Appraisals, bonuses and pay rises

[crockofcrackers]

Hi all,

We've been told appraisals will be held soon, and as well as all of the usual discussions, we'll have to discuss what we think we should be paid and why, and how much we think our team's bonus should be this year. There's 6 teams including my own, all very different practice areas and different levels of experience within the teams.

Any suggestions on how to approach this?! I get so awkward in these situations and don't want to either low ball myself or go in way too high and sound ridiculous. What sort of percent of salary increase sounds reasonable? What would you use to back it up? It's hard because I've no idea what other people at work are being paid to compare my salary to.

I've screenshotted some adverts for roles in my practice area, in my rough location and at my level of experience that are a good £10k more than I'm being paid at the moment, and I have had a few approaches from other companies this year too (one with a salary bracket of about 6-15k above what I currently earn).

I like to think I'm good at my job but I'm rubbish at this

Do you know how much others are paid?

Not a clue unfortunately! I can hazard a guess for some of the more junior staff but no idea at all about the people at a similar level to me, so I could be super well paid compared to them or being taken for a mug and I'd have no clue either way

Hopeful bump! 

Hopeful bump for a new day.,.

First, determine whether this is a standard pay rise (in which case I'd ask for 5% and hope for a roughly inflationary 3%), or if there is the possibility of a big bump. That would be the case if you've had a spectacular year/ the company has made £££/ you're underpaid.

If this is the case, work out what you'd like to be paid, then add a third (to be negotiated down), then come up with a post hoc justification for it (I generated sales leading to £100k profit so I deserve 10% or whatever) The logic doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to be there to pretend you've not asked for a number out of thin air.

You should have a rough idea of bonuses- what's the pool? Ask and they should tell you.

Whatever you want ask for more. You are probably worth it, and you'll be negotiated down.

This is one of the few conversations I'd roleplay with my DH (which I usually find cringe). It's awkward to talk about money, especially if like me you're English and female. So having some phrases to trip out is super useful.

Thank you so much!

I find this sort of thing so awkward and don't want to make a fool of myself. Sounds like I need to do some number crunching.

I've collected a few bits so far - some job adverts for my level in my area paying quite a lot more than I'm on, and I'll mention a national salary survey that's done across my sector which suggests the average for my experience and location is a good bit higher than I'm being paid too.

I don't think DH would entertain role playing with me in a million years unfortunately! Maybe I'll have to give my mum a try for that one 

If you're underpaid - work out (or ask) who in your company is roughly your peer. Then ask if you're paid a proportionate amount - not to the individual people (that's really important, don't make it personal), but to the band.

Works Especially well if the band is mostly men. You don't necessarily need to say 'equal pay', but a smart manager will work it out 😉

That's a good idea  we're fairly female heavy as a company so the equal pay question is interesting indeed!

I wish there was a bit of transparency about salaries but it's so taboo.