Weird Day. 03/22/12
Got a 2 1/2 % raise today at work.
I'd been told a few weeks ago during my annual Performance Review that a raise was likely to happen, details were still being worked out. So this morning my immediate supervisor, the Production Manager, requested a meeting with me. She informed me of the (disappointingly minimal) raise, and stated that my job title is no longer "Production Artist II" but "Graphic Designer I". It seems that in an HR-bureaucratic way Production Artists are only allowed to earn so much, and my bosses felt I should get a raise, so my title needed to change in order for that to happen.
I asked if my job responsibilities would change, and in a long-drawn-out and convoluted way she basically said "maybe, there might be more design projects for you, of the sort that the Senior Designer typically handles." "In addition to all the projects that I already am responsible for completing?" I ask. Once again, no clear answer. Apparently yes. Hmm. "But really you'll just keep doing the job same as always," she says. (I don't think management really knows what they're deciding sometimes, or perhaps they have communication problems among themselves.)
One aspect of this mostly-lateral promotion that is immediately different: she will no longer be above me in the chain of command, I will instead report directly to the Art Director. And it occurs to me, that with the departure from the company of the AVP of Marketing and the Marketing Coordinator, the 7 bosses I once had are now down to 4. I've been attempting take advantage of this situation and control some of the decision-making that the remaining team has been too busy to handle themselves... seizing the reins of the ad program seems to be working out okay.
Another interesting thing I've found out, is that I'm the only one of the 4 Production Artists who is changing job titles. It does feel odd to know that co-workers who've been here years longer than myself are probably also at the top of the Production Artist pay-grade, but may have no chance of even a lateral promotion like mine. Hmm.
Further weirdness is added to the day, and to my state of mind, by getting an e-mail requesting an over-the-phone job interview with another company. Tomorrow.
So. I guess I should feel grateful, for the 2 1/2% "cost-of-living" raise. I'm a bit pleased, anyway, that the bosses think I'm worth rewarding, even if the reward is disproportionate to the contribution I make to the company.
Will they be hurt and feel as if I'm spurning their generosity, if I leave sometime this year for another job? Will I feel as if I've behaved ungraciously? Hmm.
Just a weird day overall.
