"Stuck in a Rung"

Just got a job offer for fulltime....salary is allright...but i know my boss hates the boss above them and so on and so on...so my cries for more $$ will fall on deaf ears....do i go around my boss and straight to hers with whom i have no issues?

Promoted and Perplexed

Dear Promoted and Perplexed,

When you work in an organization with multiple layers of bosses it will often happen that you find you get along better with your boss's boss than with your own boss. Or at least you think you do.

The sense that you have of having a better relationship with your supervisor's manager may be real, but it may just be that you have never had any dealings with this person that test the relationship by departing from the usual chain of command. If you approach your boss's boss about an issue that is properly dealt with between you and your boss, you put that person in an awkward position. They may not respond as warmly as they have in the past towards you.

Another consideration is the impact that going around your boss would have
on your relationship with your boss. You say it isn't good now. Why not
work on improving that working relationship and approach your boss about a
raise in six months or so, after you've settled into your new position?

The situation you have described does not seem to me to present ethical
issues so much as strategic issues around building and maintaining good
working relationships and being prudent about the timing of a request for a
raise. But I don't always see everything. Do any of my readers see an
ethical dilemma here that Dr. John has missed?

Dr. John

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