To think my boss has been unfair?

[endoftether28]

I work in a private healthcare company. I have one boss, she works 2.5 days a week and sees probably 5/6 clients a week.

I work 5 days a week and am currently seeing around 20-25 clients a week. Sometimes this doesn’t get met due to cancellations etc.
I feel like I work my arse off. I take probably 75-80% of the income. I get around 30 mins between sessions, giving me already limited time to plan and prep etc.

My boss also asks other tasks of me such as helping with the social media, organising the rooms, answering the phones, and sorting my own invoices. Keeping the place tidy, cupboards organised, making resources etc etc.

Now I completely understand that my boss has worked hard to own a business and I am there to do a job.
However, all the other jobs I have to get done during the day are tricky to juggle. In between my sessions and clinical work, I have to do my own notes/reports/prep and research, all the admin/timetabling, sometimes I get stuck on the phone with a new client for ages, and I then get behind on admin. I feel we need an admin worker but we aren’t in a position to hire one.

But I still feel like I work my arse off and do my best every day. My clients have left me great reviews and she’s happy with my clinical work.

However, she called me in for a meeting before Christmas, not for a warning but just a talking-to. I made one mistake where I left a sign outside over the weekend and it got damaged. Of course it cost her money and I fully understood.
But she then told me she feels I’m not doing enough, bearing in mind I see most of the clients and juggle all the other tasks as well. And it’s impossible to get them all done. She also said she “never hears from me” and I don’t communicate enough. But I simply sometimes do not get the time to think to ring my boss during an already busy day unless it’s urgent, and we have regular supervisory meetings so I just save non-urgent things until then.

She also said I’m not seeing enough clients, and that I have to work harder to get more in. Am I wrong in thinking that’s the job of the business owner to bring in clients? There’s only so much I can do, and with the cost of living and Christmas, I don’t know how I can do that. I’m not a marketing expert.

It felt like a horrible meeting and like all my hard work hasn’t been noticed at all. I cried for a long time afterwards.

Am I being unreasonable in feeling really deflated?

Could you set up on your own?

What are your options for moving? She sounds awful.

Steal all the clients and set up on your own.

In a lot of ways she’s a fantastic boss - she’s helped me a lot with my career building, giving me regular supervision, paying for helpful courses etc. She’s often very lovely and understanding, brings me hot chocolates if I’m having a bad day.

This meeting just really shocked me though as I felt I’d been working so hard and I felt I didn’t deserve it

I would think about it for a couple of days, write down what you said here and anything else you think of, ask for a meeting again, express how shocked you were bearing in mind this is what you do, and reel it off

ask her how she can support you to make more time to do what she wants, and what tasks she would like you to forgo to do what she wants, is she going to increase her hours as she should be bringing clients in as well as it is her business

Depending on what she says I would quietly be looking elsewhere

I think we might have similar professions.

She isn't a great boss.

your job description is insane and she is taking advantage
If you are a clinican and she is taking >50/69 % she should be covering the admin and advertising comms

Bringing you a hot chocolate when you are seeing most of the client load and doing most of the admin is no sign of a brilliant boss. Her meeting with you befor chrstmas is clearly an attempt to make you feel lesser so you have to work harder for her approval and also to detract from all the additional duties you are performing

If I were you I would do a little bit of research into similar jobs in other practices, just test the market and see what else is out there. If you get other job offers check the conditions and see if the rates offered are similar.

Or open your own practice.

Either way stop letting your boss walk all over you. Tell her you are not admin or cleaning staff and define your role as a clinician

This ❤️

Yikes OP, sounds like you're being taken advantage of. Do you work set hours/salary or as a percentage based on clients?

Typically if you work in a practice like this your role would be predominantly clinical and you earn less or a proportion of your client work to cover business overheads such as building lease, admin, cleaning and marketing costs.

Is your Boss taking a full time salary?

She has done you a favour in some ways by training you to do her job and you could be in a good position to set up on your own. It might be more profitable for you, alternatively if you don't feel you're quite ready for that as other posters have suggested, test the market and see what other options are out there for you.

I wouldn't bother having a conversation with her as it's unlikely she'll see it from your perspective and it could be an awkward couple of months while you seek another role.
Good luck!

Get another job lined up. Then write a list of what you ACTUALLY do, organize a meeting and then give HER a breakdown of what someone in admin would earn as opposed to what she does as the boss who works 2.5 days per week. And blowing up at you because of a lost sign is appallingly unprofessional. Giver her notice and wish her the best of luck finding someone willing to tolerate that kind of disrespect.

This meeting just really shocked me though as I felt I’d been working so hard and I felt I didn’t deserve it

Did you tell her this?

If she’s normally a great boss (and I would put compensating you fairly over bringing you hot chocolate, though excellent professional development worth taking some hits for) it’s possible she’s just had a bad week and taken it out on you a bit and if she has it pointed out to her, will see that she was unfair. There are a lot of pressures on business owners at the moment. Almost everyone is feeling the pressure but small businesses can be particularly precarious. Obviously she shouldn’t take out that stress on you, but we’re all human and if it’s the first time and she corrects, it’s probably not worth doing anything else over.

However, it is always worth keeping a toe in the water and seeing what your worth is to other employers. So the advice to look around is well worth following, even if you do get an apology and more recognition.

Another agreeing with this.
This is how you need to go

I’d be looking elsewhere. Can you hire a work space locally to work from?

I’d also write her a list of everything you do and ask what she would like you to drop in order to fit more clients in. Explain that you work nonstop

I would seriously sit her down and explain all the roles and responsibilities you are currently expected to do, the amount of time your already spending with clients, and the other roles and responsibilities. A hot chocolate once in a while doesn't make her a good boss- it sounds like you're doing 80% of all the work required in the business- so she's taking utter advantage of you.

She is not a great boss.

id be looking to line up another job and leave when she least expects it.

perhaps then she’ll see what a good job you actually do - when she’s left to do it herself

Thank you everyone.
I did express at the end of the meeting that I felt it wasn’t overly fair, and I explained that on top of all the other jobs I’m doing it can be hard to keep up. She simply said that it’s part of the job lol.
I get paid a good salary though, annoyingly more than other competitors, and I only had my last job for 2 years and I’ve only been here 6 months and don’t want to ruin my CV!

Forgot to mention I had a student in placement with me every day for 6 weeks too, so there was that to juggle

I once had a boss call me in and basically give me a really shit review. To be honest I didn't love the job and was shite at it (so opposite to you) so I went home and found a new job. As luck would have it I got something temporary immediately and thought I'd take the short term contract to help me figure out my next move instead of staying there. So I handed in my notice. She was SHOCKED. I told her she seemed really surprised and she admitted she couldn't believe it. Which then shocked me because the meeting we'd just had basically was saying to me I'm about to be handed my notice I was so bad. Turns out it was a motivational tool and most people just used to work harder.

Oh that’s really interesting @Sweetmotherofallthatisholyabov - I can’t help but wonder if my boss is just stressed about it becoming quieter and wants me to work harder to help bring the income back up..

She sounds like a total slave driver and the sooner you find another job the better. Deep down she is probably just so jealous that you can get so much more done in far less hours. Whatever the reason, escape. What would you tell a friend to do if they were in your situation?