Salary £80k and I have no idea what for?

[BeamMeUpp]

I have been promoted twice in the last 3 years, doubling my salary. Honestly, I have walked into the previous role because the manager has left and I (and I thought everyone around) assumed it was temporary appointment until they find a proper replacement. I was way out of my depth but figured it out. The next promotion is the same job but broader geography. I feel like the higher up you get, the easier it becomes. I literally just manage very competent people and small projects, coordinate between departments etc. I am not bored but I feel less useful and competent than when I was grafting for £24k. What is going on - has this happened to anyone else? Should I just chill and accept that this is what career progression looks like? The feedback is OK, but I am massively insecure as I do not feel stressed, if that makes any sense.

The fact that you were initially way out of your death but figured it out explains why you were promoted. You were able to do this probably because of skills and experience you don’t realise you have. At management level this is partly what you are paid for, ie experience, ability to learn quickly, decision making skills and ability to remain calm rather than stressed. Enjoy and understand your value.

I am in the same boat! I feel like I'm stealing my wage.

Sounds like a good arrangement OP, I’d just enjoy it.

I suspect it just feels easier because you are more experienced and so more confident tbh.

In those early years, I think there’s a degree of needing to prove yourself in a different way, lack of experience making it difficult etc.

My job feels less stressful to me now as a more senior person but…I wouldn’t have been able to do it 10 years ago.

I agree with @LivLuna. One of tbe toughest roles I ever had was one I found the easiest - because it was a great natural fit with my skills and experience. One of the most stressful roles I ever had was actually lower than my level - but was not a good fit for me.
Important lessons there for choosing or accepting future roles!

I have also found my better paid jobs far easier day to day.

I think my better pay is for bearing responsibility when things go wrong / being liable for stuff. So at the moment your team is competent. Imagine how hard it would be if they weren't.

Do you feel like you suffer from imposter syndrome? it is very common, especially amongst women.

One job I was in, I couldn't believe my luck, I was paid more than I thought I was worth for a job that was so easy that I thought someone would see I was doing next to nothing.
But after an illness, when the whole place fell apart, I realised that my combination of skills were what kept things ticking over nicely... and I got a pay rise 6 months after I returned and sorted out the mess. (Which was nice, but again sewed the seeds of self doubt as I was only 80% fit in my opinion)

Agree with pp - it's the level of responsibility and accountability you take the higher up you get - my life in senior management is no harder than when I was 3 grades lower, and when things are going well it's brilliant. However, every so often things crop up - staff issues, technical issues, team dynamics, output/productivity issues etc and it gets stressful quite quickly. Just enjoy it, you've proved yourself. Imagine yourself when you first joined the company and how you would have got on in your current role back then - then use that to reflect on how far you have come.

The thing is you're not really paid to manage those competent staff. You're paid to step in when one of them gets sick / leaves / is replaced by someone less competent who needs training etc etc. So it's all good while the team is good but it could get much more stressful quite easily!

The thing is that your combination of skills, experience, competence and knowledge are rare, and that rarity is worth paying for. Just like a diamond that has few flaws and inclusions is not chemically much different than industrial-grade diamonds but it's rarity makes it worth much, much more.

Keep doing what you are doing, but also spend time working out what would make things happen even better. The chief actually-useful role of people higher up in a heirarchy is to smooth the path to maximise the effectiveness of those under them, so find out from the people who report to you what issues you might be able to eliminate or minimise that most affect their work.

I would add a cautionary point: when you are at lower levels, your contribution is more noticeable on a day-to-day basis. As you become more senior, especially if you have others working for you, your effectiveness and contribution sometimes only becomes apparent over a longer period of time. Eg has your leadership introduced improvements in the team’s efficiency/effectiveness? Increased profit? Reduced cost? Or whatever is important your organisation. I do believe it’s more likely to be that you have the right skills etc as per my previous post and I don’t want to add to the ‘imposter syndrome’ a PP mentioned, but it is possible to have an easy life because everything is ticking along quite nicely. Which is fine if that is all that is expected of you. It certainly wouldn’t be in many organisations, just be sure that you’re not missing anything. Then enjoy!

I have just had another promotion and yes, it is actually easier in some ways than the position below, less hands on. However there is more responsibility when things go wrong. I have 20 years of experience which is regularly drawn upon by those further down the ladder. That is what the extra salary is for, not necessarily the hard grunt of the job I did when I first started.

Check out imposter syndrome.
You might be able to relate.

But the higher you go, the easier it becomes because you use all the experience you gained over the years to keep things going with the team. And when things go wrong you problem solve.

We’re all replaceable so it’s worth baring that in mind, but show up, do your best, and take the pay cheque.

Sounds a bit like imposter syndrome which I have too. I rarely think I deserve whatever promotion/salary I get. But it keeps happening and at different companies so I must be doing something right..but my brain won’t let me admit it.

Your pay reflects the fact that YOU will be held responsible if something goes wrong.

Sitting around is easy when your team are performing, not so easy if they aren't.

As an example, say you were head of H&S for a transport company and a worker was killed in an accident, you could end up being sent to prison if it could be proved that your staff didn't follow your instructions and you knew about it but did nothing.

So, enjoy the easy ride, just remember who takes the blame when things go wrong.

Completely this

I hear you op! I earn around 10k less than you and do very very little
Jobs where I earned less I was run absolutely into the ground!!

This is my 3rd job like this.

I'm in a role where it's just about making money, I set the team and department up and put good structure around what to do, the team do well and now I just sit back and watch the ticker go up!!

What @Chiseltip said.

It's fine and sometimes life can appear to be a doddle when you're the boss to some extent, you maybe don't have to please somone above you in the management chain everyday and the operaton is ticking along nicely.

It's when it goes wrong, potentially your head is on the block and in some jobs there might be legal consequences that you'll realise your salary is justified.

I completely agree, my salary is similar to yours and the job is a hell of a lot easier than when I was grafting and doing 50 hour weeks for £19k! I like to think of it as my reward for all the years that lead me up to this. Enjoy it!

Me too although I earn considerably less than you.

I work in a very niche area that struggles to retain staff due to low pay and job pressures. I stuck it our for many years and I am good at what I do.

I walked into a job with a company that had not had a single qualified candidate until I appeared. I was offered the job at the interview - with hindsight I ought to have asked for more money.

Sometimes I am stressed and what I do is complex and you need a lot of knowledge. But I’ve earned all of that knowledge by grafting for a decade.

Now all I have to do is apply it - and explain it to other people.

There’s that story about the engineer ..I can’t remember it exactly but it does something like this - An engineer that charged a chap 100 for a call out when all he did was hit something once with a hammer. Took 2 mins.

The person who called him out was horrified at the charge and asked for a breakdown.

The engineer responded something like

1. Hitting with hammer £10
2. 10 years of work to know where to hit £90

That’s you.

Me! I think this is best demonstrated by the fact that you will meet plenty of people who say things like 'why do we even need a manager' 'managers do fuck all' who would be fucking terrible managers themselves is the key here. I have been surprised, when it comes down to it, how valuable 'soft' skills that a lot of people would say they have, they don't. I have known multiple people who would say they have great organisation, decision making, people skills etc - and they do! But only for a certain level of work. They would really struggle in a management role. Others find the type of organisation, decision making, people skills etc required of a senior level very easy.

Accept it, or you could be like me, where my hours have been reduced and I earn a pitiful wage now, still working as normal.

impostor syndrome? just take the money and give it away if you feel bad. or look for a lower paid job. otherwise look on it as your life is good