To ask for a pay rise?

[Elephantina]

I am currently in an Associate Director role for a consultancy, for a small firm owned by a plc. At the end of June our structure is changing, and I am being moved into a director role for the plc.

The "director" element is in relation to consultancy services only - I'm not on the board, it's just a title.

My new role does differ from my existing one - in some ways my responsibilities will be greater, and there are higher expectations. I will also have some level of target to achieve.

I asked if my package would be reviewed at the time of the move, and in the same breath as listing all my new responsibilities, they said my package would remain the same.

I expected that, it's just how things work - so I guess the ball is in my court to fight for an increase, and explain why I think I deserve one? The change in responsibilities is a fair reason; plus the going rate for a non-board director is about £10k higher than my current basic; and there is a job being advertised locally to me, 2 steps lower (manager) also for £10k higher basic!

Part of me thinks I'm wasting my time (I'm fond of my employers, they are decent though not known for putting their hand in their pocket), but I think I should try.

I want to state my case without waffling too much, is that how you do it? I've never actually had to ask before, I usually get bored and apply for another job to secure an increase...

I asked to see the gender report in regards to earning and asked to see what the average wage for someone of my position was along with minimum and maximum wages for that role.

I never got them. I was asked why and said I was putting a case together to ask for a pay rise.

I got the pay rise. I knew what people in my role were getting and asked for just above that, but slightly under the maximum for my job role.

It's amazing how asking for facts and figures prompted then to be agreeable.

That's a good point Jess, I never thought about gender...there is some unrest about that in the ranks so it might be a bit political to raise it!

When you say gender report, is that something the HR dept compiles or is an external thing?

Never mind, I just downloaded it from our website. Can't make head nor tail of it mind...

Yes ask. If they say no, I'd do the job for a certain time, say 6 mths or a year, or whatever time is appropriate, just to get that position and experience on my CV, then I'd apply for other jobs.

there is some unrest about that in the ranks so it might be a bit political to raise it!

Good. I would definitely be raising this and pushing the issue
But then I’d also be prepared to leave any job if I was not being remunerated correctly.

I once declined an internal promotion I was offered ( head of department looked at me like this ) I knew they offered me 15k less than the man who had been doing it so I said no.
They didn’t make up the full 15k but offered me 5k less in the end. Since then I have had another 20k in payrises because I’m good but also pushy

As granny used to say, The lord helps those who help themselves...

I'm certainly happy with the new title, it'll look good on my CV even if I only do it for a year.

The gender pay gap report looks duly reasonable. I also did some more research on the average salary for a non-board director, and it's what I'm on. I suppose what other firms are paying their lower level managers is not really their problem!

If I had been made up to director in my existing role, which would have been on a sub-board, I could have demanded the extra £12k - I know thats what my co-director is on, and our MD is on about £22k more than that (co-director is very indiscreet, hence I know).

But as that entity will no longer exist, it seems that my current package is fair for the role I'm moving to.

I'm irked that the "career" move I signed up for 3 years ago when I joined as AD (I was expecting to be made up to director over a year ago but my manager never completed the appraisals properly), is now lost to me forever. But that's life - cheapo pretend director of fuck all for me then!

You can still push for a pay rise.

Are you worth more to the company than other non board directors?

Also remember, just because they settled for that amount, doesn't mean you should. I always ask for more than other people in my role.

It's their problem if they dont ask for more.

Not sure about being worth more as its a new position - one of the other technical heads is coming over to the same role as me, and they have to recruit the 3rd one.

There are plenty of other departments with director-level staff, but only 3 of us for this dept.

Ok. What would be the impact if you handed your notice in.

I have quite a bit of pull at work, because if I left, they would be screwed. No one in the company has my level of experience, in my role. The one other person that can do it, is very new to the process and to the business.

My director has no clue how my role works.

You have to fine the reason why they should pay you more

Well, they'd be screwed from a resource perspective and they are having trouble recruiting at the lower levels - they seem to think it's easier to find people at senior level?

I think they might battle to find someone with the right experience, yes.