Need help on getting shafted at work.
 

I need some detached advice on something I'm too mad about at the moment to write cleary on to my boss. But I need to write him soon.

Last Monday, as I walked out of my Santa Monica hotel and was looking at the smoke in Malibu, my Blackberry buzzed with an email from our CFO announcing that our company was comp'ing (as in totally free of charge) every press release to our most expensive domestic distribution circuit that had to do with the CA fires. This deal ended Friday. Obviously, this cost some money, but was intended to be a PR effort to bolster our image and build some goodwill. I think it worked too. But since I am paid base plus commission, this has taken some money out of my October revenue and thus November commission check. This wouldn't matter too much in January, but as the end of the year fast approaches, we can get huge bonuses for meeting our 2007 goal early. It's basically the CFO telling sales folks we're donating part of our commissions to the groups that wanted to put out statements or info on the fires. He didn't ask us, he told us.

I haven't computed the actual dollar figure yet, but I'm guesstimating at least $3k in freebies for my own clients and that's only the stuff I have access to. The company set up a special email address for this "sale", so I can't see what all went there. Our commission structure is so complex, that it's almost impossible to figure out what cut of that amount would be my commission. Since my division deals solely with public interest news, we have been hit a lot harder by this than the rest of the company, which deals with business and financial news. And crisis communications is our business. We thrive on it. Why give it away?

My boss is nowadays way more of a management guy now than he used to be and actually told me, "If you had been here last week (I was on my honeymoon), you could have capitalized on this by reaching out to prospects who had previously not returned your calls." I'm not making this up. In the end he said he could see where I was coming from, but I know he's trying to spin this into a big picture thing that is somehow supposed to benefit me and, at the same time, gingerly warning me to not make a big deal of it. I can take the hint. But he has asked me to write him an email, explaining why I think we should not be docked this comp'ed revenue and how much I would be "due". He says he'll pass this on to our CFO.

What would you write?

I'm gonna wait and see what this means. Very obscure writing, Rick.

If the CFO wants to build goodwill at the expense of the employees that put the money on the table he/she's doing a good job.

Was it implicitly stated that you would not receive a commision on the sales? I'm sure they'll be logged into the books at full value for a write off.

How is it doing a good job by telling your sales folks they're donating their work last week? It's not like these clients are victims of the fires. Most are gov't. agencies, insur. companies and charities, who would have sent us the work anyway, and want to get their message/story/info out to the press.

No, these jobs will not be billed or logged as revenue. Only people who work on commission will feel any pinch from this. We eat it.

Let your union rep handle this.

I'm surpised it would ding your numbers. It would be like giving away samples in lueu of selling product (Lord only knows I do that all the time on this board!). If the freebie was in place of an order, this may actually be a great opportunity to hit them up on some futures!

Your CFO has now established a certain amount of sales equity with your customers. Why not strike while the irons are hot! Swing them a volume deal and post out the billings and tie them into a nice extended contract! Also, make sure that you wite each of them a note stating that their plight is in your prayers and to include a summery of how much "VALUE" you and your company has brought them in terms of the freebie.

I think this is actually a great opportunity and not so much a fudgeover.

Sorry to hear about this - I'm staying tuned for more information.

Also, for what it is worth, your Boss did a deed, prolly had to sell it to his Boss. Any attempt to throw him under the bus is a mistake - a very unwise move.

Not to sound like a arsekiss but try as best you can to spin a positive note on his move. Use the percieved value and sales equity thing and look to make some crap lined flower pots instead of swearing at the pile of shyt.

Face it, it is a no-win situation and it is not the end of it if you make it into a negative. he thought he was doing something good - kinda like Nestle sending tons of free, freeze dried baby formula to Sudan. Nice thought but you need water to make it. Sudan doesn;t have much water last I heard.

The road to hell is paved with these...

I was being sarcastic.

To be clear....The CFO is doing a good job of improving the company's image at your expense (moral, financial, trust etc). I would have serious issues with this stunt as well.


However, the intent may have been borne of good intentions. The CFO made an assumption that the "team" would be united in doing something positive for the community. That said you may want to proceed cautiously.

suck it up, smile- move on


I just got asshanded for selling too much.

start your own company, and make the rules.

Upon further inspection, my projected loss is truly negligible. But not so for others. I just happen to have a large number of clients on flat monthly-rate agreements, who wouldn't be billed extra anyway. Other co-workers stand to lose a LOT more than me, but haven't made a case of it. Boss just told me he'll bring this up at the managers' meeting this week. Problem going forward is that I'll be taking over the SW territory when I move to PHX. What are the odds there will be no more big catastrophe stories in CA for which we comp stuff again? Then it truly will be my bread and butter. I guess I'll just eat cake instead.

Had this happened in late December, a $3k cut in revenue could mean over $10k in lost commission, if it took me just below my 2007 goal. That year-end payout is an all or nothing deal.

Hey Rick,
I'm glad your losses are becoming negligable; especially while on your honeymoon!
I agree with Jim of course; "start your own business"

I've been involved in commission based income for many years, both as an employee and an employer. My experience tells me that if you're a high earner, then the powers to be will find a way to divide your earnings.

In my current situation, I own and manage a few companies. My partners are continuously devising ways to add overhead or provide freebies for one sake or the other. My reply to them is "I don't care what you do with your part of the profits. Don't fk with mine" That's another story buddy, hope this helps and good luck.......... go make some money before year end and get those performance bonuses!!!

I really misunderstood that thread title. Once again, threw this great forum, I have added to my English vocabulary. Never mind my spelling however, the Spell Check does not seem to work. SmileWavy

Sorry for adding this inherently useless post.

+1 Probably the best advice on this thread (although Lube's was too).

This is precisely what I'm working towards doing. I don't particularly dislike my boss or anything, but the concept of "fire your boss" has great appeal. I like the thought of being directly responsible for my own success or failure in life, dependent on nobody else and owing to nobody else.

It's a long, difficult road to get there (I'm about 3-5 years out) but it'll be worth it when I get there.

I definitely don't need help getting shafted at work.

Geeze, if I just knew what the hell I wanted to do, I'd be my own boss like yesterday. I really want to start an eBay store, but can't even figure out what the hell to sell.

My boss is a great guy and no matter what disputes we have, I'll always remember him as my best ever boss, fair, honest, competent and someone I respect. That doesn't change the fact that he has bosses too and $hit tends to flow downhill.

Jeff!
3 to 5 years out?
Man, that's a few hundred thousand dollars in income for you!
Change that to 3 to 5 minutes and get on with it man!
or at the most; 3 to 5 months.

Start by calling in well......."Hello Boss, sorry I feel too good to come to work today"

Bend over in front of the copier a lot.

Rick, that's a tough one when it's $ out of your own pocket, and I really can't relate to your pay structures, etc. This may very well be one of those instances where you have to decide whether you want to "pick a battle". Don't lose sight of the big picture and assess whether the it's worth it "in the long run" even assuming that you "win". Good luck!

I'd suggest the company split 50/50 with the sales staff. Both benefit, so both should contribute in the spirit of"fairness and cooperation".

If you are planning to work for yourself, be very careful in what you get into. Make sure you love the work because you are going to be married to it. You can't just decide to quit and change jobs when you are committed to your own business.

I have definitely determined that I could win this battle and lose the war. I'll let it go.

It still sucks, I feel bad for ya...

When U work for someone else and they tell U to pick up the stick. U pick it up, or move on.

If the losses are negible then there isn't much to say. If they cut into your BONUS...then you have a real gripe...If you want to approach your boss with this that is the ground on which to stand. Let them give the farm away so long as your performance numbers don't suffer and it doesn't effect your income in a serious way.

The Performance numbers and resulting Bonus are what matters. The rest is just corporate BS. If the company arbitrarily gives away the farm and its your income they are hurting then they are in breech of your employment contract. Your not working for free for them are you. Will your bills go away every month.

If U move to the SW with them that is clearly something that will have to be discussed. Your performance numbers shouldn't be effected because of company largess. How is the co going to compensate you for those lost numbers that you would have gotten if they didn't give them away.

Mother always told me if you have a coupla hundred K in the bank it makes picking up the stick so much easier. Cause you can tell em to shove it anytime ya like.

Friend of mine was an S5 saleman with 3M. spent 30 years with them. He was always hustling side business where the company wouldn't service or supply the customer. For instance 3m would only sell bags of 1000 cable ties, but clients would only need 300 at a time so for years he sent them to Electrical Distributers as a service to them. One day he woke up and thought why don't I sell them those ties. So he started his own biz. After 3 or 4 years 3M got wind of it and made him stop, he kept on doing his job just like before and actually 3M liked him more.

I totally agree with the Golden Rule - the man with the gold makes the rules. I understand that. And that's why I wanted a commissioned sales job. When you make your numbers, you tend to be pretty immune from the rest of the corp. BS the salary folks have to put up with. I'm at 106% of goal for the year, so I'm looking ok for the big bonus. But the margin here is not so great that the X-mas lull combined with last week's giveaway won't put me just back to 99.99%, in which case it's collect base pay only, no commission, no bonus. In that case, there will be a big fight.

Let your union rep handle this.

We don't need unions and I would never join one. I work far too hard and smart to need one.

Well, if it were helping the community, I would be only slightly less opposed to it. This is, however, only helping already well-heeled clients of ours and has no trickle down effect whatsoever for fire victims. And besides that, the company picks a few charities and sends us to work for them on volunteer days. Nothing volunteered about it. Why should I lose a dime, or take a 50/50 split because someone who make almost $1 million a year thinks it would be a good PR stunt to give stuff away and who didn't even think about who actually pays for it? Oh yeah, I'm working for the man. So that's why!

Haha! I wish it worked that way, but in my field (architecture) one's hands are tied legally by professional licensing requirements. If you don't pass a whole slew of examinations and state reviews, you're severely limited in what you're legally allowed to do (which is a good thing, from a public life-safety standpoint). Right now I'm working pretty aggressively towards getting all the tests completed and making sure all the various hoops are jumped through - it's sort of similar to a medical school graduate having to take their medical boards before being given free reign to practice on their own.

I should (knock wood) be done with everything by the beginning to mid part of next year. That will open the door for going out on my own, although to be realistic I will probably remain here for another couple of years in order to gain more experience and make a few more connections before trying to go out on my own.

In the meantime I'm doing side work to the extent I'm legally able to and trying to get the most out of working. It's not all bad, but intermediate-to-long-term I most certainly want to be on my own and not dependent on anyone else for my livelihood. That either means a partnership/ownership stake in this firm or starting my own. I don't really care which, but I think going on my own would be ultimately more rewarding, if more work. . .

I would not send the email and I would not mention it further to my manager unless I already had another job offer I was considering taking.

Ok, having spent most of my life as an executive, my bet is that he didn't really think all this through, was trying to do a good thing and build good will and really didn't consider the impact on his staff. One of the challenges of being higher up the pecking order is that you tend to see things in broad swaths and not really get the detail view. The other thing is that your pay packet is a lot bigger and taking a small chunk out of it, especially when you can rationalize it may actually pay off in the long term by virtue of more sales etc etc, is not seen as a big deal.

Now what to do about it. It undoubtedly depends on the personality of the guy. If he is pretty open and you see him a lot, then drop in and chat about what is good about the idea first....remember conflict resolution. Step 1 - defuse emotion, Step 2 - review areas of agreement, Step 3 - delineate areas of disagreement or concern....Step 4 - deal with them on an issue by issue basis.

So I'd drop in and say what a great deal things were, how it would be good in the long term etc etc, however, it does sort of cause an upset in the commission scheme, had he thought of how best to deal with it if it is material in an individual case? And then go from there.

If he is a prick, then just move on. You may get the chance later when you deal with the commission/goals process to raise it again, but likely not.

My view is that a really classy company would take the corporate hit but not disadvantage any particular individual. A sort of classy company would wait and see if it made a material difference to the commission pay out and then decide what to do about it. An OK company would wring their hands and give out brownie points, a nice tee shirt or other corporate consideration and a crappy company would just tell you to suck it up and live with it or leave.

Dennis

He is inviting you to walk the plank.

No doubt the CFO had to get 'buy-in' for this little idea and that had to involve his peers and probably his boss. That means a lot of people have invested this PR move and your email would no doubt make the rounds of a number their inbox's once your boss forwarded it.

So either A) he is just ignorant of politics and really expects the CFO to be responsive B) wants to throw you under the bus and at the same moment ingraciate himself to the CFO and the group who elected to do this or C) some other reason

I think a good boss doesn't let his subordinates make bad decisions. Rather, he attempts to keep them from making bad decisions while not micro-managing them.

In your case you need to decide how important it is to you to 'be right' vrs how important your career in this company is to you.

Good luck

I'm a commissioned guy as well... Since this is the big deal, I'd focus on this part rather than the other money involved. Ask them to give you a leeway on quota by the amount they gave away in your sales opportunities and towards "presidents club" or whatever special bonus' you get.

Your situation would burn my a$$ to no end!

Does one guy really make a decision like this? Doesn't a decision like this usually involve several reasonably educated and intelligent people that sit very high on an organizational chart spending several hours arguing over who's budget its going to come out of before reaching some kind of compromise that makes sense for the entire company? You cant just email one of these people after the fact and tell them they were wrong because your commission got hosed.

Im not saying you're wrong, or that you didn't get hosed, but I would try to think about the information the execs had and the process they had to go through to make a decision like that before I questioned it out loud or in front of anyone at work.

As I said, I was on my honeymoon when I got this email and had no idea it was coming. I doubt it would have been any less of a surprise had I been on the phones back in the office. I have met the CEO, CFO and senior mgt. several times and feel like they are approachable and reasonable people. They spent $19 million buying my old company out and so think we're worth something and give my boss a much longer leash than any other division head. I am truly blessed in that regard. You can't imagine the BS the other people have to endure.

But I do believe the CFO is the big boss when he feels like being it. The CEO is not an American and I think he defers sometimes to the local folks. The CFO is a very good guy and a very smart guy. Doesn't matter though. I'd be egregiously breaking the chain of command by going to him directly. My immediate boss has been my boss for six years. If I can't have an honest discussion with him, then I can't do it with anyone. Problem is that I'm sure he agrees with me in his heart, but is A) so well paid now, that our commission checks don't much matter to him anymore or B) he's really gone native, sort of like when Kevin Costner got captured in Dances With Wolves and the soldier said to him, "Turned Injun, dintja?" He just drank the Kool-Aid and sees his job as selling senior mgt's decisions to us folks in the trenches. 180 deg. from how it used to be when the two companies were fierce competitiors and ours was a lean, entrepreneurial machine. Now we're in the belly of the beast and half the day is spent fighting the internal beast, rather than drumming up business and revenue.

No, I'm not going to send the email. FWIW, when I left the company last year for my brief foray into subprime mortgages, my boss asked me for a very brutally honest review of the company and commission structure. I gave him a several page response and he seemed like he couldn't have been more grateful. But a few mos. later they were bought out by our present company, and so none of those ideas were ever implemented. Now I'm back in the belly of the beast.

I should add that my boss told me later today that he heard from his boss that the company did the same freebie thing after 9/11 and Katrina. I reminded him that this company also had several rounds of layoffs after 9/11 as a lot of the local PR firms did too, while our company (pre-acquistion) boomed! I was in Europe during Katrina, but my clients sent in a lot of work then too. Crisis communications is how we shine. No need to give stuff away then. It's our chance to show off how good we are and no one ever left us because of price. There are no sales people left at my current company who were there before they bought out our old company. We were very small and only wanted about 5% of their business, but we got it and gave them a serious run for their money. So they fired all their sales people in the DC area, bought out our old company and told us to take over the DC stuff. That's why my boss gets a very long leash - they know we do well when left alone.