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0 pointskyrra11y ago0 comments

(this is assuming a large company)

Raise an issue with them that you feel you're being underpaid. I've done this in 1-on-1 meetings with managers in the past. If they think you're worth keeping, they will do what they can to give you a raise when the time comes. But keep in mind that other people on their team maybe be underpaid more than you, so they might try to correct those people's salaries first.

At least from what I've seen, managers at some level (your direct manager, or their manager) are given some numbers of dollars to increase the salary of the employees. They have to choose how to distribute that between their people.

Depending on the company, it may take you moving to a different company to get what you're worth. Most companies know that transitioning jobs is difficult and a lot of people won't go through the effort. Because of this they will underpay people that they don't think are going to leave. If you want to try, apply around, interview, and get a job offer at another company. Present it to your manager and see what they say. Some companies will counter-offer, while others have policies where they will not counter-offer.

Story: a friend was offered a contracting position with the same company he already worked for (from the contracting firm, the company didn't know yet), that would be paying far more than he was making. He didn't take it and his manager didn't do anything to correct his salary. But it was pretty funny to see.

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shostack11y ago

Worth noting that what you proposed with regards to presenting a competing offer to your current employer is typically a card you only play once. More than that and you tend to be viewed as a mercenary who causes problems. Plus, the people you are presenting this to will quite likely feel like they've had a gun put to their heads in a situation they may have very little direct control over, and nobody likes being put in that spot multiple times.

Not saying that is right or wrong, just know that doing this multiple times at the same company is often frowned upon.

Also, don't do it without being ready to make the switch--you never know when your company will call your bluff and say "ok, enjoy your new job, your last day is today."

I'd also like to present the flip side, which is what it is like to be on the receiving end of such a request. I had an employee I managed in a past job come to me with a reasonable raise/promotion request. Myself and my boss did everything we could to give it to him as he definitely deserved it in spades. We were blocked by the finance and HR departments. They did not want to do things "out of cycle" which isn't exactly fair to the employee if they started significantly outside the beginning of that cycle.

Ultimately I lost them to a competitor, and felt absolutely awful about it (even though this was in an industry where turnover is incredibly high and 1 year stints are very common). The worst part was that it was totally out of my control and I did everything I could to make it happen and failed.

When I had a similar situation in the future with someone else I managed, I flat out told them I would do my absolute best to fight for them (and they knew I meant it), but said that if the company wouldn't give them what they deserved, I would not hold it against them in the least for switching since they need to do what's best for them regardless of the headaches it would cause the team. They ultimately left for more money and the company lost another valuable employee because they couldn't part with a couple grand per year which was a pittance compared to the value this person added.

Long story short, it sucks just as bad to be on the receiving end of this, but a lot of times the direct manager may not actually be empowered to make the budget decision necessary to offer a raise. In those cases, please do your best not to hold it against them if they can't win that fight.

kyrraOP11y ago

Very good advice, thanks for adding it, as I totally agree with all of it.

If you are friendly with any managers, it's good to find out the company's policy on competing offers. (I had a friend who was a manager in a different department, so I could find out company and HR policy on this kind of thing). Competing -offers is definitely something you only want to do if you are seriously about switching companies.

Different side story: My last job I was working out of a satellite office that was closed down as the company slimmed down to be bought out. We have around 50 people in the office. There was a 2nd and 3rd line manager that were cut when it all went down, so we were able to talk a bit more openly with them about it after the fact.

These managers were newer to the company and stunned at how low the salaries were for most of the individual contributors. They were doing the best they could to get salaries up-to-snuff, but when they were only given 3% (of the salaries of all their employees) to use to give raises, it was really hard to get people properly compensated.

Most lower-tier managers really do care for their employees, they just tend to be limited by corporate direction and what HR tells them they can and can't do.

rmc11y ago

Also, don't do it without being ready to make the switch--you never know when your company will call your bluff and say "ok, enjoy your new job, your last day is today."

That heavily depends on your region. In places like the EU you cannot be fired on the spot for something like that.

johnward11y ago

Generally if you threaten to quit you should be prepared to quit. In the US most employment is considered "at will" unless a contract specifies otherwise (and a few states have different laws). Meaning employer or employee can terminate the agreement at any time for any reason or no reason. The exception to that is if you were fired for prejudicial reasons and you are a protected class (sexism, racism, etc). That means I can quit today with no notice required. It also means my employer can hand me my last paycheck today and tell me to take a hike.

An example of this. My wife's employer recently found out she had applied for a job at another company. They fired her that day. She didn't get the other position and the previous employer is blocking unemployment compensation.

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