Colleague getting more opportunities than me

[BlueDressontheLine]

Im on 80% contract. He is full time. Worked at the same place for same amount of time. Ive found out he is getting a say on changes in the team, knows things I don't know and is on the interview panel for a new starter. I have not been offered any opportunities like this. Same grade. Aibu to tackle this with my manager?

Is he maybe just better at the job? Sometimes people are just better, so they get groomed for promotion. Do you have performance reviews? How do those go and what are your targets and goals, and how are those being met/managed? If he isn’t any better than you or you think he is being favoured for another reason then think carefully about how to address that’s

If you want more opportunities then definitely speak to your manager, but keep it precessional and start being more assertive about having targets and what you want from the role.

Have you asked for opportunities or discussed development with your manager? Some people are very good at asking for what they want and things don’t just fall into your lap usually.

No im better at the job. Excellent reviews all the way through.

As both senior members of staff we must be kept on board with what's going on to run the team effectively.

So many typos. Sorry! I’m not wearing my glasses!

Discuss 1-2-1 with your manager, noting that you have seen him getting some opportunities you would like to have too - and ask how you can be sure to be considered.

This is a problem with working part time imo.

You need to put yourself forwards for opportunities.

Unfortunately, if you’re 80% often you do the ‘core’ job, and it’s the things that are seen as a development opportunity which you don’t have time for. You need to actively make that time, and tell your managers that you want to.

How can I if theyre kept secret from me ?

The first sentence tells us everything.

First question-
Why are you on a contract? Do you prefer this or where you never offered full time employment?
Normally full Time employees get the benefits from the company, ie training pension, health Insurance.
As a contractor - because you will have a higher net income you are not entitled to any of these benefits.
If you want to improve your career prospects on a long term basis, I would suggest to seek full time employment within the company.

Are you just P/t or are you a contractor?

if direct employee then I’d be asking why you’re excluded like this, they maybe don’t think you have any extra capacity in your working week?

Are you a difficult person to work with?

She is not an outside contractor. She is employed by the company. She gets all the same employment benefits as anyone else in the company.

The issue is being overlooked for enrichment in her job due to working 4 days instead of 5. But that can be fixed by being more assertive and having a conversation with management to ensure you are kept in the loop. It would actually really annoy me to be kept out of information chains when you need that info as part of your job so that would need fixed and I’d definitely push that first. The “extra” stuff needs to be looked at to, but that’s part of your performance reviews when you set development targets; you ensure that is included and you keep in touch with your manager on opportunities coming up.

You need to be proactive.

Ask. Take charge of your own development.

"Hi boss, feel like I've achieved a great foundation for my current role and want to start gaining exposure to XYZ to make sure I'm staying on the progression path. Could I shadow Janet when she does ABC?"

Im employed. I work 4 days as I have a young child and im able to. I think that I should be informed even by email of what's going on. This was raised in my 121 less than a month ago so I'm surprised its happened again.
Im not a difficult person to work with. Never had any issues with anyone at work or my performance.

Well you know interviews exist conceptually. I got involved with interviewing by telling my line manager I’d like to do that, and the next time one came up I was asked to be the interviewer.

I also set up the team to manage more junior members of the team, as I spotted a need for more team management, asked my superiors what the plan was, they said there wasn’t one and they’d support anything I wanted to do.

I definitely have colleagues who will say they’ve not been given the opportunity to be an interviewer or to lead team strategy meetings. But it’s not like I was asked and got first refusal, I positioned myself to do those things pro actively.

Speak to your managers. There can be a number of reasons for this. It could be that he has skills you don't have or time you don't have. It is also possible that your managers have not thought it through and need a professional and friendly reminder that you want these opportunities and to hear these things too.

I currently have two individuals on different grades and 6 months difference in experience. The one with slightly more experience is about to get a second promotion making them two grades apart. The conversation has been had to explain, but the more junior one still doesn't get it and they complain bitterly about it. They are actually good but just not doing anything like as much or as well as the other one at their core role.

It's going to be sexism, dislike of part-timers or presenteeism or a mix of both.

It doesn't matter how much you complain, it won't change probably.

That sounds like he's got himself involved in recruiting. That's probably going to be his area now.

If this interests you say "I'd love to get more involved in recruitment" and see what they say. There's other aspects of team management you could offer to do such as performance management: such a difficult job but if you are willing to give difficult messages, manage people out if necessary or improve team performance that woukd be welcomed I think.

People matters are kept closely guarded. They don't usually broadcast everything to everyone. It's very much "need to know" at first.

Also consider other areas of responsibility you coukd take on to be considered for promotion: knowledge sharing, training, risk management or compliance, business development.

If you want to move up look at what more senior people do and branch out. Often it takes extra work outside part time hours.

For example, there’s no recruitment at the moment, two people at senior level in the team and their manager has a yearly appraisal with both of them individually. One says they want to discuss their development and future opportunities and expresses an interest in getting experience with recruitment. The other doesn’t mention recruitment. When recruitment happens, their manager goes to the one who expressed interest as it’s in their development plan.

We've discussed me being kept out of the loop 4 weeks ago so it's frustrating. If I was manager I would inform of interviews and me and other colleague could decide who does what. Its the not being informed. It's sneaky.

You proactively identify the areas for development that you are interested in and discuss it with your manager in your 1:1. The development that is interesting and appropriate for you might be different to that which is a good fit for your colleague. Presumably he has discussed his future career plans with his manager and has proactively sought out development opportunities. Good for him! If you want development, you need to proactively identify opportunities for yourself. You dont get to piggyback on your colleagues career development activities.

Its not sneaky, and you're not being kept out of the loop. You just haven't raised in your career development plan that you're interested in recruitment, and proactively asked to be considered for development opportunities in this area

You seem to think that your career development is someone else's responsibility. It's up to you to be more proactive.

Be honest with yourself - Why do you think people are behaving 'sneakily' around you? Why do you think things are being kept from you?

Could it be that things are going on when you're not there and they're simply forgetting to loop you in?

Or do you think you're being actively excluded for some reason? If so, what do you think is the reason? Your working hours? Being a woman?

Both need to be addressed, but in very different ways.

Of course as others have said, it could simply be a case of them wanting you to focus on the day-to-day, and having him do other stuff in that extra 20% of time he has. It's likely they want consistency on the interview panel, and they know he will be there for every interview while you might not.

It's also possible that they see something in him that they don't see in you, which is perfectly legitimate. Maybe your manager just gets on with him better than you. It feels unfair, but it's life. I've certainly hired/promoted less qualified/experienced people before because they were the better team fit.

This doesn't sound like you're being kept out of the loop. It sounds like your colleague is getting involved in things not currently in either of your remits. It's not your bosses job to say "John wants to do XYZ so he's raised it as part of his development plan."

John's development plan is personal. If you want to get involved in this stuff then speak up.

You still haven’t answered the question on if you have asked for the opportunities. It is not a secret to you that interviews are a thing, if