Asking for that raise is fantastic, but are you worth it?

Getting ahead at work and taking home more money than you did the year before is all good and I see people these days very focused at this and rightly so! Other than fulfilling the material desires that today’s world presents and even using the money for philanthropic work that some are involved in, I totally understand the financial pressure that today’s cost of living presents in every cosmopolitan city. All this needs money!
So how do you go about making more money? I see, hear and read about employees being very proactive in seeking that ‘raise’ very passionately. They mostly do so without a proper plan that justifies their intent. Supervisors at work are often confronted with these demands and often do not know how to respond to them creating employee dissatisfaction and often a dip in workplace productivity. Then there is the other type of employee who will suffer in silence, they come to work every day with that miserable feeling that they are worth more than what they get paid. I have tried to understand the mindset of the people who do so – very often they are unable to articulate why they deserve more money! Many are gripped by fear at the thought of doing so and being rejected. For others, the environment, culture or norms within does not allow them to do so! Naturally, this affects their performance as they keep reaching out for their next employer even if the new job pays just a little bit more that what they currently make. They are willing to bail out and leave behind everything that they have worked for and accomplished within their current employment over the years for a few dollars more! None of this is desirable for either the employee and the employer and there must be a way to fix this .. but how?

Firstly, compensation is a topic that I do not believe needs to be approached emotionally – neither by the employee nor by the employer. Today’s businesses can use very sophisticated third party developed compensation models that classify the employee by skill type (i.e. sales, technical, marketing, administration et al), skill level (i.e. years of relevant experience), work impact bands (low, medium, high) and location of employment (i.e. country, cost of living index). These published industry standard models should be the tool that should be used to logically determine the targeted compensation for any employee and should help provide consequential guidelines for other compensation components like stock options and restricted stock units. The publishers of these models do ongoing market research and regularly update the data. Organizations and hiring managers should use this data with confidence during workforce planning, budgeting and determining employee compensations. There might still be some factors outside of this model that a supervisor might want or need to consider in determining the final outcome, but this should be more peripheral than core.

Now let us take a look at the employee, and let us get real here … if you really want to determine how your organization or even your industry rates you – just look at your paycheck, period! You have attained your paycheck specifically because of the skills and attributes that you have built over the years. Your paycheck is not higher than what it is today, not because it cannot be but because you do not posses the skills or attributes that are needed to get you there! Identify these skills, practice and perfect them with commitment and I can assure you that you will see your compensation curve zoom! So understand this very clearly, your compensation is a ‘scorecard’ – it shows your standing in your profession relative to others. There are many different causes that lead to this ‘score’. Successful professionals do not spend time and emotions on the ‘score’ other than using it to set their next goal – they focus, plan and implement their efforts around the ‘causes’ that they have previously identified that leads them to their new targeted ‘score’ – be it position or compensation!

Now, while it is absolutely fantastic to look at your paycheck then target what it needs to be in the near future and work at building the missing pieces that will take you there – greed is the biggest derailer to this process! I have seen instances where employees come across and even get considered for opportunities that are either well above their capabilities or get considered for a position that matches their skill but pays far more than what they are worth! See, both these situations are career traps that you should look out for and avoid at all costs!

The first situation happens where individuals go through an imperfect recruitment process (not uncommon at all!) or have internal influencers within the organization whereby they are found suitable for a position that they are incapable to fill. This inadequacy becomes visible very quickly and the consequences are never pleasant! In today’s connected world news travels faster than you will imagine and in the least, the credibility and integrity of people who become victims of this circumstance gets deeply dented. The second situation is more common and this is how it unfolds. An organization might be a new player in a specific market segment and might be in an urgent need to hire someone with the skill to help them go in. The easiest way in is to lure an employee from a competitor whose skill matches the new business need – a higher than market offer usually follows to get this person in quickly. The organization sees this as a short term tactical move, but to the employee the impact could be long term! The business priorities that led to the hiring of this individual at a premium sometimes stays and at other times tapers off! The employee who is hired might sometimes do well or gets moved to another position but sometimes stays and stagnates in the position which is not anymore a priority in the company! Many of these situations then lead to a termination as the position becomes redundant leaving the employee without a job but with a life style that cannot be funded by what the market is willing to pay him! What a tragedy … many a career has been destroyed by this unnecessary greed of seeking something that you are not worthy of! Some of these unfortunate victims are forced to take job openings that come along but are not able to cope with a reduction in compensation even though they try hard! The employee starts work at the new organization disillusioned, demotivated and disgruntled from day one. From there on his future in this new role is a self fulfilling prophecy!

I am forever a big fan of ambition and enterprise in all humans to reach for greater heights and larger achievements. While setting your sights high and running towards your goals, just be wary and constantly watchful of the small rocks and pot holes strewn along the way! Some of them will be very well camouflaged! Just make sure that you do not stumble and trip on any of them and kiss your bigger dreams goodbye!