Finding out you’re undervalued in some way is one of the more sickening events a professional can experience.
Most of your waking hours are in the workplace. Realizing the effort you put out and the things you accomplish are underpaid can be heartbreaking and certainly demotivating.
Worse still is realizing colleagues and coworkers you support (and sometimes even guide or lead) are valued relatively better for their efforts; it’s hard to take.
For many reasons, not all people love their jobs, but being underpaid just adds insult to injury.
If you’ve found yourself in such a situation, you need to act. It’s now your responsibility to get it fixed.
Consider the following situations:
Pam was six years out of school and had never changed jobs. She had taken on extra tasks and projects for the last two years, so she approached her boss and asked about the possibility of a raise. It turns out a 15% raise was in order and it was quickly granted!
Pam had simply fallen behind in pay as no extra pay-bumps had been given at all in her company for job changes and increased responsibilities in recent years. Last year there had been a 3% max increase allowed for everyone and in the year before that there were no raises for anyone at all.
The next case is Richard, 15 years out of school and all with the same company.
Although not his Employer’s problem, Richard had two young children and his wife was temporarily at home; they were struggling with a new house and commute. His company had minimized increases since 2008 when the recession hit. He’d only seen 2-5% raises in recent years, despite two more promotions in the last four years and increased job responsibilities as his company became competitively challenged in the downturn.
Richard knew the landscape. A raise would be tough to come by. When he spoke with his boss no increase was on the table and he was regaled with tales of small-company woes.
As a result, he met up with their growing competitor and within two months he was working for them with a 22% increase. They understood his value and could not pass on his skills and service.
Next there is Stan, a strong contributor 3.5 years out of a top University with a BA and 4.0 GPA. He’d been forced to change jobs late in his first year when the young startup he was with closed their doors. After a tough six-month search he landed a new job above entry-level in a more stable and growing startup. Following this came two years of token (typ. 2-3%) raises for everyone in the company.
Stan could see that the top new hires the company brought in recently had been getting rapidly increasing entry-level salaries. Now it was clear that a>12% raise was clearly in order. He’d been taken care of with additional stock awards, but cash had fallen behind. When he spoke with his boss he got his raise and of course, his stock position was already solid.
These stories all seem so different, but are remarkably similar. Each person benefited from:
- Understanding the company and competitive landscapes
- Developing a compelling argument, and
- Making a professional and rational approach
You should always know the internal/external competitive pay situation for your role and experience. If nothing else, you should make a cursory annual effort to update your knowledge. Markets and opportunities can move suddenly, so if your skills are valuable, you should avoid falling too far behind.
Most of us can make a couple of internal sanity checks or approach relevant colleagues, re: salary rates. The outside market is often posted and easier to research.
The goal is to be treated fairly, whether you’re a senior, superstar Exec. or an entry-level individual contributor. Also, be sure you value your role, work and company and never get emotional about pay-data you turn up; if discoveries seem wrong or alarming, check and verify.
When you’ve done your research, have realistically evaluated your current role and built a logical argument, then you’re ready to approach your boss.
Pick the time wisely. Approaching someone during a high-stress period or without adequate discussion time is never wise. Your approach is everything. So, be polite, clear, professional and relaxed.
Should your (inadequately researched?) expectations prove to be genuinely out-of-line or flawed, then a professional and mature approach should not harm your situation. A relaxed and thoughtful discussion between boss and worker can even enhance your standing. However, you should always carefully confirm your facts and be very well-prepared.
Times have been tough for many professionals in the last 5-6 years. Is your pay/work situation under control? Have you even checked, recently?
Falling behind where you believe you should be on the pay-scale is never wise. Recovery can sometimes take years and can even potentially diminish your perceived value and affect career progress.
So, take a look at your personal situation and like everything else: Research, Plan and then Act accordingly. Happy hunting!
Ian R. Mackintosh is the author of Empower Your Inner Manager Twitter @ianrmackintosh