Need your advice. Pay review for direct report

the 1nice1 · 07-11-2017 10:11PM #1

Hi all

Just looking for some advice on how to approach the following situation.

Basically I am a Team leader in a smallish firm (finance related)

I am the TL of a sub department and there was 2 people reporting into me.

Directly above me is the manager who oversees the whole department

1 of the employees left my department so that just left me and my direct report.

My direct report has been with the company for 1 yr and a few months starting on around 23k (low income)

he/she has given a pay review by senior management (they review the whole office) in June and he/she had their pay increased by 1.5k so now on 24.5

*Salary reviews are not guaranteed*

Now, we are hiring new employees(2) and we are bringing them in on the 24.5k salaries so all of my 3 direct reports are on the same wage (2 new hires and 1 senior(ish) agent)

My direct report is now disgruntled by the fact the new hires are starting on the same wage as him/her and brought this to my attention.

I do not have control over the wages or any input.

I simply oversee the sub departments performance.

With the new hires starting I would like senior(ish) agent to assist with additional duties (reporting / new hire training/ process manual writing / IT improvements etc)

I feel I should approach my own manager and highlight the extra duties my direct report will be undertaken and the fact they are more senior than the new hires but on the same salary.

However, I feel my own manager may say not a hope considering a review was already done this year etc.

If you were in my situation. How would you deal with this?

how would you deal with the senior agent and how would you bring up with the issue with my direct manager.

Just looking for advice (ideally from a manger or employer)

I am thinking of highlighting what I said above to my own manger but emphasizing on the work/duties/responsibilities that my direct report will be completing for the business outside of his/her core role and the additional qualities/skills he/she will be utilizing for the better of our department to continue our growth.

On the other side of the coin. The negative impact could be asking my direct report to take on these extra duties(which i need to them to do) outside of his/her core role but him/her knowing they are earning the same wage as a new hire and it isn't reflective of the work being done.

This is a demotivater.

On a side note, I do feel my direct report is deserving of an increase again due his/her work ethic/performance and now additional duties but this is business and not that easy to keep asking for pay increases.

**we are all salary based and have no option of OT/Piece rate etc** so just our salary is our income

Any advice on how to correctly bring up this topic with my manager (I am conscious of the approach as we are splashing out the 49k on 2 new hires annual salaries and it is a pay related topic.

Cheers all

Foweva Awone · 07-11-2017 10:17PM

I would advise the employee to approach the senior manager themselves to discuss it. Seeing as you don't make the decision, there's no point in you getting involved unless the manager asks your opinion.

Batgurl · 08-11-2017 09:08AM

Training someone in shouldn’t (and in most businesses doesn’t) make you more senior or mean you deserve more money than the new person.

Everyone coming into a new job requires some level of “training in” but unless you are hiring people completely unsuitable or unqualified for the role, then very soon the new hires will be at the same level as this person.

Your current employee was happy to accept a role at £21k a year ago and was happy with the raise. They are only spitting now because they see what others are getting, not because they think they are worth it. They are free to hit the open market and see what they are worth elsewhere.

optogirl · 08-11-2017 09:11AM

If you think your team member deserves a bump, find out what steps need to be taken, assist in writing up a job description including all duties that fall to him/her - no doubt assisting with training of new hires will be in there too - be as helpful as you can with any write ups or forms that are required and guide them through that process with your support.

screamer · 08-11-2017 11:07PM

Unfortunately it doesn't work like this. What someone is worth is dictated by the open market. Once you're in a company you can expect no more than a small percentage pay rise per year. Unless you're a superstar. Therefore the time to negotiate your pay is when entering the company.
Now OP let's play it out a bit....so you go now and get a 2k increase for your initial direct report. Next year you hire 2 more externals on 27k.....and now you have 3 disgruntled direct reports who expect you to get them pay rises just because Nancy newbie should not be paid more than them I guarantee the company won't want to do that...so, don't cut a rod for your own back. Finally staff should not know what each other are paid.

Squatman · 10-11-2017 09:12AM

screamer wrote: »

Finally staff should not know what each other are paid.

only from an employers POV. from employees POV, they should

Batgurl · 10-11-2017 11:29AM

Where is the benefit to staff knowing what each other are on?

dennyk · 10-11-2017 04:49PM

Staff knowing each other's wages makes it easier for those employees to figure out if they're being underpaid, hence why companies don't like employees discussing their pay with each other (or doing anything else that smacks of potential organization). The knowledge can also reveal trends such as an employer consistently paying their female employees less for the same roles. Even in the US, of all places, the right to discuss wages and participate in other concerted activities with fellow employees is one of the few employee rights protected by federal law (though only thanks to a great deal of effort and literal bloodshed by labor unions decades ago). Even without the benefit of an actual union, it makes salary negotiations much more even when employees know what others in similar roles are being paid, both inside and outside of their company; without that knowledge, a candidate is basically stuck playing a guessing game where if you guess too high you get no job and if you guess too low you'll be underpaid, possibly forever (at least in the US, where every employer always demands to know a candidate's salary history so they know exactly how much they can lowball you), and may never know it.

Foweva Awone wrote: »

I would advise the employee to approach the senior manager themselves to discuss it. Seeing as you don't make the decision, there's no point in you getting involved unless the manager asks your opinion.

I wouldn't necessarily agree; it does depend on the company culture a bit, but generally speaking, a direct supervisor suggesting a performance-based raise for one of their employees will often carry more weight and be looked on more favorably than the employee going straight to upper management themselves asking for more. Doesn't mean it'll guarantee anything, of course, as there are always many factors involved in deciding on pay rises, but it certainly doesn't hurt. I would advise against bringing up the salary levels of the other employees, though; focus on the excellent performance of your senior employee and the additional tasks he/she is taking on which bring significant value to the company, value that makes a pay rise to reward them and help retain them a good idea from a business perspective.

Need your advice. Pay review for direct report

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