You are an experienced professional hired to work at what you have been perfecting for years for a certain project. However, after awhile, you notice that whenever you express your opinion on a matter, no one listens. In addition, a few weeks later, the same idea is later stated by someone else, and everyone excitedly discusses it as though they had never heard it before. It is demoralizing when this occurs. You feel as though no one values you as a professional.

What do you do at this point? Do you continue trying to get your voice heard? Do you finally give up?

Continue to Voice Your Opinion

Even if no one wants to listen to what you are saying, you should continue to do speak up. When a solution you proposed gets implemented, then you can still add it to your resume and/or end-of-year performance review. If it weren’t for you, then the idea would never have been planted in the person’s mind who people listened to later. Therefore, you are the inspiration for that idea so take credit for it.

Document, Document, Document

Write down your idea and send it along. When the time comes that someone tries to question you, you can have an email, document, etc. showing that you were the one who initially came up with the solution. Save them even if years have passed by. You never know.

Assist in Making Your Idea a Reality

When your idea is being implemented, you should try and assist whoever was put in charge of it. You will have documented that you came up with it, and you will actually be part of making it into a reality. No one will be able to say that you are not telling the truth later.

Give Up

If all else fails, then it’s time to move on. If you have tried to make your voice heard and no one is listening, then start looking for a new job if you are working in a company. If it’s a client, then it’s time to end the relationship. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you aren’t doing what you are passionate about, and you are constantly stressed because no one values you.

Be selfish. You want to be happy in your career, and that is most important.

Tags: no respect at work, when no one values you at work