Appraisals are underway in most organizations. Some of us are hopeful of a raise. Some of us are hopeful of a promotion. After all, we stuck to our guns (the organization to be precise) during the deadly recession. We have executed the responsibilities of an engineer one level up, but our designation rots at one level down. Or so we think. Our friends/batch mates in other organizations are already leads/managers and making lots of money while we still struggle to make ends meet in terms of money as well as the roles we play hiding behind designations.
As a college-goer, I kept staring at Infosys/Wipro/TCS buses and the employees’ access cards on many days as I waited for my bus. I dreamt of finding a job (just any job) for gaining good experience as a fresher. I also dreamt about how I would be promoted to the next level as Senior Test Engineer after two years. I also imagined that by the time, I have like 6 years experience in testing; I would be a Team Lead. And then, obviously I would become a manager in a couple of years. I relived this dream each day until I became the CEO of some company with the fattest paycheck in the family. I was mostly amused with the idea of being a role model to all the younger kids in my family. Till date, it has been just that – a dream.
To the best of my knowledge, higher designations are awarded as promotions to encourage outstanding employees to take on newer responsibilities and help the organization achieve higher objectives. Typically, they are given for people who are already acting in that role for a few years. Promotions also happen to uplift employees salaries if the money they make is too less for the quality and quantity of work they do. Promotions also happen when some key employees threaten to quit if they are not promoted with jazzy designations on time. Promotions happen also because some managers might think that it is one of the easiest ways to project that their team is an outstanding team. You never know. He may be expecting a promotion himself.
What’s in a name? How does it matter if you are an Associate Software Tester or a Senior Software Tester? You might say “Money” and “Type of Work”. May be, you are right. If these are what matter to you, then why do you quit organizations because you did not get a fancy designation? Why argue over it? Why compare against others? Why fool yourself? As long as you are happy with the work, and get paid well enough, it should not matter what designation you hold.
I have seen designations create a divide rather than unify the teams. The entire concept of bell curve, normalization and foul play wrecks havoc to team spirit. Outcome – demotivated employees. Some designations appear to give great power over others which are precisely the reasons why many want these high power positions. In this fight for designations, team members end up fighting, involve in useless gossip and encourage unethical ways to promote wrong people who rule from the throne as if they are the chosen warriors for fighting people’s war. As humans, we love money, power, status, position amongst others. In that journey, we sometimes fail to be human.
Are we a designation hungry generation? Why are we making a fuss out of it? Why are some people giving up great jobs just for designations sake? I know of a friend who quit his job just because he did not get designated his way. What I also know is that he was so much in love with the work there that he almost misses it at his new job. Letting go of great work for a fancy designation sounds very weird to me. Weigh down right.
Wake up guys!
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
Hi Pari,
ReplyDeleteIt’s true that people are targeting designation changes. But sometimes designation changes matters a lot if that is directly linked with the pay package of an employee. Even in almost all companies HR dept is not having a list like "For this designation and experience level, these are the job responsibilities and this is the company standard salary." Even if they have also that will not be made transparent to the employees.
There are no clear cut guidelines in the companies (exceptions also there).
Now a day the story is like "The baby who cries will get milk”. Sometimes the baby who is very close to the Mother will get milk.
But the fact is like employees who really worked hard/smart and who are eligible to get the next level designations/promotions are not getting that on time. So frustrations are getting developed and they will obviously jump into other organizations.
Again there are no industry wide accepted uniform designations especially in the software testing field.
Bell curve normalization-its again a stupid thing and it will not suit for smaller teams but organizations are forcing managers to identify low performers within the group what they have even though those guys are really working well.
Finally I can say like someone will come with a book or concept like "Software testing at India in 2040" (like India 2010 by Abdul kalam) telling all their dreams. Those dreams come true one day?
Thanks
Ram
Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I have been struggling with for a long time. I moved from promotion to promotion, trying to get more money.
Was I happy? No. I earned more but wasn't doing what I enjoyed. When I realised what I was doing, I started to change jobs - not for money - but to do things I thought I might like. Eventually I found testing. It surprised a lot of people when I changed jobs to do something I like, while at the same time, getting paid less!
There is a lot of pressure to move up the ladder and get a fancy job title. Often times, when you prove to be a good worker, it is expected that you will seek promotion and move in to a management role. Often the person involved feels they should make the move, even if it won't be a job they will like, or be good at. If you turn down a promotion in favour of doing what you love, people think something is wrong with you. Maybe the boss think you are burnt out? Maybe your colleagues will think you are silly?
It's a shame there isn't such pressure on people to find what they like doing and to become better at it.
Allan
Hi Parimala,
ReplyDeleteI am confused with the message that you wanted to convey. And here are the reasons:
As long as you are happy with the work, and get paid well enough, it should not matter what designation you hold.
How will someone decide that s/he is paid well enough and in comparison to what? I don't think that there is any criteria defined to measure happiness.
We seek satisfaction in the work we do and most would agree to that. Now this satisfaction comes from "Type of Work" and "Salary" on gets.
We are social animals so the comparison within circle of friends and colleagues is obvious. Its about handling the peer pressure.
Its true that "Not all can be promoted" and not all are well paid and this thing will always remain the same. One should probably seek balance in these 2 things.
Some designations appear to give great power over others which are precisely the reasons why many want these high power positions.
Do you mean "decision making power" when you said above statement. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. However the issue in next line can be handled by communicating things to concerned employees in the correct way. Organizations always have a business reason for everything and at the same time, business reasons may not make any sense to individuals involved. Promotions are given to someone who has already proved his/her worth by performing at that level with few exceptions as you and Ram mentioned.
Why are some people giving up great jobs just for designations sake?
How will you define Great Job? I would call it great if a job gives you enough reasons to come back to office next day with an intention to make things better for end user of our services, a job that pays well, a job that does justice with personal life. There are so many things and vary from person to person.
This is not just about Software Testing Field, you will find same reasons for any industry.
All of us want to be promoted. There are more than one factors responsible for that. Visibility across functions is one thing, Performance is another. A balance between 2 always leads to desired results as far as I know and understand things. For some it takes little longer than others but at any point in time, one should never be frustrated as it is not the solution.
Bell curve makes sense and it will continue making sense as long as we follow hierarchy in any organization. Reasons are:
1) Not all can be decision makers
2) A team consists of people with different years of experience with different backgrounds, so hierarchical reporting will always be there.
3) A company has just one CEO and s/he may have lesser experience than others, people fuss about it at that level as well :)
We are humans not Super Humans so all worldly means will always hold importance for us. Motives (Salary & Designations) are Correct but its "Means (to Achieve Motives)", that defines the final destination.
Thanks,
Rahul Gupta
http://BugMagnate.blogspot.com
Hi Parimala,
ReplyDeleteThis one is a touchy topic. But i get what you are trying to say. No designation or compensation is worth it if you dont like the work that you do!! The nature of work is the sole reason why i stuck to my current organization, in spite of the not so good (as compared elsewhere) compensation!
@ Appraisals are underway in most organizations.
ReplyDelete>> That's happy news :-) Doesn't it?
@ Some of us are hopeful of a raise. Some of us are hopeful of a promotion. After all, we stuck to our guns (the organization to be precise) during the deadly recession. We have executed the responsibilities of an engineer one level up, but our designation rots at one level down. Or so we think.
>> Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.
@ Our friends/batch mates in other organizations are already leads/managers and making lots of money while we still struggle to make ends meet in terms of money as well as the roles we play hiding behind designations.
>> You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
@ As a college-goer, I kept staring at Infosys/Wipro/TCS buses and the employees’ access cards on many days as I waited for my bus. I dreamt of finding a job (just any job) for gaining good experience as a fresher. I also dreamt about how I would be promoted to the next level as Senior Test Engineer after two years. I also imagined that by the time, I have like 6 years experience in testing; I would be a Team Lead. And then, obviously I would become a manager in a couple of years. I relived this dream each day until I became the CEO of some company with the fattest paycheck in the family. I was mostly amused with the idea of being a role model to all the younger kids in my family. Till date, it has been just that – a dream.
>> You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration :-) Also, it's nothing more than the theory "Hierarchy of needs explained by Abraham Maslow".
@To the best of my knowledge, higher designations are awarded as promotions to encourage outstanding employees to take on newer responsibilities and help the organization achieve higher objectives. Typically, they are given for people who are already acting in that role for a few years. Promotions also happen to uplift employees salaries if the money they make is too less for the quality and quantity of work they do. Promotions also happen when some key employees threaten to quit if they are not promoted with jazzy designations on time. Promotions happen also because some managers might think that it is one of the easiest ways to project that their team is an outstanding team. You never know. He may be expecting a promotion himself.
>> It's nothing but, they don't have correct HR policies in place. In one of the Kannada movie (Eddelu manjunatha), lead character's mother says that "we should find a match and marry him", at least then he will be on right track. To that, her cousin says, may be yes or may not be. To that, her husband says, in the interest of bringing him on right track, i don't want to risk a girl's life. It holds very true here too. It may work or may not. Again many factors if you analyze things in a broader sense. A very best example i use to quote many - As the world knows, Sachin is a class in himself. It doesn't mean that he can be a good leader. Everyone has unique capabilities and unique skills with their own style of reacting to the situations.
@What’s in a name? How does it matter if you are an Associate Software Tester or a Senior Software Tester? You might say “Money” and “Type of Work”. May be, you are right. If these are what matter to you, then why do you quit organizations because you did not get a fancy designation? Why argue over it? Why compare against others? Why fool yourself? As long as you are happy with the work, and get paid well enough, it should not matter what designation you hold.
ReplyDelete>> Everyone reacts to some incentives. Incentives are in many form and nature. Again, the law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny. It's true to both the employee and the employer.
@I have seen designations create a divide rather than unify the teams. The entire concept of bell curve, normalization and foul play wrecks havoc to team spirit. Outcome – demotivated employees. Some designations appear to give great power over others which are precisely the reasons why many want these high power positions.
>> He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly. Also, as spider man says "Great power comes with greater responsibility". Not everyone can handle it gracely. A leader is one who takes responsibility and knows that he is accountable.
@In this fight for designations, team members end up fighting, involve in useless gossip and encourage unethical ways to promote wrong people who rule from the throne as if they are the chosen warriors for fighting people’s war. As humans, we love money, power, status, position amongst others. In that journey, we sometimes fail to be human.
>>Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him. You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
@Are we a designation hungry generation? Why are we making a fuss out of it? Why are some people giving up great jobs just for designations sake? I know of a friend who quit his job just because he did not get designated his way. What I also know is that he was so much in love with the work there that he almost misses it at his new job. Letting go of great work for a fancy designation sounds very weird to me. Weigh down right.
>> If you open the history books you will understand that, it not only started with this generation. In one or the other form, we and our ancestors were very much in the battle field and the race of "Designations and status in the society". Btw, what's wrong in excelling in the form of knowledge, finance, status, security, esteem etc?
Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts inevitably brings about right results.
Cheers,
Vijay...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI find this post as a one sided story (perhaps it meant to be), and a little salty
In my opinion, performance appraisals are an extremely subjective act, as Jack Welch says, “You cannot treat everyone same. Each one of them is different with different skills and attitude hence have to treated differently”
After all, we stuck to our guns (the organization to be precise) during the deadly recession.
You think we had any choice?!! I believe most of us must have thought we were lucky to stick around
We have executed the responsibilities of an engineer one level up, but our designation rots at one level down. Or so we think.
That’s exactly the point, perception, not necessarily true (it well could sometime be!!!)
I think promotion recommendations are “a trade-off” and often made with one and only one premise “Risk & Returns” of/from the associate, in the same order (management view; again I could be wrong, read the 3 line of my comment ) and rightly so. Would you even bother to do anything where you don’t see +returns (returns could be stability, money, work, environment, people)
What’s in a name? How does it matter if you are an Associate Software Tester or a Senior Software Tester? You might say “Money” and “Type of Work”. May be, you are right. If these are what matter to you, then why do you quit organizations because you did not get a fancy designation? Why argue over it? Why compare against others? Why fool yourself? As long as you are happy with the work, and get paid well enough, it should not matter what designation you hold.
I lost it here. I couldn’t understand the intended. Instead of adding more fuel to the confusion (with my thoughts), it would be helpful if you could shed more light. To hint about my confusion;
• Do you mean to say people are bothered about name (designation??) and they think it relates to money and type of work?
• And for the ones whom these matter (name, money and work), are you suggesting them to quit instead of fooling themselves ?
And one final question; don’t you think designation and money go with each other?!
I have seen designations create a divide rather than unify the teams. The entire concept of bell curve, normalization and foul play wrecks havoc to team spirit. Outcome – demotivated employees.
Are you suggesting that bell-curves make de-motivated employees? I read someone couple of days back, “its not the process but people who create problem and again it’s not the process but only people can solve them”, how correct it is, isn’t it?
As humans, we love money, power, status, position amongst others. In that journey, we sometimes fail to be human.
Oxymoron!! Huh!! You meant to write “humane”??
Are we a designation hungry generation? Why are we making a fuss out of it? Why are some people giving up great jobs just for designations sake? I know of a friend who quit his job just because he did not get designated his way. What I also know is that he was so much in love with the work there that he almost misses it at his new job. Letting go of great work for a fancy designation sounds very weird to me..
If I may take some more space in your post to register my thoughts; Being hungry is what makes us live and hence I see nothing wrong in being a “designation hungry” however only when deserved. How many times have we seen the promotions becoming a mockery when it’s otherwise? Meantime, I bet we would have said some of those promotions (may be fewer) are deserved ones!!
Weigh down right
I suggest “be hungry” as it keeps us moving, wanting, working & alive
@Ram
ReplyDeleteIt’s true that people are targeting designation changes. But sometimes designation changes matters a lot if that is directly linked with the pay package of an employee
Many organizations follow this designation to pay package mapping and this is exactly where the divide gets created. People want to get promoted, not because they are performing in that role or because that role is more interesting, but because it comes with a bigger paycheck. I blame the system where such things are encouraged.
Some organizations follow a flat hierarchy where except upper management, all the engineers have same designations, but their pay is decided based on grades/levels decided on some pre-defined criteria. This way, the designation fights might come down. There are pros and cons with everything especially where people are involved, but then figuring out what works best for most of them would benefit in the long run.
Finally I can say like someone will come with a book or concept like "Software testing at India in 2040" (like India 2010 by Abdul kalam) telling all their dreams. Those dreams come true one day?
The dreams will come true. Because it's one entire nation of strong willed testers fighting the dirt out.
@Allan
Eventually I found testing. It surprised a lot of people when I changed jobs to do something I like, while at the same time, getting paid less!
Thank you very much for sharing your story Allan. It takes passion and courage to do what you have done. God Bless!
There is a lot of pressure to move up the ladder and get a fancy job title. Often times, when you prove to be a good worker, it is expected that you will seek promotion and move in to a management role. Often the person involved feels they should make the move, even if it won't be a job they will like, or be good at. If you turn down a promotion in favour of doing what you love, people think something is wrong with you. Maybe the boss think you are burnt out? Maybe your colleagues will think you are silly?
You are spot on. My third article (yet to be published) is right on this topic.Will keep you informed.
I find it weird when people run behind fancy titles. Not to mention, I was one such about 6 years ago :). Often times, we fail to understand what we really want and run behind what everyone else is running for just like a herd of sheep. And we all know the sheep believes the butcher more than anyone else.
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
@Rahul Gupta
ReplyDeleteI am confused with the message that you wanted to convey
Each one has to figure out what happiness means to them and how much of it they want. I know that the thirst for happiness, money, power will never stop. We want more of good things and we want them forever. In a practical world, this is just theory. We just need to see how much is good enough.
Regarding pay comparisons, I agree there is hell lot of peer pressure. We tend to compare our paychecks and designations to our school friends, college friends and even our colleagues. But isn't this a totally different scale of comparison. Organizations, pay scales, designations, people and many others vary. No one bothers to research the variance, but clings onto a common point 'Whatever it is, "if Raman is getting paid 'Xk', I need to be paid atleast 'X+2k'"
Do you mean "decision making power" when you said above statement. I don't think there is anything wrong with that
I see it like this: if people are power hungry, they will do anything to get that power. It's not a bad thing to have/get power. But the way you got it matters. Not sure, if this came across clearly.
How will you define Great Job?
You just gave a great definition. It may vary from person to person. in your own words "We are humans not Super Humans so all worldly means will always hold importance for us. Motives (Salary & Designations) are Correct but its "Means (to Achieve Motives)", that defines the final destination"
@Priya
The nature of work is the sole reason why i stuck to my current organization, in spite of the not so good (as compared elsewhere) compensation
I am glad you did what you thought was right and yet don't regret it. Happy Working!
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
@Sunjeet
ReplyDeleteI think the rot is on both sides
It seems, I presented just one side. Good pointer for me to work on.
I think if a company's focus is to reward excellent work with monetary compensation irrespective of designation/ designation change then it would go a long way in reducing an employee's fascination with designations
Very well presented.
Having said that designation should remain in place ( preferably as few in number as possible, simpler the org chart the better)
but should denote responsibilities and reflect the nature/level of work that you do correctly , rather than just reflecting monetary changes
Some organizations seem to be taking this ahead. Some continue to create the divide. I am not sure where this would end though :(
@Incarnated Atma
It's nothing but, they don't have correct HR policies in place
Whose problem is that?
Everyone reacts to some incentives. Incentives are in many form and nature. Again, the law of harvest is to reap more than you sow
Is designation or even promotion an incentive? I digress. Anything that misleads people away from the real work that they do is not an incentive. I could be wrong. Overall, you seem to be getting very philosophical about everything. Just Kidding.
@Parthi
You think we had any choice?!! I believe most of us must have thought we were lucky to stick around
I think there is always a choice given any situation.
Do you mean to say people are bothered about name (designation??) and they think it relates to money and type of work?
Yes. In most organization, this is what is happening.
And for the ones whom these matter (name, money and work), are you suggesting them to quit instead of fooling themselves ?|
I am not telling anyone to take sanyas (Not sure if this post sounded that way - No offense!). All I was intending to say was find what interests you most and yet don't get fooled by things that take you very far away from your interests. Am I clear enough?
And one final question; don’t you think designation and money go with each other?!
Sadly, designation and money go hand in hand and that is precisely the problem I am talking about. If people want money, they will beat around the bushes coaxing for a promotion instead of saying they need a hike. May be, some people are still straight forward - just a handful perhaps.
Oxymoron!! Huh!! You meant to write “humane”??
hehehe. Yet another typo!
Two things to note in this post:
1. I wasn't so good and clear in putting my thoughts - OK, it was a comeback post given my hectic schedule
2. I am not happy with my responses yet, but wanted to comment anyway as it was delayed for long thanks to the network blocks at my office (I'll see if I can re-visit later).
Thanks for the comments everyone,
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
Hi Parimala,
ReplyDeletePlease throw some light if you have found answers for these
Why companies have these designation?
Didn't anyone in any of the companies think of these before having these designations made?
How do I know that the salary I am earning is good for what I am getting now?
Don't you think its a kind of Honor if you have better designations?
We have to deal with hundreds of people who understand only designation, best example is my HR, they don't know what one work on.
@Siddalinga
ReplyDeleteWhy companies have these designations?
They must have come from the manufacturing industriess where employees are categorized based on the type of work they do. I am not sure though.
Why do they have it? To classify people based on the work they do.
Didn't anyone in any of the companies think of these before having these designations made?
Many organizations are business centric. They don't want to worry about what doesn' work. They are more worried about how to make faster money with what works. So they hardly have time for such things.
How do I know that the salary I am earning is good for what I am getting now?
You should tell me :). Like I said, If some guy of your experience is getting more than you, does it mean you are not as smart as him? Does it mean that you did not negotiate well? It depends on a lot of factors. Only you can figure out.
Don't you think its a kind of Honor if you have better designations?
If giving better desigs is Honor, isn't not giving them a dishonor?
We have to deal with hundreds of people who understand only designation, best example is my HR, they don't know what one work on
I digress. Designations don't say anything. Atleast to me. If HR doesn't know what you do, they don't deserve to work in your HR team. Period.
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
good answers i like the final touch
ReplyDelete@Parimala,
ReplyDeleteGood series of posts you are posting. Your posts expose what typically happens in an organization. During appraisal everyone wants to act that they are working hard and want to be promoted. Now, after seeing what most of the Test Managers do to serve the role I feel that it's a curse to become manager if he / she do not test the product being Test Manager :P
@Test Managers,
Most of you do not test the product so why should you be Test Manager why not just Manager :) Anyone can do it and why promote a Test Lead to Test Manager? Hire anyone for Manager as he / she is not going to test the product from what I have heard from some testers from different organizations.
Thanks,
Santhosh Shivanand Tuppad
@Santhosh Tuppad
ReplyDeleteGood series of posts you are posting. Your posts expose what typically happens in an organization. During appraisal everyone wants to act that they are working hard and want to be promoted
Thank you for the kind words. There are many people whose hard work gets washed away because they just work, but can't/don't act. Good one.
Now, after seeing what most of the Test Managers do to serve the role I feel that it's a curse to become manager if he / she do not test the product being Test Manager
It would be a good thing for all test managers to have hands on experience in the product at least at a high level to help assist in better decision making. Sadly, atleast in India, I see this trend where managers don't even know the basics of the products and still they attend bug triage calls, product requirement discussions and many others. This takes away credibility.
In one of the companies I worked, it was mandated to every employee that even if they are managing people, they were supposed to test just like other team members. I don't know how effective they were in doing the leading/testing stuff in parallel, but they definitely knew the product lot better. This in turn helped in guiding/training other team members appropriately.
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah
@Santhosh Tuppad, Pari
ReplyDeleteI like this article, i somehow dont agree with the comment that test managers are not hands on. Dont take your organization and try and generalize.
There are test managers who are hired with the expectation to be hands on and they get paid well for such jobs. There are also test managers who are hired only to manage the testing efforts and will have test leads who will have more hands on role in such organizations.
hey , nice blog , like it ,
ReplyDeletewon't be nice if i u can clickover to my blog page too ,
& post some suggestion
haha... fun to read.
ReplyDeleteDear All,
Keep in mind that,
1. Designation Matters
2. Nature of work Matters
3. Salary Matters.
Simple. haha.. Suppose we have Associate Software Test Engineer designation. And lets say due to some reasons (lay offs, project end of life etc.,) we need to quit the current job. Then what the case?
So, One must make sure that, All are balanced.
I hope, This article was not tested properly by Ms. Parimala before posting!!!
Cheers,
Reddy.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that,
1. Designation Matters
2. Nature of work Matters
3. Salary Matters
Hi Anonymous, What matters to you may not matter to others.The above list may matter the most to you, but may or may not matter to some folks. There is nothing wrong with people's choices, isn't it? This is not to nudge you. It's just me saying!
Suppose we have Associate Software Test Engineer designation. And lets say due to some reasons (lay offs, project end of life etc.,) we need to quit the current job. Then what the case?
Life is a roller coaster ride for anybody who is looking for a job. Unless you are a rock star performer or you have strong influence at the company you'd be hired, there is high probability that you would have to fight it out to get a good job.
As freshers, we think there is little opportunity to find jobs. As Junior Engineers, we tend to think we are not yet senior enough to be paid well or respected better. As seniors, we tend to think that its hard to find a job as interviews get tougher and expectations are higher. This journey never ends. Then what's the case? You are the best to decide!
This article was not tested properly by Ms. Parimala before posting!!!
Partially Agree! I flipped a coin and showed you just one side. If you want to see the other side, you should be reading all the comments so far!
Regards,
Parimala Shankaraiah