I don’t get any recognition at work

[Chocolatetwist1]

It seems that everyone around me gets nominated as colleague of the month, departmental awards and shout outs in our departmental emails but I never have.

I came back from mat leave a year ago, was given a huge piece of work and have been doing that, I’ve been told in 121s I’m doing well and that my work doesn’t go unnoticed - yet I feel invisible.

before mat leave I won a regional award and I didn’t even get any internal recognition for that despite it being my work, the department celebrated it as if it was theirs despite me doing all the work which left a sour taste in my mouth to be honest.

it’s making me feel very down and like I can’t be bothered. I’ve had no feedback I’m doing anything wrong but why am I so invisible? I don’t like making a show of myself either and don’t want to come across like “praise me” or something but even just a mention would make me feel like it’s recognised? Does anyone else feel like this? What am I doing wrong?

it makes me want to leave but I can’t because the hours work so well with childcare.

Can you speak with your line manager and ask for feedback? I am personally not a fan of these 'employee of the month' type things and find it all quite cringey like getting a gold star at school. Just like school some people's work tends to go unnoticed by management while others are more front and centre get all the recognition.

Do you give recognition? Positive comments often breed positive comments

If you enjoy your job and the hours work well for balance and family life I wouldn't leave.

Similar situation here since I went back to work part time after kids. I'm senior but don't even get invited to the 'table' anymore of the wider SLT team. But in my smaller team I'm still very much respected. I love my job and the people I work directly with and after kids I don't see it as the be all and end all anymore so I'm staying put.

It's frustrating though and well done in your award OP. There's also an element of people who succeed being taken for granted. Maybe it's that and they use the award to motivate others?!

This is the thing. I know I’m respected as well, I never get told I’m doing anything wrong and they’ve given me a big project for a reason. The anxiety in me just feels like I’m not doing good enough and makes me upset seeing everyone else getting shout outs etc.
I’ll stick with it now, everything else works for my home life and I like my colleagues, so guess I’ll just make it work for me right now and look when my child is a bit older to move on.

I was very well respected in our small dept too and always got praise and got away with things like being late and doing what I wanted at all times but when the dept expanded years later others got the flashy perks like foreign trips and qualifications that cost thousands and merited pay rises.
I realised on leaving I did too good a job and they didn't want to move me on
Pay was never mentioned.
Stay if it works for you as it mostly did for me
I was just tired of line manager never recognising my consistent 150% and working evenings and weekends to make up the extremely low pay. Everyone recognize my role
You might need to start bragging more and holding to ransom with your knowledge.
I was responsible for 60% of revenue despite being paid for 25. The other 40% was spread between 5 people
I enjoyed my time but cash is king and I was paid the lowest by a long stretch. To make it worse I had been there 5 years compared to mostly 18 months and Id hit 33 and still earning what someone putting hangers in the belt full time makes(my weekend job)

I agree about these sort of shout outs etc. - they're supposed to make people feel more appreciated, but I think they just make everyone else feel less so! My experience of them is that they seem relatively patchily awarded, and they do also feel quite infantilising. I'd prefer regular feedback from my line manager.

Talk to your manager about this

I don’t like making a show of myself either and don’t want to come across like “praise me” or something but even just a mention would make me feel like it’s recognised?

But you DO want them to make a 'show' of you. You DO want them to praise you. You DO want to be popped onto a pedestal and lauded.

That's EXACTLY what you want

Something is stopping them giving you the plaudits you think you deserve

I work with someone who is great at her job but she is so huffy and moody and needy that no one likes her and the Office Manager avoids praising her because nothing is ever enough or right for her. She's way too precious 😒

I don’t want to be put on a pedestal no - why are you being rude?

I'm not huffy, moody and needy either at work.

First thing I'd do is decide not to care! Seriously, as a PP said, this stuff is cringeworthy primary school Pupil of the Week stuff.

The true measure of how they rate you is this: are you well paid? Ask for a raise, outline the reasons and see what they say. Be prepared to look elsewhere and if offered, come back to them and say you have been offered a higher salary but will stay if they match it. This gets them to notice you properly and evaluate you properly.

I half-wonder if all the 'colleague of the month' shit is given to poorly paid staff as a sort off abysmal corporate bone-tossing exercise. I'd rather get interesting projects and a good salary than any pointless internal award. The fact that you got an regional industry award is far more impressive.

If you enjoy the work, decide this doesn't matter and then it won't. But that only works if the true measure of your worth is reflected in salary/perks/interesting projects/scope for promotion etc.

I agree. I avoid the "awards" like the plague. I can pretty much predict who will win before there are any nominations. To be honest it is usually split between the usual suspects (not performance based - just the managers brown-nosed friends) and anyone who has rtecently joined the service, whether or not they have done anything worth mentioning, to "encourage" them.

Well first consider if it's important to you, really.
Some people are very driven by external recognition. There's NO shame in it at all. Some personalities are satisfied by a job well done and some people like to be recognised for the job well done. I'm an external type for sure (often comes up in personality profiles). I am very motivated by being great at my job and doing it well but when I'm being honest with myself I do want it to be noticed. So if that's you too, that's ok but take a second to admit it. All the 'stop caring' comments won't help you if you are.

Secondly I'm a massive believer in building your own profile at work. A good manager will also support that, so I do take time to shout out specific members of my team when they finish work and do it really well to make sure people know it's been done and who did it. But I also do it for myself if I can and I very very much encourage my team to be vocal about what they're working on and what they've achieved.

So are you being vocal enough to managers, colleagues or in cross department meetings about what you're doing? What you're responsible for or what you've completed?
And can you have an honest conversation with your line manager about the fact that you've noticed this pattern and you're wondering how you can get raise your profile and that of your work? It's SO important for your career development.

@Nestofwalnuts Agreed, I would rather have an employer reward me with pay rather than the platitudes and gold stars.

@Neriah Indeed it is rarely those who actually deserve recognition that get it. Instead it is given to those who talk the talk and say the right things in the presence of management but actually do the minimum.

I get it. I’m nhs and we have certificates that anyone can nominate anyone for. I’ve never been nominated. It makes me feel crap to be honest. These are meant to be to help with wellbeing which they do if you get one but make you feel shit if you don’t.