October 24, 2008

What a new manager learned about compensation

Deciding on compensation and raises isn't as simple as many employees think.

Dear Bob ...

Awhile back you gave some advice about how to negotiate a better salary ("How to negotiate better pay," Advice Line, 10/3/2008). I thought it might be helpful to describe the same request for a raise from the manager's side of the table.

When I made the switch from grunt employee to managing employees, I had my first insight into how companies determine salary. I have the luxury of working at a company that does yearly reviews, with a salary adjustment at the end of the process. (I love how they use the term adjustment instead of raise or increase).

Anyway, my manager at the time sat down with me and we ranked the employees first based on who does the best work. There are all kinds of things to consider here. Two examples:
  • Some employees stay late all the time, giving the impression they work hard. But they take longer to complete work.
  • Some may leave early because they have family, but they work from home later. Some do good work, but not outstanding.
After the initial ranking, we adjusted the list based on other criteria, Bobby is already paid more than Peter, but by the previous rank, Peter does the better job. So we need to give Peter more. We considered which employees would really hurt us if they left, which ones we could replace easier. We even got down to Cindy just moved to an area closer to the city, where jobs are easier to find, and she's already high on the rank list. We need to give her more as incentive to stay here.

We also went over non-salary perks, like training classes/conferences, flex time, etc., to see if there were things we could do instead of giving more money.

Overall, the experience opened my eyes to a lot I never really thought about. It changed my opinion about how valuable I am, and where I would rank myself. I look at work as more of a competition. And I thought your readers might benefit from the same insight.

- Comp Newbie

Bob's Last Word: I thought so too - thanks for sharing this.

White Paper

D2D Virtual Tape Library Replication Primer

This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.

Download now »

White Paper

An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings

Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.

Download now »

White Paper

Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE 802.11i Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network

The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.

Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation

Download now »

White Paper

Bringing the Edge to the Data Center

Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.

Download now »

Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Lewis: Advice Line Newsletter

The one-stop resource center for IT professionals.

©1994-2009 Infoworld, Inc.