No, your boss shouldn’t hire his son and give you the chance you deserve

Dr. Kirstin Ferguson addresses questions about the workplace, career, and leadership each week in her advice column, Got a Minute? This week is whether or not to tell the truth about your favorite son, your high-paying job prison, and your old job.

i love my job The problem is my boss. She secures employment for her son on the same temporary contract as mine, but she allocates him double the number of days. She has been in our institution for a year longer than I have her son and I am far more qualified. She also points out her son’s “achievements” to her superiors at every opportunity and minimizes or dismisses mine. She never asks for my opinion or ideas and usually leaves it to her son when I’m not around.I don’t want to approach HR, so I’m afraid to approach lose one’s job Or be seen as a troublemaker by my employer. I feel depressed and helpless. what can i do?

We have identified a conflict of interest and pinpointed exactly why it should be properly managed by a person independent of the actual conflict of interest. My boss shouldn’t be supervising my son because I don’t feel like I work for a family run company or anything like that. What about annual performance reviews and pay raises? This should have all been addressed when he was hired, with clear guidelines in place and the assumption that he was hired on merit.

I think you have good reason to talk to someone else at work about how this is playing out and ask them to address it. Issues like this can undermine and erode trust across your organization but also you are not a trouble maker because it can make other employees feel as demotivated as you are. I think you need to explain what is going on and let them know how it is affecting you personally and how you feel about the role. I want to tell them that I love them, but this is affecting your mental health and your ability to fully engage in work, and I want them to find a solution.

I was a junior in my career and was lucky enough to get a high-paying job. But I feel stuck, not growing professionallyI have been working for a company for over 4 years and feel depressed every day. I’m in probably the highest paying industry for my experience level and field, so if I quit, I’ll take a $30,000 pay cut. Should I move to hone my skills or should I stay?

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As you explained, everyone can feel a little banal in their role at some point. It’s easy to feel stuck if you’re not being pushed or encouraged to extend yourself at work. We encourage you to consider internal opportunities that may be available. Schedule a time to speak with your manager and ask about internal opportunities to extend yourself. Let them know that you feel stuck and that you are not growing in the role. They also know they need to find a way out for you if they want to keep you.

If that doesn’t work, you may need to look outside for challenging and stimulating roles. Given the tight labor market, now is the perfect time for employees to bargain with potential employers.

I used to work in customer service for a large company. Problems from the start and I decided to leave. I am now in a new role where my efforts are appreciated, but I sympathize with the colleagues I left behind having to deal with ongoing mismanagement and system failures. My question is if I should contact senior management at my previous workplace and explain all the issues. I have nothing to gain but help future staff who will continue to suffer under an inadequate system at this stage. Or should I just throw it away?