To ask for quick & urgent employment advice?

[JenPhill]

I work for a global company (EMEA region) in - until recently - a team of 2. I was the Finance Advisor and my Manager was the Head of Finance. The company has made a few changes and due to demand a voluntary redundancy package was opened up to the employee's, which myself and my boss opted for. My Boss had hers accepted but I received an offer (that my Manager was aware of) of a retention bonus if i stayed. I accepted. Happy days.

I am now doing everything, ultimately 2 people's jobs. My boss was on (including bonus) near on 100,000 pounds. I hate to be crude, but this is an anonymous forum and these are the facts. I am on 40,000 if we hit our bonus potential. Our jobs very closely overlapped and there wasn't actually much she had to handover and I am managing to do both jobs very well, albeit being very busy.

I have not received any information about what is happening with our department going forward. I ultimately resent having to do 2 people's jobs for the same money when i know what my boss earned. (I see the salary's of everyone in the company due to the nature of my job).

I appreciate that she was older than me (I am 28 whereas she was 45 so she obviously had more experience in terms of years in the job), but still.

I just had a catch up with the overall director who is based in the US. She said: "How are you getting on in your new role?" to which i explained what was going on etc. I asked what the plan was for the department, would my boss be replaced etc? She said she didn't see that happening any time soon. I perhaps should have been a little more direct but didn't expect her to ask about "my new role".

I have another catch up with my old managers' manager (who i now report into). What would you say?? I am keen for this not to slip by.

Many thanks in advance

OP, I used to run a company so I know a bit about how this works from the employer's side.
The business about your ex boss and the redundancy and retention bonus are almost ancient history now - I'd move past all that because it's only confusing the issue.

The key question is, are you worth more to them now than they're currently paying you? Can you do some research into the market and find out what comparative jobs with similar levels of skill, experience and responsibility are paying? I suspect you'll find that the market rate is higher than you're being paid, particularly with your languages. Add that to your knowledge of the company, your positive attitude and the importance of continuity to them, I wouldn't be surprised if you're worth at least the market rate if not more.

When one of my staff came and asked me for a payrise/change in job title, I'd apply these criteria:

1. had they taken on more responsibility of value to the firm since they joined/last had a payrise? (You have.)
2. have they done their homework on going rates (ie is the increase they are asking for reasonable)? (You can easily do this.)
3. can we afford it? (You don't know unless you ask...)

For a someone good, loyal and who would be hard to replace, we'd usually do something for them if the answer was yes to 1) and 2). Even if we couldn't afford a pay rise right away, we might give them a promotion and agree a future date for a pay review. For a few people, who perhaps hadn't had the additional responsibility for very long and hadn't proved themselves yet, we would normally set them a few specific objectives over the next 3-6 months and agree that if they met them, they could have an X% payrise.

I don't think you have been screwed over, and I don't think you've blown it.
You're in a great position to make this work out for you really well. You've reassured your new boss lady that you have a positive attitude and are coping well with the responsibility (this matters more than you would imagine). The next step is to do really well in the next couple of months. THEN, you ask for another meeting with her and be direct. Say that you have taken on a vast amount of additional responsiblity, that you have proven you can handle it by making a valuable contribution to the business over the last X months, and you would like your base compensation and job title to be reviewed to reflect this. Then wait to see what she says. Have a specific number in mind that is at least 20% more than you would be happy with, but don't tell her what it is until she asks. If she mentions the retention payment, hold firm and say that was much appreciated as a one off bonus, but it doesn't recognise the additional level of responsibility you are fulfilling going forward. If she says "not right now", don't be put off. Ask her what you need to do in order to get a payrise, and for a specific date on which the decision could be reviewed.

People (particularly women) are always scared of asking for a pay rise because they think they might get fired or otherwise disadvantaged. Speaking as a boss, I absolutely promise you this isn't true. Even if they say no (this time) it does not mean they will value you any less - if anything, they will value you more, so long as you've done your homework and ask in a polite, firm and positive way.

Also just reviewed the terms of my 'retention bonus' and it doesn't mention anything about a new role/promotion or about it being linked to my job. It says: "This is to confirm that you have been selected to receive a special retention incentive because of your critical role in the company". Looking through old files, every single employee who has moved up has had their job re-coded and title changed as well as a payrise.

I think alarm bells would have rung for me that i was simultaneously being offered a VR package and a retention bonus.

Thank you SO MUCH Stickystick!