Don't do what I did:

I found out (by a clerical error) what a colleague was earning. Reviews were just over a month away so I sat on the information, made a list of accomplishments, listed his errors and listed the errors of his that I fixed (which were most of them). When I presented the information and requested that I be put on a similar pay-scale (we were hired at the same time) and were denied I then informed everyone what he was earning and left the company. As you can imagine that created a lot of bad-blood considering he was earning more or similar to those who'd been there since the companies inception and he was a moron.

graham.reeds

Yup. Never bring up a co-worker's salary or contribution - focus on yourself. The only time a co-worker should come up in negotiations is when you're looking to level the playing field. Say you've got the same performance goals as a co-worker, but s/he has a more flexible schedule, work-from-home privileges, or something else that gives them a competitive advantage. Bring that up and say, if we've got the same goals, we should have the same tools at our disposal.

jswilson64

@graham.reeds: Yeah, I think it's kind of a bad idea to focus on someone else's deficiencies to get a raise for yourself. It's not about him, it's about you and what you're worth to the company.

tommertron

I never bring another co-worker's salary, accomplishments/failures, etc into a discussion with my boss. That's just rude, unjustified, and uncalled for. If you're using that as the basis for your own need for a raise then maybe you should do some soul searching to find out why you aren't as good to the company as they are.

That being said I just ran through some stuff and found out I'm really underpaid.

jivemastert

A few years back when my employer was going thru some ownership changes, I did some research on some available jobs in my field.

I never actually applied for any other positions, but told the new prospective buyers about "an offer" I had received from a competitor. I said the offer was for 25% more than my current salary. They counter-offered with a 15% salary and an additional 5% commission.

Naturally I took that offer when the new owners took over, and made a good amount of commission in the following years.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest doing this, but I was young and didn't have that much to lose.

jaaydn

I'm underpaid at my job as well. We all are since an overseas company took over. We had a foreman who retired early, since he hadn't had a raise in 7 years. A guy I work with who is a storeman is earning minimum wage and hasn't had a raise since 1999. We keep on asking and they keep on stalling....

da5id_nz

I think bringing up another coworker's compensation can be a valid tool in some situations. Back in September, one of my colleagues was promoted, and I was transitioned into his old position. It was common knowledge that he had been at a higher pay grade than the rest of us even before his promotion, so I told my boss that since I was now doing his job, I should be at the same pay grade.

Unfortunately my colleague's promotion had maxed out our department budget for the year, so my boss told me that I MIGHT get a new title/higher pay grade/salary bump in May 2008. Not retroactive. While I continued doing the other, higher-paid guy's job. Two weeks ago I landed another job with a 25% pay increase.

The moral of the story is that in organizations that don't have defined salary ranges for positions or deliberately hide that information from rank-and-file employees, comparing your compensation to your colleague's can be the only way to see if you're being paid what the market determines you should be.

TWSS

You have to determine your market worth and you have to have an "offer" from another company. In most cases, unfortunately. And you may even need to have that offer be real. lol! And you may even need to take it. The days of the gold watch are long over. Every employee is a freelancer in this respect. Your career should be seen as moving up in the area you work - not the company you work.

From a company owners perspective - you have to have a future at the company. To me - the owner - this means loyalty number one. Which is a contradiction to the above. But the company needs to believe that you are willing to stick around long term. Because the second thing they want is someone that can grow. Not just do what they are doing now. But move up and excel at a number of aspects of the business. Even if it just means managing the people at your present job type. Unfortunately if your job is a cut and dried set of tasks - they quite possibly can shop around and find any number of people to do it. So setting yourself apart by being promotable will justify the higher pay.

The real thing a boss or owner wants is someone that acts as if the company is their own. See's each task as a matter of success or failure for the business. Someone that is willing to do whatever it takes to foresee problems and follow issues to their conclusion. Someone that is willing to take ownership of issues without anyone telling them too. A positive attitude, drive and determination.

I mention all these things because in the seven years I've owned my company it's these qualities that I value the most. But it's rarely the person with these qualities that negotiates over raises. It's almost always the person that doesn't have these qualities that is always complaining about raises, benefits, time off - the list goes on and on. Make sure your the "co-owner" type of employee, ask for what the market says is fair and you'll most likely get what you want from a fair employer. If you don't - they're not fair - and you need to move on.

If your the type of employee that sees their job as only what they are asked to do - your easy to find. The cost of replacing you with any number of employees with the same qualities is minimal.

If your the other type of employee - politely communicate your market research, job duties and something more than your expected salary - you have to leave room for negotiation. ALWAYS ask for 24 hours to consider any offer. AND to counter offer - NEVER on the fly. Don't be afraid to get creative with your compensation. Talk to accounting and seek out any non-salary reimbursements you might be eligible for. They'll probably be tax free as well. i.e. - home internet access, cellphone, etc.

Hope this helps someone.

molife