“I’ve had it with this company. They don’t appreciate me. This may be a dumb thing to do because I don’t have another job to go to, but I’m leaving here and everyone knows why.”

It may be a dumb thing to do. Before you get all riled up at my response, I didn’t say you’re dumb. I’m just repeating what you said to me. Here’s what else I heard you say: You give considerably more than you get. You’re tired of waiting for acknowledgment and you want to leave. You’re so frustrated you’ll take the leap without knowing where you’ll land and you’ve made that clear to a number of people. Did I get all that right?

“That sounds stronger than I meant it to be. I’m not really leaving. I’m just thinking about it. “

And you’ve told many people how you feel?

“Maybe a few. Or more. But I don’t think they take me seriously. At least I hope not! I’ve been talking like this for a long time but I’ve never done anything about it.”

What have you told them you want from your company?
“I want to be taken seriously. I want my boss to say I make a difference and I’m worth more than he pays me. I’m tired of being invisible.”

What will you do to become more visible and taken more seriously at another company? How will you ensure that you are appropriately valued and compensated?

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it. I just know it’s not happening here. I get minimal increases and no promotions. I’ve been here a long time. I’m reporting to people I’ve trained. People with half my experience are getting paid twice as much as I am. I’m being taken advantage of and everyone here knows it. They even ask me why I stay.”

What do you say?

“ I don’t know. Maybe I’m comfortable and I’ve been here a long time and the people are nice. Maybe it’s because I know my job, I can work from home if I need to and I don’t have to do more than I want to.

You just described why you stay; yet you want to leave. Why don’t you?

“I don’t want to start over. I don’t want to compete with younger people and sharp elbows, I don’t want managers who want to advance more than they want to fit in, managers who put pressure on employees to do things differently even though we’re comfortable doing it the old way.

I want someone to tell me what to do, tell me I’m doing it well, and tell me I’m appreciated. Then I want them leave me alone to get my job done. That’s all I want.”

What do you want to be appreciated for having done?

“I don’t cause problems and I don’t waste time. I don’t ask others to do my job for me and I’m not out for myself. I don’t gossip, I don’t use bad language, I don’t speak harshly about my co-workers to their face or behind their backs.”

It sounds like you’re a nice person doing an average job in an average way. You want to feel like you belong and you have a future with your company. Do you deserve that raise and do you want that promotion?

“It would be nice. But I don’t want that promotion…too much responsibility. I just want people to miss me when I’m gone, smile when I ‘m back and say thank you. Is that asking too much?”

That’s a good question. Let’s talk more about it next week…