Work place shake ups

Work has hit a few speed bumps this year. The first was when I found out one of my co-workers (not Shannon) was promoted to be the Help Desk Manager over me. I had no idea such a position was being considered, and it was hard not to view it as a slap in the face. We found out about this just before winter break, and I've a few weeks to get used to the idea. He is definitely more well rounded in the knowledge department; he has a background in Cisco systems and has a good working knowledge of routers and the like. He's been training me to program them and set them up for our sites. In addition to handling help desk calls, his specific job was handing all our phone systems and set ups, transferring all our plans to a more limited and easily managed pool of providers. Lastly, in the two years he's been here, he won two Customer Service awards, so he is clearly very well liked among the rank and file. There's no doubt about it, he is the best suited person for the job. Just because he's the best fit doesn't make me a bad employee. The other silver lining is that it creates a short careen path in the department and allows for a little growth.

That belief took a hit today when I found out our raises were only 1%. A bit of panic set in, but a quick talk with my old boss, new boss, and friend in HR (we both go to Sin-O-Matic) reminded me that I already had a raise earlier in 2013 (around April). Our pay cycle ran from March to March, but they are adjusting it back to match our fiscal year (Jan to Dec). What it boils down to is getting a mid year raise (two raises in 2013). The next time around the raises should be back to normal.

To be honest, my new boss had a better explination of what was going on than my old one did. Maybe he was the right choice after all!