Should I go to HR?

First time poster, long time lurker.

I've had a tumultuous last few years since COVID, where I've tried my hand at a few start ups and found myself in positions where I was part of a doubling of the sales team only to find that there was lack of TAM and opportunity to hit my number.

Fast forward to a few months ago, where I found myself out of work and got an offer from a very large organization (10,000 employees) with almost 100 products.

I am only responsible for a few of these products and sit in more of an overlay role. If they sell my product I get paid too, and vice versa.

However, the quotas are massive ($7million with deal sizes between 80-400K, even though it's an overlay) and the accounts are distributed without any sort of rhyme or reason. 2 out of the 8 people are on pace to hit quota, and when I did a rudimentary research on the accounts it was clear to me they had the most opportunity. (They also started working with the manager when they came to the firm, but I digress).

Anyway, I wanted to see if any of you thought I should go to HR, and see if there might be another role in the company that might be a better fit. I'm new and remote, so have zero visibility into any of this. I have the most activity on the team and I would say 90% of the teams sales are not Self Generated and based on their overlay partners.

If I am coming off like a whiny wimp, I get that. However, I have a growing family, and bills to pay, and it's hard for me to sit around to see if things change or get better. Although, maybe that's the best course of action...

Sorry about the long message but I truly appreciate feedback.

💰 Compensation

✌️ Growing Pains

15

26 comments

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SaaSsy

Politicker

11

AE

Just my 2 cents but HR is there to protect the company, not you. Seems like this would just further piss off your manager/team. Have you had a direct convo with your manager about this yet?

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

6

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Spot on. HR only sides with the employee when they need to cover their ASSets.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

2

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Yeah, HR isn’t the target, you need to ask your VP or Director what has been done successfully in the past. It sounds like you need to build a plan out to see joe you can ever hit your number. Otherwise, you need to be prepared to be forced out.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

9

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

In a large org, HR has little to do with this situation unless they end up managing restructuring or assisting with documentation, but there is an exception (see below). You'll want to look around at the sales teams and the hiring managers to see what else is out there, and if there are openings. Large orgs often post openings on the intranet in addition to on their public website/careers page. There's often a recruiting team that works within HR and directly with the sales org/hiring managers; you might want to find out if that's the case where you are.
Since you're new, it's going to be a bit of a challenge to navigate the ecosystem; given time, you'd most likely have built up relationships internally and would be hearing of upcoming openings or restructuring. You're going to have to be careful who you discuss this with as well.
Since you are in this position, I'd also recommend working with your manager about ways to meet the quota, anything s/he can suggest for working within the system and parameters as given, and the expectations for you and the team. You can't give up on it entirely, as you're going to want a good reputation within the company as you look for something else.

jefe

Arsonist

3

🍁

@SalesDude1129 you should take bunny's advice here.
Good luck!

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

7

Account Executive

This is all too relatable but DO. NOT. GO. TO. HR.

They won’t help you and you may get fired.

To be honest, you should know better based on your experience.

The reality is you’re beat up and desperate for an environment where the deck isn’t stacked against you. Again, I understand this all too well.

You need to play the game and flex that shit-eating grin of yours while applying for something else externally.

Going to HR with this is probably the worst move you can make. It’s even worse than going to your boss directly, even though that’s a terrible move as well. Know why? Because the first person HR will contact is your boss.

The 2nd thing you should prioritize next to your job search is strategies to manage stress. Again, this advice comes from experience. Your lizard brain is telling you “get me out of here” and is trying to sabotage you by filling your head with stupid, desperate thoughts like “go to HR about switching positions”. Are you getting enough sleep? Physical activity / exercise? Do know how to address your own frustration to get in a different state of mind instead of lashing out?

Sales will always be rigged against you. It’s just a matter of degrees. I’m not saying to accept being fucked over but all you can do right now is to learn to accept your situation until you have an opportunity to change it.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

5

Sales Rep

I would spend more time networking with other teams to see if there is a better role than directly with HR. Also it will be better for the relationship with your manager that they hear you are looking from yourself vs HR

braintank

Politicker

4

Enterprise Account Executive

HR ain't gonna help you here

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

3

Director, Revenue Enablement

Echo this 1000% DO NOT GO TO HR.

Internal networking is your key. If there is something else you know you’d rather do look at your internal job board and see if there are open roles.

Connect and with members and managers on those teams. Get a lay of the land, learn about their challenges and needs. Just don’t go in there guns blazing and asking for a job or to jump on that team.

BmajoR

Arsonist

3

Account Executive

Time to board the sailing ship, friend. Put your head down and find that greener grass.

Diablo

Politicker

3

Sr. AE

Best is to hop on a call with the hiring managers where you think you will be a fit. Goal should be just to let them know of your interest and when the time is right they might connect back.

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

2

Account Executive

HR = company snitch.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

0

🦊

DAMN TRUTH

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

HR will only put you on the radar. Fly under it friend.

lowhangersalesbanger

Executive

0

Director of Sales

HR won't be of help in my opinion. What I will say is I have never worked anywhere where we would take someone not succeeding and move them somewhere else.
You may be better off trying to work at a different company

Justatitle

Big Shot

0

Account Executive

From experience, HR is a gigantic waste of time. Find thee roles you might want to go for, who manages those teams, and try to speak to them directly.

Goomba

Opinionated

0

Director

HR when I've had to work with them as management and have had to use them as an employee are 99.9% fucking robots.
They have no idea what you're talking about and will forward any communications over to a manager that will either be their boss or your boss. Someone will then sock puppet the robots to destroy you if you don't hit the revenue number they want.
Don't trust the sock puppet robots.

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