I stumbled across this thread tonight and I'm fighting the internal battle over what to that parallels a lot of what has been posted. I'd love any input anyone could provide.
I sell "widgets". I left Company A about 18 months ago to make a lateral move to Company B. Company B offered a very small bump in salary but at the time I felt there was more opportunity and also the chance to work on a very large project in our industry that I wouldn't have at Company A. Company B also offered a preferred schedule, significant annual raises in June backdated to the first of the year with back pay to January 1, a one-week salary bonus at Christmas, and other promises at the time that I felt were enough to make the move.
Fast forward 18 months. I did not receive last year's Christmas bonus, my preferred schedule has been taken away, and the annual raise I received this year was about 2.5% with back pay to January 1. Most of the items that were promised during the interview process have not come to fruition as well.
Some of my accomplishments at Company B to date:
-I've booked over 60% of the revenue for our branch for the year. 50% of that was booked by the end of March. This been the result of extra hours in the office, at home, and almost 24/7 connectivity to e-mail since I'm working with suppliers and customers on a global basis.
-With the bookings I made by the end of March, I was responsible for putting us "in the black" by the end of the first quarter. Anything after that was pure profit to the company assuming all of my material ships by EOY, which will happen.
-I've done the above all on my own with very little support from management or co-workers and substantially less infrastructure than I had at Company A
-Not necessarily an accomplishment, but I was in an accident in March with that resulted in the removal of one eye. During my recuperation, I never let any work slip, asked for minimal help, and still maintained regular contact with my co-workers, suppliers, and customers.
-During the recuperation from my accident, I burned through all of my vacation and sick leave for the year. The only time off I've had since have been 3 day weekends like Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.
My boss notified me of my 2.5% raise via e-mail at the end of July. I was out of town at the time. When I returned to my office, I asked for some time to speak with him. I started the conversation that I felt my compensation should be a reflection of my contribution to our branch's success and that I didn't feel a 2.5% raise was sufficient given the accomplishments and challenges noted above. He said that he agreed with me but that 2.5% was the best that they could do and that I should be happy to have a job given the fact that our industry is beat down due to oil prices. I pointed out that I'd made the branch a significant amount of money early in the year and that the best they could do argument did not hold water. While our industry is, in fact, down due to oil, we are the lone bright spot and are doing very well given the circumstances. We left the conversation with him agreeing to revisit things again in the future.
At this point, I don't have a lot of faith that much will change if we do continue the discussion. Given what they've already failed to deliver and taken away from me in spite of my performance this year, I don't feel valued as an employee. I enjoy the work I do and most of the people I work with but at this point I'm worn down and am basically hanging on to not let my customers and teammates down. I'm leaning toward leaving solely for the fact that I don't feel valued and that my performance this year through challenging industry and personal circumstances hasn't been recognized or appreciated.
Am I wrong in how I feel at this point? I feel like I'm justified in my feelings and expectations. I know I should be thankful to have a job but I feel the employee/employer relationship is a two-way street and they'd have no problem firing me if I didn't meet expectations. I worry that if I leave, they'll convince me to stay and I'll end up back in the same cycle. It's very frustrating.