Nobody wants to be unappreciated and undervalued. Feeling this way can affect your productivity at work. It can even affect your physical and mental health if not quickly and properly addressed. This is why you need to be alert to take note of the signs of being undervalued at work. While you shouldn’t be paranoid and constantly be suspicious of everything going on at work, you should also be able to take note of both the subtle and not-so-subtle signs that show you are not valued at work. Let us know about ‘Signs You Are Not Valued at Work’.
Signs You Are Not Valued at Work:
The signs of not being valued at work can range from as subtle as being excluded from certain things at work, or it can be as pronounced as not getting promoted even when you are due for it. Below, common signs that you aren’t valued at work will be discussed. So, if you’d like to learn more about this topic, read this article to the end.
Your Efforts are not Appreciated:
One of the most obvious signs that you are not valued at work is when nothing you do gets appreciated. No one acknowledges your contributions to projects or other tasks. If you don’t remember the last time someone appreciated something you did at work, then you need to evaluate the situation.
Consider how other coworkers are treated. If your coworkers get appreciated for their work, then that’s a clear sign that you are being undervalued. If no one else gets appreciated for their work, then it’s probably due to bad workplace culture.
In both cases, the best way to handle the issue is to talk to your team lead or manager about the issue. Tell them how the lack of appreciation and gratitude makes you feel and how it will make a big difference if you get regular feedback and positive acknowledgment for your work.
You Are Outrightly Told That You Are Not Valued:
In a toxic work environment, your employers and other superiors may outrightly tell you that they do not value your service to the company. You may be told how fast you can be replaced. If you are constantly told that you are expendable, you don’t need anyone to tell you that you are not valued in that workplace.
In this case, you would do better to avoid any situation that will give your boss or superiors a chance to talk about how they can swiftly let go of you. Improve your work performance, and avoid making mistakes or failing at things.
Doing all of these won’t guarantee that your boss/superior will automatically begin to value you at work. However, it will reduce the chances of them outrightly telling you that you are not valued.
Another way to cope with this situation is to develop a new mindset. Remember, you can’t change your boss/superior’s perception, but you can change yours. Make yourself believe that since they think they can easily replace you, then it means you can also easily replace them.
This way, you won’t be too affected by the fact that you are not valued. It will also make it easier for you to leave the toxic environment and find a place where you will be valued.
You Don’t Get the Necessary Support You Need to Work Optimally:
Another obvious sign of being undervalued at work is not receiving the necessary support you need to work optimally. If your work is considered important, then everything you need to do better will be provided to you.
Support can be anything like paid time off, training, mentoring, and every other resource that will help you grow in the capacity you are serving. When it seems like the company you work for isn’t interested in naturing you to become better, you have to assess the situation and get to the root cause.
If it’s because they do not have these resources, then you may consider cutting them some slack. But if they can afford to provide the necessary support but just aren’t doing so, you can either try to change it by talking to your superior about it or take a walk and find something better.
Negative Comments:
Some people mask their snide and negative comments as constructive criticism. Once you are not receptive to this, they start making you out to be the bad guy. Constructive criticism is great and often leads to growth. Negative comments on the flip side are everything bad and would only impede your growth.
So, if you constantly get negative and hurtful comments at work, it is not just a sign that you are undervalued, it is also an indication of a toxic work environment. Just like with most of the signs discussed so far, you need to assess the situation here too before you take any step.
Is it a common behavior among other members of the workforce? Are these negative comments directed specifically at you? Who tells you these negative comments?
Knowing these things will help you handle the situation in the best way possible. For instance, let’s say the comments are coming from your team lead and you are the particular target of this behavior, then it may be a case of workplace bullying. In a case like this, the best way to handle it would be to discuss the issue with someone higher up that can help resolve the case. You could speak to HR and have the matter resolved before it escalates to something bigger.
You Get the Worse Assignments:
Have you noticed a pattern in the kind of assignments and tasks you get at work? Like, you always get that task that everyone else does not want? If the worst tasks somehow end up landing on your table, you may be undervalued at work.
Try to analyze the situation and see if you are not being unnecessarily paranoid. Compare the assignments you get to that of your colleagues. Do your works make any positive contribution to the overall task the team/workplace is tackling?
If you are getting bad or unimpactful tasks, can you fix the issue by talking to your team lead or supervisor? If you can, then take the matter up with your supervisor. If nothing is done about it and you can’t bare being undervalued, then it may be time to start looking for an alternative. Remember, if your workplace thinks you are replaceable, then they are also replaceable.
You Are Always Overloaded with Work:
One clear sign of being undervalued at work is when you are always overloaded with work. There is no question about whether you are undervalued or not at work if you already have so much work to do, but other people still dump their work on your desk.
It is disrespectful, to say the least. Your work-life balance will be badly affected and you may find yourself working overtime all the time; sometimes, even during weekends and holidays. Whenever there is a need for someone to do more time at the office, you are the first person that comes to mind.
In this case, you would need to put your foot down and set clear boundaries about your working hours. The thing about people who are taking advantage of you this way is they know you are not meant to be overworking the way you are. So, once you can voice out about the treatment, they most likely will stop doing it to you. Make sure everyone knows your working hours and days. If you are approached to do anything on the days/hours you do not work, be clear when you tell them that you aren’t working at that time.
You Do Not Get Invited to Functions:
This may seem like a non-issue but this is one of the subtle signs of not being valued at work. If you are being overlooked and excluded from certain functions and events, it may be because your boss and other people at work do not think you are significant enough to be included.
However, you should not take it as a sign of being undervalued if you are excluded from something one time. One time may be a mistake, or there may be a valid reason as to why you were not invited. But you should see it as a sign if it keeps reoccurring. Once it becomes a pattern then you can be sure of your place in the organization or team.
If you are sure that you are being purposely excluded from functions and events that you should be invited to, do not keep quiet about it. Meet with the person that excluded you and ask them to tell you why they did what they did.
Tell them how it made you feel. They may be apologetic or may try to make it look like you are making an issue out of a non-issue. Whatever their response may be, just make sure you properly communicate your feelings and that you’d prefer to be included in functions and events moving forward.
You Never Get a Salary Raise:
When your contributions to a workplace are acknowledged and appreciated, it will be evident in how you are paid. If you have never gotten a salary raise or incentives even when others do, you should consider the fact that you are being undervalued.
In this kind of situation, you should accept that you may be stuck with the same paycheck for a long time. You may not be able to change the situation, no matter how hard you work on your end. So, you need to decide if you will be able to continue in the workplace or if you should find somewhere else that will appreciate you enough to pay what you are worth.
You Don’t Get Promoted:
You know when you are due for a promotion. But when that time comes and your boss is being adamant about promoting you, it may be a reflection of what they think of you. It is even worse if promotions keep skipping over you while others get promoted.
Again, you may not think too much about it if you are overlooked for promotion once. But if it keeps happening, then your suspicion about being undervalued is most likely valid.
Then again, you should be sure of the promotion timeframes and system before you start feeling undervalued. If you are not sure about the promotional system, ask and be sure about it.
How To Tell Your Boss at Work That You Don’t Feel Valued?
If you feel undervalued at work, you should not just ignore the situation. You need to speak to your superior so that something can be done about the situation. The following are the best steps to take to tell your boss that you do not feel valued at work:
- Evaluate and understand the culture of the workplace. Compare the treatment you get at work to the treatment other people get. This will help you know whether it is a personal thing or it’s just the way of the organization. Knowing this will help you understand how to talk to your boss about the situation.
- List out your contributions to the organization
- Ask for a meeting with your manager
- Tell your manager the situation you find yourself in. Be honest and clear with your feelings during the meeting. Make your manager understand your contributions to the organization and how being undervalued can impede these contributions
- Provide solutions to the concerns you expressed
- Listen to what your manager has to say about all that you have said
Conclusion:
Being undervalued at work can affect your work performance and efficacy. This is why you need to be sure about whether or not you are being undervalued and then handle the situation before it escalates into a situation that you can’t handle. However, while you need to look out for the signs of being undervalued, you should not be so paranoid that every action and inaction begins to look suspicious to you. Make sure you properly assess the situation before you conclude that you are being undervalued.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- 1. What Happens When an Employee Does Not Feel Valued?
When an employee feels undervalued at work, their performance and efficacy at work will significantly reduce. They would gradually reduce their commitment to their tasks and assignments until they start doing the barest minimum. They may make excuses to avoid coming to work. As a last resort, they may leave the job for something else when they can no longer cope with the pressure the current workplace is putting on them.
- What Happens When There is No Respect in the Workplace?
If there’s no respect in a workplace, it may lead to certain unwanted situations such as harassment, bullying, lack of cooperation, discrimination, and so on.