To ask for a pay rise?

[Funshrubs]

I’ll try and keep this as brief as possible.

I’m an administrator, I’ve been in my role for 3 years. The role that I signed up for was purely administrative with a little bit of (often inevitable) customer service thrown in, all good. (I have the job description from the original job advert saved)

The role got extremely busy by about 8 months in due to huge company growth (which is great) and it was no longer feasible for me to do all of the admin on my own, I told my boss, the director of the company this and he agreed that we could bring another administrator on board.

We had that extra help until a couple of months ago when she quit, we’ve since hired someone else. I was told upon hiring her (and it was announced in a meeting in front of other people) that I was responsible for this person, she reports into me, I do her appraisals etc. My first thought was, I’m not overly comfortable with this.

I have been training this new recruit for the last couple of months and last week had a conversation with my boss whereby he asked how she was getting on and said I need to be giving her regular reviews and if she’s no good, I have to get rid of her before her probation period is up. I said ‘So I’m responsible for that? He said ‘You’re responsible for hiring/ firing/ training/ appraisals, it’s all part of your career development’

Now I was not comfortable with this at all and a bit gobsmacked to be honest. I’ve never had any management training, I don’t WANT to be firing someone or really even be solely be responsible for them and their work/ output and if I AM responsible for this then surely I should be getting a job title review and pay rise?!

It is a really small company and there’s no HR department so the only person I can go to with my concerns, is my boss, the director!

AIBU? I have an appraisal tomorrow, should I bring it up then? Put something in writing?

Anyone?

You can absolutely ask for a pay rise and for training. I always think "development" opportunities that don't come with training, support or mentoring aren't development opportunities at all. They are just lazy off loading of tasks.

Giving your staff development opportunities can often be more work for you as a manager as you support them through it and that's as it should be.

If you are on Instagram Loewhaley has some good videos on how to ask for a pay rise in line with an increase in responsibilities

That said shit like this is why I won't work for small businesses any more.

Thank you, I’ll check that Instagram account out.

Yes, I’ve worked for small and large companies before and my next role will definitely be with a large company again. Too much underhand crap goes unchecked in small.

That's a shit company to work for

I’ve always been really happy here until this but I’m starting to feel a bit of a mug now :-(

If you actually want to be responsible for the managing/hiring/firing people then you go into your appraisal and say you’re not doing it anymore unless they pay for your training and give you a pay rise. If you don’t want to do it full stop then you say you’re not comfortable with it, it’s not what your job description says, and as such you won’t be doing it anymore. Then, if you haven’t already, start looking for another job.

I don’t want to be responsible for firing anyone even with a pay rise tbh (it would have to be a seriously big pay rise to warrant that stress) I would however be willing to still continue to train and effectively manage her day to day for some sort of pay rise.

I’ve never had any sniff of a pay increase since starting and I’m barely above the minimum wage now so am probably due something, even without the recent additional responsibilities!

It's unclear what you actually want. IF you had appropriate skills would you be willing to train and supervise? It sounds like you have the aptitude and the and inate skills but are hesitant about the responsibility. If that's the case I'd be looking at course/training to equipment you to do this formally particularly becoming an appraiser.
Bare in mind though that it won't all be about training. You will need to deal with the personnel side of things which could involve verbal/written warnings etc so think carefully about what you want.
Sounds to me like the company really needs some HR input. Many start up companies use consultants for this on say a 3month contract. They'd come in and establish formal policies and procedures. They're not cheap though!
How about suggesting that you continue to informally train your new start and offer to work with a consultant to help them draw up training manuals, Systems of Work (SOW) etc. They can agree their own procedures and policies. Going forward you would follow the template.
This would of course be worthy of a rise.
If you really don't want to take this on speak up. You may find your contract does have a small clause like 'any other duties reasonably within your capability'...I'd consider training new staff reasonable however that's very different to being responsible for them
Additional respinsible should always mean additional pay!

Absolutely. Can i ask your current wage?

Get a pay rise and a new title. "Senior administrator" at the least. I dont know why you wouldn't seize this opportunity to move up the ladder

£21,250

Because I don’t think it’s as simple as that. I have a feeling my boss is going to tell me to jog on when I ask for this new title and payrise and I just want to be as prepared as possible for that if that turns out to be the case.

I would say training her up probably falls within your current responsibilities anyway as another poster has said. This happens in most work places- those doing the job show those who are new how to do the job.

However the hiring/firing/appraisals I would think you could ask for more money, as I’d say at that point you are essentially a manager even if it is just to one person.

The worst they can say is no OP, you may as well ask, however think about what you actually want out of it first before going into the meeting.

To add though, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if your boss says no. My husband used to work for a small company and it was very very similar there, they were quick to give staff “opportunities to develop” AKA extra work for no extra pay under the guise of boosting their competencies/CV etc but actually it was just their way of getting the extra work done without having to promote anyone.

Gosh that's so low! Don't ask for a payrise ask for your new role to be officially recognised including title and contract and your wage to reflect that new role. This would be good for your CV for future job applications. Do your research about what that role would pay in your area but honestly I'd start applying elsewhere.

I think you need to be prepared & really clear about what you want, why it's reasonable and I'd do it in writing.

Do you have a written job description? Or even a copy of the ad for the job you were accepted for? Does your contract detail your responsibilities?
Because that's your starting point for 'this is what I was hired to do' and negotiation to be paid for what you actually do.

Be clear on your reasons for requesting a pay review:
List what you were hired to do and what was shared (see above).
List out everything you do now & things which gave become sole responsibility.
Look at similar jobs & wage levels in the same sector as a basis for the amount you ask for.

I mean, he can say no, but clearly you have every right to ask for recompense & training for the additional responsibility.

Although fair warning, I did this and they verbally said no because we'd have to put your colleagues wages up (well, yeah) and then just didn't reply to my request for them to put their reasons in writing 🤣 big national business. I left eventually.

Yeah they can't just give you more responsibility and tell you it's progression with no reward.

So your now the Office Admin Manager. That wage is far too low. Id be cheeky and ask for £25k initially raising in 6 months time (once youve completed your management training) to around £28k

This.

Do some research on other roles - show them that if you left what it would cost to replace you....

How did it go today op?