I’ve worked here for four years. It’s a bit of a miracle that I found my way into this position, as I was a stay-at-home mom and out of the workforce for ten years plus.
I took an entry-level-ish position, despite much applicable pre-stay-at-home-mom experience. My work and capabilities have generally been recognized, and I’ve gotten good salary increases, but I am still not paid market rates.
My boss left two months ago. Rather than hiring for that position, there has been a re-org. The group my (now former) boss managed has been dissolved and some of the key responsibilities my boss had have been reassigned to me.
I’ve had to scrambled somewhat to position myself as my boss’s “replacement,” but I am reporting to the same person my boss reported to, prior to his departure.
My first quarterly review is this coming week. Although we have had discussion around my new job description, there has been no discussion in terms of a salary adjustment.
I’m looking for advice in terms of how to broach the subject of a salary adjustment. (Generally, salary increases take place in December only.)
“I am given additional work/responsibility since my boss left. (talk a bit about how you are doing with additional work, how much you enjoy your work, yada, yada) Based on my research, I am paid below the market rate. Would it be possible to give me a midyear salary adjustment?”
You may want to go to glassdoor to do some research on salary and show it to your boss.
A few years ago I successfully negotiated a salary increase based on the fact that my responsibilities had expanded. I had a new boss who needed more “help” than my previous boss (who had been in the job for over 40 years). I went to the person in charge (the big boss) and simply listed the types of stuff I had been doing which were previously done by my old boss. He agreed right away. I called it an adjustment (not a raise) to match my responsibilities. The actual increase was made when all salary increases get done (so not right away).
Agree with @kiddie. Usually for equity you should list down the additional responsibilities you’ve taken on and going market rate in your area for your hybrid position. Definitely utilize sites to research salaries. I use salary.com.
Type it up in proposal form and I suggest you highlight your measurable contributions to the company and how you see yourself as an asset to them in your position. When employers see you’ve given thought to your request and can back it up with numbers it’s difficult for them to decline your request. Also, ask for a little bit more than you really want because they probably will come back lower. I like @oldfort suggestion on how to bring it up. Approach it positively and in a way that doesn’t seem like you’re disgruntled.
Given that your quarterly review is coming up this week, you might not need to initiate the conversation, but you should be prepared to do so. I don’t necessarily agree that you need to make a specific proposal at that time, but you should have an idea of what you’d like your post-December salary to look like.
I would be sure to make your boss know that you welcome the additional responsibility and feel well positioned to be successful in your role. Your only concern is that you are appropriately compensated for your contributions. Be prepared to have him defer the discussion for a variety of reasons, including the possibility that he’d like to see you prove yourself worthy - unfortunately that is sometimes expected when circumstances dictate an increase in responsibility that would never be suggested for a new hire.
It’s pretty hard to give advice about these situations because they are so personally defined by the specific company, the boss, and the employee.
One question to consider is how difficult (or easy) it would be for the company to replace you if you quit. The second part of that is to guess what your boss believes about that question (which might not be aligned with reality).
As a business owner, what I tend to do is give a small bump in pay when someone gets new responsibilities, then I give them more months later or at the review if they handled it well. Nothing worse than giving someone a big bump in salary and find out a month or two in that they’re over their head, and now I’m stuck with paying them more and taking away the tasks. So, it could be a matter of seeing how you’re doing with it. The review is the perfect time to bring it up.
Agree that adjustment is a nicer word. Saying you’re pleased they have trusted you with add’l work and add’l duties is nice, you’re glad you’re well thought of. But it seems reasonable to you that a wage adjustment is in order, in keeping w/ those add’l duties.
Yes, have other wage comparison printouts ready if needed, but personally I wouldn’t be too quick to mention comparisons. A boss might say- if they pay so much, maybe you better look there.
There is no doubt the general economic times have greatly improved over the last year and a half or so. The economy is up, measures of consumer confidence are up, much improvement.
I am speculating here, just intuition, but I wonder if this company is content to pay less than market value wage and might feel any employee is easily replaced. That was true 8, 6, 4 years ago but though its not as true now, some people still think it is.
Also think, is there something other than a raise that might please you? Additional vacation? Flex time? a new chair? Just recommending you have this thought out thoroughly before you negotiate. Be prepared w/ your main objective but have alternatives thought out too.
Good luck!
I don’t want to be the wet blanket here but… your post sounds a lot like my experience. I ended up spending nine years taking on more and more responsibilities but ultimately never really getting what I should in terms of salary ( or title). A year ago I took a lateral move into another department. Less responsibility and fewer hours. You might need to go elsewhere to get what you deserve.
My H ended up with more and more responsibilities, as they wouldn’t fill vacancies when folks left and he ended up doing his job and theirs too. He didn’t want to apply for promotions because he didn’t want to supervise.
He eventually got a new boss (they rotated a new one every two years) who asked H to write up all the things he was doing as a job description and then they’d post it and accept applications for that job and that was how he finally got an increase in pay more commensurate with his huge and growing list of responsibilities. I believe he was the only applicant. He left a big hole in the org when he finally retired.
I agree that thinking of options including a lateral move, more vacation/flex-time, more budget for continuing education, and other things that would make you happy is also a good idea in case the firm for whatever reason isn’t interested in paying more.
Since you were not paid market rate before your increased responsibilities, you should address your concern pointing out these two factors.
Consider: “In light of the fact that I was not receiving market pay prior to being assigned additional responsibilities, do you think that I am being compensated fairly & appropriately ?”
Hate to tell you but you don’t get paid based on “responsibilities.” You get paid on whether you can make the company money. If you focus on that, i,e.; how well you handled those responsibilities to make the company a bigger profit, you’ll have more success getting paid.
@Publisher I completely agree. Many positions are very indirectly related to corporate profits. That doesn’t make them any less important or worthy of significant compensation.
I had my quarterly review and I didn’t feel it went particularly well.
The work I have been doing recently was hardly mentioned, and most of the discussion was about dealing with conflict.
Don’t get me wrong, I know dealing with conflict is important, but I was discouraged that the entire focus was on something other than the work I’ve successfully completed (all of which involved interacting well with others).
So I expect my salary increase to be low.
I will need to just roll with it.
No lectures please about how of course it is important to deal well with conflict. I’ve made my bed and apparently will pay dearly for it.
Getting a corporate lecture on how to deal with conflict is a ridiculous waste of time. I’m sorry your quarterly review didn’t go better, especially given the important topic you were hoping to address.
This is a gender thing. Men would not have walked out of there without the salary discussion. But I have empathy - I would have allowed myself to get derailed by a non-salary discussion as well.