Pay Raises and Salary Increases

Back when I was an employee working for somebody else, one of the guys I worked with was a big thinker.  He was always thinking about things that we should be doing to make the company better and improve our customer service.

 He told me about this idea that he had for the company that could really be a financial winner.  He was convinced that this idea would add a new source of revenue that would dwarf what we were currently doing in business.  He was convinced that his idea would be so successful that the company would have to hire another couple production guys to be able to handle the extra work.

 The guy explained his idea to me on the ride home from work one day.  I agreed with him.  This was a great idea.  This was one of those things that makes you stand out in your industry.  It makes you stand out in your company as well.

 What is the catch?

 He couldn’t muster up the courage to have a meeting with the boss to discuss his views.  He didn’t want to talk to his immediate boss about it because he was afraid that his boss would try to take credit for his idea when it was explained to the company president.  If you knew the boss in this instance, you would agree.  I told him that he would be better off going straight to the president with his information.  He thought about it but never actually said anything.

 I left that company for another position a short while after that.  About five years went by before I ran into this friend of mine again.  When I asked him about it, he informed me that the company was not doing so well.  There were some layoffs and business was really suffering.  I inquired about the president’s response to his proposal.  He informed me that he never actually made the proposal.  He was too afraid.

 I can’t help but wonder where that company may have ended up had it not been for his shyness.   I wonder if business would have been different.  I wonder if anyone would have lost their jobs.  I wonder if this employee may have gotten a promotion out of it.  The idea was that good.  We’ll never know though.  Don’t put yourself in this position.  Never be afraid to make a suggestion that can improve your company.  If your immediate boss steals your idea, your coworkers will know about it.  His true nature and yours will be revealed eventually.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 9:26 pm and is filed under employee stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.