Work pay review disappointment

I can definitely relate to the length of service thing - you feel like part of the furniture! Things really changed for me when there was a big restructure. The new GM we got took a shine to me and told my manager at the time he thought I was brilliant. Then Covid hit and I was the one organising quiz and bingo nights for the business to try and keep spirits up. I remember one of the family bingo nights it ended up being just him and his kids plus me and my kids - but his kids really loved the bingo nights I’d run previously so I carried on and did it for them and my kids anyway. I remember he was really grateful that I did that and apparently the children still remember it now - basically I think I’d earned his respect over my attitude to work and people, and that is likely why he agreed to that very first pay rise. It really goes to show how having the right management in place can make a huge difference. That GM was the first we had that was very much people first, business second - he helped push to get our mental health first aid programme and was a trained MHFA himself. The subsequent GM’s we have had have both been very similar (one was only an interim GM to be fair) - I think the business is recognising that happy and engaged associates help the business to perform even better!

I hope you have success with your manager - good luck!

I’ve looked around out of mild curiosity - but I’ve never found anything close to what I do, certainly not anywhere near where I live. Anything remotely similar has been significantly lower paid. We have job levels. It used to be Zone 1 was the highest, come 12 the lowest. When I started, I was in a zone 11 role, did a few sideways moves before I got my promotion to a zone 10 then had another sideways move to my current role. So it’s a very low role. The zoning structure changed, but the equivalent of the 11’s and 12’s have now all been outsourced - so I’m literally the at the lowest level a directly employed person can be. All roles are externally benchmarked. Our 80% of range is equivalent to 100% anywhere else. They benchmark annually.

I get 32 days holiday, plus bank holidays and Xmas Eve (all paid) per year, a weeks salary bonus at Christmas, my annual bonus is 6% of salary and can earn up to 200% of that, I work from home full time bar 2 days in the office a month, I get quite a lot of very nice meals out and nights away with work because of the team I’m in, they’ve just agreed to give me a trial to have every other Friday off and increase my hours on other days to give me a better work life balance, my boss lets me take breaks to play a competition in my online game once a month, we are actively encouraged to take breaks and time out for wellness activities, there’s all the support we could want for personal development, we have a very good healthcare scheme (I have pre existing conditions now so going elsewhere would be a problem), a full mental health first aid team including suicide first aiders, work paid for me to go to the Asda ball last October, I have a very good pension scheme to which they contribute a good chunk to, etc etc - basically all of the extras I get, even if I found a higher salary elsewhere, would likely be offset by what I’d lose. I can’t managing having to drop back down from the amount of holiday I have!

i have said to my new boss that I think I might be ready to start looking at my development again. In my first 9/10 years here I had various tune out for having children, in my last 10 years or so I fell in love with my role like I never have before. Every day is different, I’m the expert in what I do. I manage my own workload, I have autonomy to make decisions over how I do the job and implemented lots of ways to give me ownership and a sense of purpose. I experienced a couple of years of ill health, and so the years sort of slipped by. Now my kids are older and I’m not having to think about childcare in term time, I’m really ready to focus on my career - and this is a great place to do that. So hopefully I can look at getting my salary greatly improved through promotions. It’s been a tricky decision because I wasn’t sure I wanted to risk trying something new and no longer loving what I do for a bit more money. But unless my boss is prepared to put me up to the very top of the scale for my role, I think I’m probably as far as I can go in terms of salary beyond possibly inflationary pay rises.

phew that was long - sorry! I’m very passionate about my job and the business I work for!

Apply for a new job. It's the best way.

How much more of an increase did you have in mind?

That sounds amazing ! I won’t as which council but I want to join. There is 3k between the top and bottom of our band. Now you have to be in role three years before you move to the middle step and then a final year to get your the top of band . So 4 years for 3k. I know the yearly rise happens but still it’s hardly anything. The issue is my role is quite specific so I will need to complete to try and get a rare promotion but I have no where near as much experience as the other 20 people who do my job.
The council I work for went bankrupt last year and they say there is no money to give more than 1 percent . I think if it wasn’t for the pension scheme I would have gone .

.
it is great you can then apply for jobs in the next band. I fear my role is way too limited with progression!!! It’s mainly workers , one supervisor and then one manager!!!!

Do it, you will not look back and in a years time you probably won't even be in contact with anyone you've worked with over the last 20 years. In response to your user name- you've got this yeah!

Most people where I work are getting 3% and it's been 2, 3 and 4% for most of the last few years. It's crap so you need to move if you want more.

You'll never match the salary staying in the same place, you've got to move around if you want large pay rises.

Leave! You'll never look back! I stayed at a company for 13 years (mainly because I enjoyed 2 long mat leaves) worked hard, got glowing reviews and maximum payrises etc but barely ever more than 6% ish. Once I was done having babies I took redundancy when offered and went elsewhere. Even better benefits and flexibility and loads more money! And 15% bonuses too where as before the max I'd get in bonus would be around 3%. Honestly look elsewhere you'll never look back!

Thats good but it does highlight how low your wage is at just 34k 😖 whatever you do after this long you should be worth more than that. Have you compared externally with a similar role?

Hi OP, not posting this to hoist or be smug - posting so you (and others) can see it IS possible for the private sector not to treat you like a mug.

I work for a huge global private company. I'm pretty much bottom of the food chain. Been here for over 20 years, but I love the company and I especially love my current role (so much so that I've done this rule for over half of my time here). Our pay scales are benchmarked nationally and then scales at 80-120%. If you sit below 100%, in theory you get a bigger pay increase annually compared to those over 100% (subject to getting at least a meets expectations).

A few years ago, I had my annual pay discussion and went away to mull it over. I realised that I had been in the role for 7 years at that point, and when I looked at my percentage of scale, I realised I had gobs down from 94% to 93%. I looked back over previous years and realised I was basically hovering around the 94% mark. So I mentioned to my boss that I was a bit disheartened as it was essentially a pay cut in a way because if I'd stayed at the same % of the scale when they reassessed the scales, I'd have actually been on a higher new salary than what I had been given annually. Anyway, I thought I was just having a bit of a grumble and that would be it. A month or so later she called me to tell me that she had been impressed with the way I had gone about arguing my case (genuinely did not think that was what I was doing but hey ho) and so she had gone to the GM to discuss it. He completely agreed and said basically they wanted to recognise my experience in the role and the crucialness of that to the business and were giving me an out of cycle pay rise to put me up to 100% of the pay band! I couldn't believe it - I had never had a pay increase of that size.

The following year, or maybe even the year after, I got an exceeds expectations (so not as good as OP's Outstanding) - I got an 11.9% pay rise. My manager (different one to the previous one) told me that he appreciated everything I did and would always give me the largest possible pay rise he could from his pot. I'm not on just shy of 104% of range - so it's grown by several percentage points despite it supposedly being harder to do that post 100% compared to those 7 years at the 94% mark).

The point is, even multi billion dollar corporate machines can recognise even the tiniest of cogs on their business and look after them. Having a decent manager to back you helps. But not being afraid to express your dissatisfaction and disappointment is also important. State facts. Argue your case. If they truly value you, they'll want to keep you - and a few extra thousand a year is nothing to them, but everything to you.

For context, I was on around £25k before all this. I'm now on £34k for the exact same role just 5 years later (with next pay review due shortly). I have another new LM and he has told me that previous LM had shared with him his he looked after me and has promised to do the same. I admit I've been extremely lucky with my last 3 managers and so that's played a big part in this!

Good luck OP. Work out what you want, what you think you're worth, and go for it!

You must have had an idea of what the promotion would pay though? Like I know what a cyber security manager earns roughly vs a cyber security analyst. You must have a ballpark to work with which is then on top of the £900? So just £900 total including promotion and annual review payrise makes no sense. Just vote with your feet and leave.

We are getting 0% this year, just announced.
Back office staff, exceptional performers, and weaker performers too.
Private sector.
I have been here so long I will retire here, if I was younger I'd go find another job.

Yes, about 4% is standard. People with average/low performance get nothing or a lower raise. If you don't have sales/ billable hours related bonuses, significant raises without moving to a new position are mostly not a thing.

Some companies do not have an annual pay review, people sit on the same wages for years and years. That in my experience includes both tiny firms and big corporate companies.

I expect to be giving about this for excellent performance. I like the security of annual raises which I've not seen in previous companies without moving roles or negotiating for a one-off raise. I would previously try to get promoted about once a year to get a raise of any significance. This is something an excellent performer will be able to do in most private companies up to a certain level.

As for my own payrise, I'll be getting nothing as senior executive raises have been frozen for a while now.

Apply elsewhere. You have the legal right to request flexible working from day 1 of the job. They have to prove why they can't allow it if they say no.

I can't help feeling that you won't get a written committment to any promotion in June. If you feel you are being underpaid for your role then, as many of the earlier posters said, it is time to find another job. I suspect your current employer doesn't see you as a high flight risk and you need to disabuse them of this. Money talks, bullshit walks.

Good luck!

It isn't good.

Your company sounds like the one I work for.

The increase you’re receiving is minimal to cover the cost of inflation and it’s above the inflation levels currently, so please don’t be too upset with that.

Your promotion and payrise is a separate matter and as a Senior Manager in my organisation I see where your Manager is coming from. We’ve been advised to hold promotions back until the salary increases are processed, as it’s impossible to get higher increases in place until that process concludes.

In your position I would be patient but I would want transparency in relation to what the payrise in June will look like. Your manager should be able to confirm that for you, so at least you know what you’re being patient for.

Looking at the figures you’ve quoted, are you hoping to go from £29K to £41k? That’s quite a leap, I imagine it would be quite difficult to be awarded that much of an increase, although not impossible I suppose depending on your employer!

No, It would have been late eighties.

Ultimately, you have been with your company two decades and they don’t think you will leave. Based on your account, you could have been promoted last year, but you did not pursue that opportunity. I work in the public sector so there is a published pay scale with most, but not all, staff starting at the bottom of their grade, however earlier this month I spotted a male dominated area offering a 20K recruitment and retention payment on top of a 60 - 70 K salary.

Were I you, I wouldn’t be confident of securing that promotion and pay increase in June. So, how can you increase your income? Increase your working hours and start applying for promotion elsewhere.

I think you will undermine your argument by going in all guns blazing. Keep your cards close to your chest. Your LM may wonder what you will do next. Tell her you are exploring options.

Not an issue where I work, but could they think you are receiving in-work benefits and so it doesn’t make much difference to your net situation.

Business is business. It's not about playing happy families and being loyal. You want to get anywhere you have to play the game.

Ours does that all the time. They think they're clever by doing it, but in all the people who've left (and there is many), they've only retained one person doing that, and they went into a different department. People don't want to stay when they've been pushed that far because they've lost trust.