Dear Manager - How much will you pay me?

How to navigate pay, parity & promotions at workplace

Oct 22, 2022

Welcome back to Future of Work, Future of You. I am back with my “Letter to My Manager” series. Thank you for the overwhelming response to first letter which is also my most popular issue - Managers, Pls stop running your team like an Uber driver. It is that time of the year when most of you have gotten your new paycheck or are prepping for the conversation to get one. Discussing money at work is hard. Your can’t confide in your peers. Managers treat it like an indiscretion & your team should never get bad vibes. But money is damn important for each one of us. In most cases, it is the single biggest reason why all of us work. Let’s delve deeper into how an innocuous letter to your manager can solve this problem. If you like what you read, don’t forget to hit subscribe.

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Credits: Yours truly :)

Dear Manager,

Hi there.

I hope my last letter wasn’t too harsh. You see I was simply trying to set a baseline for our long term engagement where we both get the best out of this relationship. Fair?

Today, I want to talk about a topic that is considered taboo in every manager-employee conversation.

MONEY!!!

But unlike past attempts we have had at this, I am going to do it differently this time around.

I won’t beg for a salary raise. I won’t throw tantrums. I won’t threaten you with a resignation letter. We are going to take it nice & easy. I will throw facts & figures at you.

But before we get to it, I want to ask an even simpler question.

Why the hell can I not discuss my pay with others? My peers should be free to know what I earn & if one or both of us are being taken for a ride! Making pay transparent is the first step but employers need to do more to create psychological safety for employees to freely discuss compensation & expect meritocracy & accountability. Just so you know that under certain circumstances, it is completely legal to share pay information with co-workers. If you have nothing to hide, shouldn’t this be encouraged?

Now on to the key topic.

As you know, I live in the famed Silicon Valley where no amount of money is ever good enough because some guy in your neighbourhood just cashed out 3.5 million dollars in an IPO. You are doomed to be perennially poor in your mind. Also it doesn’t help that I don’t work for a FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google) company so I earn a more earthly modest paycheck. Lets just say I scrape by respectfully but could do with more.

Just so you know the pay I got last year is worth 10% less due to surging inflation so please don’t feel proud of handing me a double digit hike last time around. It was worth low single digits as things stand today. I don’t understand a lot about how inflation works but gas prices are through the roof in California. Grocery is 2x more expensive than what it was 2 years ago. No Airbnb is below $500 a night. Rent & mortgage are a minimum $5000 per month unless you want to bump into walls while walking inside your house. And raising a kid feels more like feeding a village. Daycare fees & diaper costs are a monetary death by a thousand cuts.

So as we near the end of another eventful financial year, I want to pose the big question to you.

How much will you pay me?

If we go by Federal or Bureau of Labor statistics (BLS) guidelines, it should be 2-5% depending on your industry. This effectively means that you will find me on Caltrain tracks or at the bottom of a cliff in Yellowstone.

I am sure neither one of us want this?

And if you do, please don’t bother reading further!

Unlike our diligently unaware HR team, I have come up with a very comprehensive guideline for pay raises. This takes into account every bit of explicit & implicit ass-slogging I do at work across all dimensions of your expectations.

Here I highlight six reasons I deserve a pay raise beyond just my performance reviews.

Innovation:

How do you pay for moonshot efforts? Every great attempt doesn’t always find its way to an OKR tool. My incredible failures may just fuel the future million $ product / revenue idea for our team & organization. Reward me as a dreamer & an entrepreneur.

Anticipation:

You have told me so many times that I am a breakout performer & to-be rockstar so I am blazing a trail already. I may not be there yet but why do you wait for next year? Nudge me a little to hit the finish line faster. Give me that raise this year or better - right now!

Collaboration:

You agree that I am a glue in my team that amplifies the value of others? Maybe an excel jockey or a salesforce expert who is the go-to person for everyone else. I may not look outstanding on a standalone basis but I make others look smarter & efficient. Retain me as a connector with a bigger check. I matter more than you think.

Need:

At times, I just need the money to improve my lifestyle. When I tell you this on your face, please respect that. Hand out a tad bit higher. I will never forget that. Every time I drive in my first car or pay down a mortgage, I will remember what you did & return in kind.

Beginning:

I have had new roles, new teams & new assignments in an alien country. People go through enough anxiety & fear on what-ifs. A bump in check for fresh starts goes a long way as a vote of confidence. It shows your belief & support in me.

Parity:

Organizations grow. Biases kick in. Exceptions become the norm. We all make mistakes. Don’t let me figure out a pay disparity, ogling at an accidental printout or overhearing a lunch chat. Coworkers who bring equal value deserve the exact same pay. Make it happen.

More importantly, I want you to fight for my pay & convince yourself first & then others on why I truly deserve it. I just hope you aren’t waiting for the next recession or deflation to tell me why this isn’t happening this year. It is time to disrupt the Work-Now-Pay-Later culture!

Would love to hear from my readers on how pay & parity affects you at work.

Have you experienced pay disparity at your workplace?
What are some things you do to navigate issues around your pay or promotion?

If you have a co-worker, manager, founder or even an entrepreneurial dreamer who needs to see this, please share. You may be helping them more than you realize.