When thinking back on jobs where I increased or decreased performance based on compensation, one job in particular stands out. At my most recent position, in between finishing my associate’s degree and returning to college to finish my bachelor’s degree, I was motivated to work hard based on initial pay, regular bonuses, and the promise of increased pay during regular performance reviews. However, after working for the company for almost a year, I realized that my role and duties were not clear, and despite working hard and performing at what I was being told was an excellent level, I was still receiving less than excellent reviews because the job description knowingly incorporated more duties than it was expected could be handled by one person.
Seeing that my hard work would not directly relate to increased compensation, and despite being paid fairly for the position I was working at, I chose to decrease my performance to meet standards, essentially putting in the amount of work I felt I was being compensated for. Unfortunately, because I started out as such a great employee, my manager and the owner noticed this. They spoke to me and tried several ways to motivate me to work harder, with my manager becoming more overbearing and micromanaging my breaks and work pace and the owner offering to move me to a different position. I accepted moving to a different position but found the new position to be less fulfilling as I didn’t feel as valuable, and there was not really room for moving up in the company. Despite being paid the same and removing the barriers to being paid more, I didn’t feel as challenged and valuable, and I ended up leaving the company.
While my decision to move forward was based on several factors, a large part of my decrease in performance and my perception of my value to the company was based on compensation. Both current compensation and whether or not future increases in compensation felt within my control. While I will always be grateful for this opportunity and team, and even am thankful that leaving that position motivated me to go back to school, I learned a lot from what was unsatisfying at that position and what led me to leave.
