almost what I call a "reverse Peter Principle", where you're too good at your current job for them to promote you, because if they do, they might have to find someone to do your current job (unless, of course, they dump that on you, too) and they may not be as good as you are.

I'm basically doing a loan officer's job now, plus all the other things I do. I've been training other employees on the duties that are less core to my job, but when they're short-handed and need someone to open a savings account, I feel like I have to pitch in. Especially if I'm not terribly busy, which I haven't been lately. The only time I remember saying "no" was when I had two sets of closing packages I needed to get done in a single day.

[taxguykarl]

I agree with the above: Start looking. BM has been jerking your chain all this time. This assumes that BM has noticed your contributions.
The only way I was even nominated for one promotion was to interviewing outside the organization.

[Pixelated]

BM may indeed have been jerking the OP's line all this time, but bainsidhe has an excellent suggestion: put all the reasons why you deserve the promotion in writing, ask for the promotion, and hand the letter over to The Powers That Be.

If nothing comes of it, regardless of the reason, you will know what's best for you to do.

[workerbee222]

. It could be almost what I call a "reverse Peter Principle", where you're too good at your current job for them to promote you, because if they do, they might have to find someone to do your current job

If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

[Ghel]

You folks were so right. I had my annual review and got my letter stating what my raise will be, starting July 1. I am disappoint.

All the categories on my review were either meets or exceeds expectations. The only thing I need to work on, according to the written review, is handing my non-essential duties off to coworkers.

BM side-stepped the idea of my promotion, saying that I would likely need to figure out my own title, since I'll be doing loan entry on the mainframe soon, too. He didn't mention any increased pay, like I'd asked about before, and I was afraid to press the issue.

Then I got my raise letter. I'm getting a 3% pay increase. Which isn't bad, but it isn't good enough. That extra $60 a month, after taxes, isn't going to help me buy a house.

It's well past time for me to update my resume and find a better job.

[taxguykarl]

Sorry to hear that, Ghel. Can't say I'm surprised Good luck on the hunt, but please give us one last Betty update before you go.

[Ghel]

Things that seem to be related, but really aren't:
1. Everything I mentioned in the OP.
2. The bank hired a new employee for our branch.

Here's what really happened. Our Senior Loan Officer passed away about two weeks ago. The Branch Manager (my supervisor) went to the main branch for a week to attend the funeral and to help distribute SLO's duties to other employees. As a result, BM has taken on the servicing of many of SLO's commercial loans. Because he's going to be busier with that, the bank decided we needed another commercial lender for our branch. He's going to learn from Goodhair and BM.

This was all sprung on us at an impromptu meeting last Thursday. We didn't even know that the bank was hiring a new employee. As far as I can tell, there were no interviews. The new guy was working for a realtor before he was hired. He has no history in banking, though he has a degree in management. The only connection mentioned was that he goes to the same church as BM.

Although they're not related, I can't help but feel put out that I was passed up for a promotion and given a crappy raise, and yet the bank was able to hire a whole new employee. And, yeah, I get there's more room in the salary budget because SLO died. That doesn't make it hurt any less.