I don’t go the extra mile for the company. I do it to help make things easier for my coworkers and the people who depend on us in the hope that I can make life a little less shitty for everyone.
The thing is, it is not your job to make things easier for others.
It’s the company’s job to keep their employees happy by providing enough workforce for the amount of work that needs to be done.
You are doing exactly what the company wants you to do, by playing into your emotions.
Just so they don’t have to.
This is exactly the kind of moronic attitude that is making life shittier and shittier for everyone on the fucking planet.
I am not talking about just cranking out extra widgets or whatever. I’m talking about looking for problems and taking steps to resolve them before they escalate into something worse instead of just leaving it for someone else to do, I’m talking about taking time to answer questions for my coworkers so they don’t waste an hour trying to figure things out on their own, I’m talking about collecting data on issues we’re having so that when I take it to the boss I have numbers to back up what I’m saying instead of just generic bitching about the job so that they will actually take it into account and look for solutions.
I do a little extra because I know my other coworkers fuckin’ won’t. I tell my new hires that you’re not working for the other shift but rather for when it’s your shift again.
I have 40 hours a week at work.
I spend them trying to do a good job.
I have no fucking clue what people mean when they say they go the extra mile.
I think most people would consider things like, working over 40 hours when you are salaried, routinely doing someone else’s job in addition to yours (like fixing their mistakes TOO much), skipping your lunch breaks to work.
Don’t get me wrong, doing those things SOMETIMES is ok. It’s when it becomes expected or ongoing that it’s a problem. Because no company is ever going to say “You are generating more profit for us at your own expense, slow down.”
Sometimes it’s as small as clean up your work area for the next guy. That’s seen as the extra mile for lazy people.
The guy that does nothing at all and whines until he gets someone else to do it, is also paid the same as you. And will never get fired.
Profit sharing fixes all of this because it provides incentives for everyone to go the extra mile so they can make more money.
Yeah, but those profits could go to the shareholders!
A lot of us “do the bare minimum” do the bare minimum because of all of the time in the past we spent going the extra mile only to be rewarded with ever greater expectations for identical compensation and opportunity.
They made us this way.
No sympathy for them. No mercy!
Eh, going the extra mile is how I went from customer service agent to senior server engineer in 5 years (with the same company).
There’s always a balance between the two, but the most important thing is knowing how to say no without sounding like you’re saying no.
I’ve been in this game for a good bit now and while I’ve seen a bunch of go getters put in ridiculous hours and slave away and actually get promoted, I have seen faaaaaaar more just get promoted for being in the right place at the right time or, most times, being the child, spouse, in-law, or friend of someone high up in the company. In my experience your social standing or just plain luck accounts for about 90% of it. The other 10% isn’t the work you do, it’s the work they think you do.
Eh going the extra mile is how I got so burned out I had to quit a job for the sake of my physical and mental health.
Did I get promoted? Hell no. Never did. The boss’s wife sure did though.
Yes I’m aware you said balance but I just had to share why I’m currently trying not to care anymore. Note I said trying, I’m really terrible at not giving everything to every project I’m in.
but the most important thing is knowing how to say no without sounding like you’re saying no.
Yeah it’s a lot about how to market yourself to your higher ups. An employee is a commodity and selling commodites is more about marketing than the actual quality of the product. The biggest victims of that system are the introvert ones who do six extra miles but don’t get any recognition
Tell me about it, my inability to recognize my own achievements is almost pathological. Work extra to get a difficult but interesting project out on time then deflect any praise provided after is a sure fire way to never get noticed.
My career has also gone very well in this time period by slacking on my previous job and using the extra time to get my current job. Per minute spent, I think it’s more cost effective to look for a new job. Companies hate loyalty now.
I don’t even sugar coat the “no” anymore. When the next company calls, all they’re going to share is how long I worked there.
Here’s a Venn Diagram:
(me) [alienation] (my labor)
It is entirely job dependent. I have been in jobs where it was just a grind and going the extra mile simply put a smile on my boss’s face. In jobs like these the best thing you can do is carve out as many hours as possible during the work week to build new skills or apply to other jobs. I’ve also been in jobs where going the extra mile directly contributed meaningful skills to my resume/portfolio and helped me get a new job with way better pay.
that’s capitalist bullshit
Bro, I’m salaried and only really need to work six hours a day. So that’s exactly what I do. My coworkers put in 12-14 hours a day six days a week… We get the same paycheck.
Granted, I’m consistently rated at the bottom of my department by my supervisors, but I’m also the most highly requested employee by our customers. Literally no one else gets requested by name and I have to triage projects.
I’m consistently rated at the bottom of my department by my supervisors
Unless you miss out on raises or promotions because of this or lose your job, this is meaningless. It’s “this will go on your permanent record” but for adults. This is coming from somebody who is pretty proudly the quiet worker who stays around the middle of the pack and does just enough to keep things slightly better than just maintained, so both coworkers and bosses can objectively see that I’m neither making things worse nor just keeping things coasting. And I got a promotion last year, so I guess it’s the right strategy (here, anyway) lol.
Yep, they’re only middle management as far as the company is concerned I’m still competitive for corporate level promotions and my “bad” reputation will stay back in my current office. I’m gunning for a promotion next summer, so hopefully these dingbats will be in my rearview mirror next year.
Good luck and Godspeed! Write down every recent and upcoming success so you can cite objective improvements in your interviews/meetings. Customer feedback will help too. If you have any big clients who can vouch for you personally being the reason that your company kept their business, even better. The only risk there is that they may decide that you’re too valuable in your current role, but you can get ahead of that by pitching that you’ll be able to apply your success to bigger wins in a higher role and guide others to learn how to do what you’ve done. Worst case scenario, you don’t get that promotion but you still have it all compiled for interviews elsewhere. If you want to be at the level of that promotion, you should chase it whether it’s within the company or without! You got this!
See I’m salary but I’m forced to put in 8 hrs a day. Even if I have no work to do. It sucks.
That’s horrible. What’s the point of salary if you have an hourly requirement? That sounds like fake hourly.
The point of Salary is so they don’t have to pay for overtime. The slave labor is the purpose, forcing people to work more than 8 is just a nice little cherry on top ☺️.
Having a one way street that can only work for them seems like some serious bullshit. I’m glad we don’t track our time where I work. If I had mandatory hours I’d insist on hourly rates.
Boom shakalaka. He shoots he scores.
This is the answer. I worked for a company before the law changed where “managers have to work 60 hours a week”. You know why? Because those last 20 hours made them half of what they would have had to pay someone else. Somehow people fell for it though. “It’s a guaranteed paycheck if I git sick. It’ll work out, won’t it?”
Nope.
It ain’t for you boo boo.
Why do you think there is so much disparity between your bosses and your clients?
I show up late and leave early and don’t participate in the “work culture” stuff, this makes my employer upset.
I get requested because I’m the best at my job and the customers talk to each other. I’ve had clients from other employees ask to switch to me but that’s not allowed by policy. The best I can do is look at the work they’re receiving and give feedback.
Sounds like shitty management.
It’s crabs in a bucket and they’re mad I won’t get in the water. I’m paid well and they mostly leave me alone. They’ve only once fucked up my career once by bad-mouthing me to a department I tried to transfer to in order to learn a new skill.
Crabs in a bucket makes sense for the staff, but not the management. Management should be judging with outputs in mind.
do you have any other advice? they got us going back to the mines soon with no additional pay, no parking, and no bus passes. so I’m looking to adjust accordingly
Honestly, if you have time and are risk tolerant, going to flight school is a great career at the moment. You take on $200k in debt though.
One of my 1st employers had “extra mile” coupons. Originally worth 7.50 in store credit, then 5, then they disappeared. This was a company that was charging 6 dollars for asparagus water.
Asparagus water?
yea just throw some leftover asparagus in some water and see if yuppies buy it for 6 bucks (16oz).
Asparagus is expensive - I got a 6 pack of NoName hotdogs that’s been in my fridge for over a month- brb…
If you see me going the extra mile, it’s probably the side-effects of me using the company’s resources to learn and do crazy experiments for my own gain.
Or in my case, get singled out by a manager from another department for no reason, who then gaslights the other managers into thinking I don’t do shit when I’m the only person in my section that even does anything at all. Go through the whole “try to make them quit” playbook but never do anything wrong so they can’t fire me. I would have outlasted all those fuckers if circumstance hadn’t forced me to move out of state.
Pretty sure they just wanted to eliminate my full-time position to save money.
Been there
that’s why I outsource the work to other parts of the world for a cheaper price. They will do it better, cheaper, faster and won’t whine about.
Exploitation, yeah!
As if either employee is the problem. Blame the fucking aristocrats shorting both of their paychecks
Go the extra mile, not working but bootlicking your boss and you’ll ascend faster.
Isn’t this socialism? 😜
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Joking! before anyone hurts me)
I get bigger raises.
Using optimistic numbers from my workplace–
Is an extra 3% a year worth the 20% more work you’re doing?
Considering I’ve reached the point where for the first time in my life at the end a 2 week cycle SOMETHING is left over even if just a little bit? Yes.
The key is to look like you are doing 20% more work, but not actually do 20% more work. Of course that only works in certain cases.
Hard work is rewarded with additional responsibilities and tasks for no additional benefit. What is the point?
