Negotiating a pay rise - recognition of unsociable hours / extra responsibility

[Paq]

I work in higher education. Some things about my job lead me to believe that my job is graded at less than it should be.

1. I am often the first response re critical incidents - the type that could make newspaper headlines - terrible or fantastic. The official responsibility is with the head of marketing but because of where I sit in the organisation I am often the person who gets the call / email. This can lead to working unsociable hours at very short notice.

1. I am the caretaker for some very delicate relationships and the organiser of important events - think the equivalent of Royal visits / major donors. So while on paper it looks like I book taxis and restaurants and arrange car parking - the outcome of these events can be huge. It's a massive responsibility. I am usually the lead on these.

My question is this: I am redrafting my JD to reflect the above, and hopefully get a higher grade. But I'm struggling to know how to phrase these parts of my job. The closest I can come to it is "danger money"! Basically, when the sh!t has the potential to hit the fan, I am the one to plan, organise, check and execute everything to ensure the organisation responds well to issues / opportunities.

In the grading formula in HE there doesn't seem to be any recognition for this, and I'm watching colleagues with less responsibility on higher grades and getting fed up!

Can anyone help :)

I'd stick words like Crisis Manager or Incident Management in there, along with key phrases like "brand protection"(may be a bit off for Higher Education) or "project management"/"event management" for the planned, non-emergency type scenarios you've described. At the very least.

Actually having thought about it, the Royal visit / donor type situation would be covered under our Relationship Managers. Yes, it might be booking taxis or restaurants, but it also means smooth running of the partnership (those are just the admin ad hoc stuff that's needed; also negotiations or providing an escalation path if there are any problems on the ground). So what you've described sounds just like what they do. That's in a commercial setting though.

Thanks 1981 - really helpful :) And yes, "brand protection" does absolutely apply in these competitive/£9k fees/students-as-customers times.

We'll, if anyone cares, I had a meeting with my boss yesterday and it wasn't great.

Because I manage projects and don't initiate them, nor do I manage staff, there's no reason for a re-grade. And because I've not been there long it would be "unusual" to move up the spine.

I'm fed up

*Well

Sorry to hear it didn't go well.

Did you ask what you do need to do to go up a grade?

I know you might not feel like doing anything more if you are already more than others...but being positive and focusing on what they want from you at the next grade might give you a sense of what to aim for?

Do you know why others are going up a grade and you are not? Could you ask your manager?

Could it help (if you don't do this already) to "promote" what you do? So speaking at internal meetings about projects or the results of a donor visit etc. Being more public might help your boss get a better understanding of all you do?

Or if you don't want to address it, perhaps it is time to polish up your CV?

Thank you Margot

The things that would move me up a grade would be to have direct reports and to have an initiation role in generating income.

The grading process is quite rigid it seems, and doesn't recognise what I think is the criticality of some of the stuff that I do.

I love my job but would have no problem going elsewhere if I thought I would have better prospects.

I have a very visible job, most people assume I'm on a higher grade than I am.

Other people who are on a lower grade also work unsocial hours but they can claim overtime, I can't.

I just think that people who are more forthright / tactical / Machiavellian than me do better. I am such a goody-two-shoes, and it's leaving me feeling shafted

But I dint intend to sulk, it's not in my nature so I'm forging on!

Oh, I meant to say, we are growing and expanding, so there will be lots of internal opportunities in the future, but I feel like I've been bimbling along at my current salary for about 8 years and I think I deserve more!

Sorry it didn't go well for you.

Do you mean to say you've been there 8 years? That wouldn't constitute not very long in my opinion!

Also, have they recognised the Catch22 situation of not being able to go up a grade without direct reports, but presumably needing to be in a more senior position (in their eyes) in order to have direct reports?

I agree with Margot, I would ask them what I can practically do, right now, in order to advance my career.

Hi flaming, no, I've changed organisation 3 times in the last 8 years, have only been in this one for just over a year.

All my jobs in the last 8 years have been at a similar position, so lots of sideways moves. But I have more experience now and I've completed an MSc in that time.

Before that I had a very senior job, with 400 people in my department and I earned more than double my current salary, but I changed down as DD was tiny so a less demanding job suited me.

I know I am more than capable, and I do the job over and above the requirements but there doesn't seem to be a way to get this recognised in pay.

Men are much better at this

Sounds like the grading system hasn't kept up with new commercial reality of your organisation. If you believe it is that and not just your boss blocking then you accept it or you leave

Thanks Hermione (I have long admired your posts on HR!). My boss is very supportive - not blocking at all.

I do think that the grading system is too narrow. I have been involved in recruitment for other specialised skills such as programming and the same problem occurs.

This is the system they use (not from my university's website btw):

www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/grading/hera.html

Thanks Paq, but I'm a ripple in the water compared to the advice that Flowery and others give!

Looking at that scheme, has your job got the right points for decision making, planning and problem solving categories?

I don't know - we don't see the scoring. Even if you are the recruiting manager, the HR bods just do the scoring off the job description. And come back with a grade, not a score. I don't even know the scale they use.

I'd like to see the scoring results but I don't know if it would be frowned on if I asked, and I am not a "rocking-the-boat" type person, more of a classic people pleaser (which of course makes me ideally suited to my job!).

I have worked in HE for over 10:years and from my experience it is very unusual to be accelerated through the grade. My job is so far removed from my current jd but I going to have to suck it up. HERA has taken care of a lot of the grading and I really don't think it would be wise to pursue this. Be aware too that if you went up a point or two, you would likely lose your increment that year and would also get to the top faster and with nowhere to go. The other thing is is that say you reach the top of Grade 7, you would not automatically go to a Grade 8.

I know this is very cynical, but I know this sector!

Thanks for sharing your point of view I am pretty confident there will be promotion opportunities in a few years time so I would rather be stuck at the top of my grade then (I'm in the middle) than now.

Have you not thought of asking for a job description review?

It'll be underway soon at my HoD's instigation. We're not long out of a massive restructure, so one thing at a time. I'm in no particular rush! The more I do "over and above", the more confident I am that my JD (though not my salary) will be sorted.