Younger boss less experience

Someone wrote to me with this problem:

With nearly 20 years of experience, I joined a well funded start-up over two years ago as a business development manager. Initially, start-up provided me with good  international exposure. I was also appreciated for my productivity but my work did not get appraised for two years.

Suddenly one day the management assigned me the lead generation role, out of India and in the nightshift. The reporting manager is eight years younger than me with a higher salary. He has a work from home option. He treats me as his puppet and did not allow me to take control of the sales process. I have been given just a meagre 5% hike. My manager says that my international travel and the costs associated with part of my appraisal should be viewed as part of the. The demotion has been demoralising. I have applied to several companies but have not got a positive response yet. Please help. 

My response:

Perpetual Beta

Children in the early years of school are often asked what they wish to be when they grow up. Start-ups are often like those kids. They may start with an idea and as they build it, they may change course. The market conditions are dynamic. That may throw the start-up’s initial plans into disarray. When the start-ups get funding (like your employer has), the investors often exercise influence over many decisions. This leads to changes in the product, the sales strategy and impacts the projects and deliverable timelines.On the ground sometimes the employees in a start-up feel the chaos. The project they worked on for a while may get shelved abruptly. An abandoned project may need to be put on the fast track. People who enjoy working in this kind of ambiguity leverage their adaptability to thrive in such environments. It can be stressful especially if the frequency of changes is more than what you can handle. Self-awareness is often the first step for being satisfied with your career choices.

Startups will not be orderly workplaces

In many of the established organizations, the product may already have a market and a paid client base. Such organizations are more structured and predictable. I assume your twenty years of previous experience have been spent in relatively more established organizations. Life in a start up must seem chaotic in comparison.In the first two years, you have had an exposure to sales, attended sales conferences and been exposed to global markets. The monetary compensation (eg increments) are as much a part of the total rewards as the travel, exposure and investment in education by the employer. It is a “cost to company” (CTC if you like jargon). Increments need not be annual and certainly cannot be claimed as an entitlement. It is discretionary.

Younger boss - so what?

Reporting to someone younger is hurting your ego. Get over that mindset. It is archaic. You may had team members who had more experience or better qualifications than you. The work output is what matters. The years of experience and qualifications has limited value in the job market after a few years. The same goes for credentials. When a song becomes a hit, we do not care how old the singer is and if the singer holds a degree in music. Employers are no different.

Workplace flexibility is not a perk

Working from home is not a perk anymore. So if you feel that you would like to be a remote worker, you too can ask for it. More importantly you must set up time with your boss to understand how he/she wishes to review progress and the kind of metrics that matter. You too must state how you would like to operate. Suggest that you try the arrangement for two weeks and then tweak it till both of you are comfortable. Being resentful of your boss’s “success” is only going to hurt the relationship.You may want to think whether you are more comfortable with a little more predictability. In which case choose your next employer accordingly. Good luck.====A version of this was published by Times of India dated 19 Dec 2019 <read the original>