At some point in your career, you will probably find out that a co-worker who has a job very similar to yours actually makes more money than you. Hopefully, you’ll be the lucky one who is receiving the larger paycheck and this article will be irrelevant. However, if you’ve been the unfortunate victim in this scenario, then I would like to share how I have handled this situation in the past.
To begin, I would like to point out that your starting salary with a company is extremely important—the only exception I would make to this rule is if you are just beginning your career. If you’re young, you can expect to get several large pay increases as you work your way up. You may or may not have the opportunity to make up for salary deficiencies during these promotions, but at least there’s a chance.
The reason why your starting salary is so critical is that most companies base the rest of your compensation on this number. For example, a promotion usually involves increasing your current salary by a specific percentage (or up to the minimum of a grade, band, or level). The higher your salary, the larger the number. This is also usually true for things like yearly increases and bonuses.
I didn’t realize how important my starting salary was when I first started working in Corporate America. I got in the game a bit late because I pursued advanced degrees. The ironic thing is that Corporate America punished me for pursuing these degrees. Instead of being compensated at the same rate as an individual who had been with the company for several years, I was given a fairly standard salary with a slight increase for graduate-level work. This compensation didn’t come close to matching those individuals who had been working for the company for several years. I shrugged it off though, and simply believed that I would demonstrate my value to the company and easily make up for lost ground. I was wrong.
In my experience, most companies are reluctant to give out big pay increases—regardless of performance. This has taught me that if I currently make less than a co-worker (and have been with the company for quite some time), I will probably always make less. Sure, there are exceptions to this (like if you’re young and just starting out), but for most of my career this has been true.
So how do you get the company to pay more money? I’ve basically seen three scenarios throughout my career. Some people I know have chosen to directly approach their boss. I’ve seen this work out a few ways: one person was given a substantial raise, another was fired the following year, and most are still in the same position doing the same thing for basically the same amount of money. I have actually never used this approach, and I really think it depends on the company and your department. I have never worked for an employer where I thought this approach would yield results, but then again, what the heck do I know.
One approach that I have used is to leave the company. It’s simple, but it works. I looked for another job while I was still employed with my old company and would only consider opportunities that would pay me substantially more. I ended up making quite a bit more. However, it took me a while to obtain the salary I was searching for because I had to list my old salary when applying for new jobs. It’s strange, because most companies have no problem matching your salary from a previous employer, but they are hesitant to give you a large increase—even if they have the budget to do it.
Another tactic I have used is to subversively let my boss know that I’m the low guy on the salary totem pole. A good example of this occurred when the company was asking for donations to the United Way and Political Action Committee (PAC). Some of my peers were complaining about the amount of money they had to donate (our company strongly suggested a certain level of donation based upon your level). The level I was at didn’t require that large of a donation. I let all my peers know this while we were waiting for a meeting to start. When the boss arrived, I made it a point to indirectly address my boss by humorously telling other employees that those of us that were lesser paid didn’t have to worry about those kinds of donations. I made my statements jokingly and in a non-confrontational way. I wasn’t directly asking my boss for anything, I was just letting him know that I knew where I ranked when it came to salary. That same year I got a few extra thousand during the bonus period—something my peers did not receive. Did it make up for the difference in salary—no, but at least it was better than nothing.
In the end, I believe that what works for some may not work for others. I don’t have a definitive answer to this problem, and the only real thing that I can say about it is that it’s just part of working in Corporate America. No one said it was going to be fair. I always hate it when people tell me, “Life is not fair,” like they were giving me some really profound and astounding advice. I honestly believe that sometimes you just gotta roll the dice. As that wise and ancient philosopher Kenny Rogers once said, “You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, / Know when to walk away and know when to run. / You never count your money when youre sittin at the table. / There’ll be time enough for countin when the dealin’s done.”