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Career Learning
Troy Behrens, Ed.D.,
is executive director of SMU's Hegi
Family Career Development Center. He writes "Career Learning"
for SMU Parents online. |
 |
The Secret Salary
“As long as they are not permitted to have standards of
comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.”
— George Orwell (1984)
A few years ago, I met with someone about her plans to negotiate her salary with her employer. “Claudia” was upset because her salary was about 15 percent lower than what the market was paying, and, like everyone else, she wanted to at least be in range.
Why, When and How to Negotiate
|
Claudia properly began her quest of normalizing her salary by speaking with her supervisor. As is the case most of the time, his rejoinder was, “We pay everyone based on strict human-resources pay scales and grade levels based on seniority. There’s not much I can do.”
Sound familiar?
This reply has become popular with managers around the globe because of the increase of websites like Salary.com and Payscale.com. Why? Because as George Orwell mentioned, having exclusive information and cultivating an environment that is not conducive to salary comparison have helped companies save trillions. All because we as employees didn’t know any better.
Now everyone has access to the “going rate” for any job in any industry. Most sites are free, but some will provide thorough and detailed data for a fee.
It’s these “exclusive” salary survey sites that give HR departments their leg to stand on when they find themselves in a salary negotiation situation. For example, when Claudia asked her HR department about a 15 percent increase, the reply was, “According to our market research, the database service we use tells us that your salary is even with your peers around the country. We pay tens of thousands of dollars each quarter to have access to this database that is updated weekly by compensation executives from around the globe. Generic websites, like the ones you have access to, don’t have this information.”
Don’t despair! You can and should do a little market analysis of your own. Survey your peers and colleagues. If they are close to you, they will tell you how much they make, almost down to the penny. If they are strangers, ask for a range within a $10K limit.
In my humble opinion, this is the most effective information source.
Some managers and HR departments try to stop employees from discussing their salaries. They know the greatest strength in any salary arbitration is proof that your salary is lower than others of the same level in your same company or with another company in the same city.
If you find that someone in your company who has the same level of education, same job title and same level of seniority earns $20K more, just imagine what that does to the argument about salary structure.
This is what happened with Claudia. She met with folks within her company, and many colleagues confided in her. She found that employees with the same education and experience earned $15K more. Others who worked for Claudia’s company in other cities made as much as $25K more. With cost-of-living adjustments, it was equivalent to $19K.
Claudia was careful to document everything she learned. She promised to keep the names of her colleagues anonymous because many were afraid that HR might realize they are being paid too much and would cut their wages. With data for 15 people, she drafted a chart that displayed the great disparity in the wages, benefits and titles within her own company.
She presented this data to the HR compensation manager. She told him that this must have been an “oversight” on his part and she was sure he wouldn’t want this glaring problem tarnishing his “solid comp structure.”
One week later, Claudia got a phone call from her supervisor. He informed her that she had been given a 15 percent raise and that managers were informed that they must adhere to the salary policies HR mandates.
In this case, Claudia fought “knowledge oppression” to fix what was wrong. It took her three months, but it was well worth the fight.
Check back for updates on negotiation after the April 10 panel.
Troy Behrens, Ed.D., is executive director of SMU's Hegi Family Career Development Center. Send your career questions to tbehrens@smu.edu.
