What would you do I need guidance.First, a little background: I interned for the company I'm currently working for and did great. So, they brought me back last Spring with a FT offer and asked that I work PT until I graduate. I did as much and gave as many hours as I could. Fast forward one year later and I just finished my first year performance review as a FT employee... I have been with the company for 15 months including my internship (3 mo's internship, 2 mo's PT, 10 mo's FT). According to the review, I did average (a.k.a. met expectations). It felt really contrived. I know I excelled in every way in my job. I wasn't perfect, but I'm positive I excelled. Several areas of the cookie-cutter, big-company perf. review felt contrived, as I said. My boss told me this raise was the average for our industry (and was partially limited due to lessened company performance in '07). In fact, she said it was the average across the company. It was sub CPI for your information, and I really couldn't be less pleased. What do I do folks? I'm an undergrad of a Top 20 Business Program (although, I'm a management major-- not as much leverage as other majors). I've excelled in my time at this top-notch Telecomm company. Everyone likes me, they know I do good work, and I've spearheaded several efforts already. Having Planning, Operational, and traditional Business Analysis experience at this company will prove well for me going forward. The problem is-- I don't feel appreciated. My raise was AVERAGE. Parts of it were CONTRIVED, as part of what I suspect to be standard HR tactics (start the employee off a bit low and give them room to work up). I know I have leverage from my experience already, but do I try to cash in on that, or will this company actually give me the promotion that I deserve? I really don't know what to think, and I feel like rebelling. I know I'm worth more, but I'm not sure what to expect being that I'm still relatively young in my career. Any general guidance would be appreciated. Thanks much. Ok, you may not like this but here's some reality. You're average. That's not an insult, that's an ok thing. What you determine as "excelling" was by their standards, "average". You've probably never been told that before and are offended by the title. Most people are average. Most entry-level people are average at this point in their careers because you're still learning. Your grand total of 10 months of full time experience is a blip on the world scale. In many companies they wouldn't even have done your evaluation for another 2 months. 1 year of experience, even if we add in the part time, is still incredibly entry-level in every field. Yes, categories on job performances are to some degree "contrived". They're general things applied to hundreds or sometimes even tens of thousands of employees. My company has half a dozen of these categories then it is up to me to figure out how what I do fits them. Then they've got a list of about a dozen additional things (can't even remember what they call those) that are more character issues like "shows integrity", "responds to customer needs". Whether you're an SVP or a CSR, you have those same categories. And for all job evaluations, there's an element of at least a bit of subjectivity. You were average and you got a raise, in an industry that took a bit hit this year. You should not be complaining. I don't know what your raise was, but if it was 2-3%, that's absolutely average. In my company (160,000 employees and a name you'd definitely know), you don't get a raise at all unless you're a 4 or 5 out of 5. So if you score a 3 (average), you get nothing. If you're 4 or 5, you get 3% this year. 4's get 3%, 5's get 3%. 3's get nothing. So, you now have a few choices. You can suck it up, put on a happy face and choose to see the positive side of your evaluation, work on the areas where you were less than perfect and strive to hit above average next year. You can sulk and complain and come off incredibly ungrateful, full of yourself, not a team player and probably end up unemployed before your next evaluation comes around. You can (quietly) go out and see if your whole year's worth of experience will get you more appreciation at some other company. If someone else is willing to pay you a lot more than you're making now, great take it. If not, suck it up and continue to learn where you are. You are still a total newbie in the big World of Work and absolutely still have a lot to learn about what adds value and what you're getting out of this experience. Remember, that a paycheck is only a small part of your first jobs. Experience and good references for the future are everything at this point.
Tess
Hey, that's exactly what I was looking for and basically what I expected. I guess my HR Mgmt teacher was wrong in showing us that many payscales afford much higher raises to employees earlier in their grade (up to 10%). I expected much more, but I definitely understand this is an industry specific matter as well. My former Univ. funnels heavily into the Financial industry, so that may be the disconnect in why I was taught that. This is also a product of lingering unhappiness due to not being offered a signing bonus (again, all of my friends in the Financial industry were topped off nicely with a bonus), but, again I understand that's an industry specific custom. I wanted to know that the decisions made were valid and it seems they are. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a fat head. I was just misinformed previously and really didn't know what to expect. I'm glad you let me know the reality of the situation. I wasn't considering leaving NOW. I wanted to put in my time for another year and feel out the situation. I'm not sure if I can live with a steady 3% given where I'm at in my life financially. So, I was really probing to get some response on when the right time to leave would be IF I decided to try and maximize my financial potential elsewhere. Or, when might the time be to promote someone from that "Associate" entry-level title onto the next title promotion? I need to get a guage on my financial future. I'm all about planning and don't do well with uncertainty... Again, any advice on this inquiry is highly appreciated. :) Thanks again for the practical advice on the perf. review / raise. I guess I should be counting my blessings. I guess my HR Mgmt teacher was wrong in showing us that many payscales afford much higher raises to employees earlier in their grade (up to 10%). One of the things you learn in the first years of your career is that there is a huge difference between theory (which is what you get in school) and reality. The theory is probably sound and perhaps bourne out by charts and graphs and industry averages and all that. I'm not privy to a ton of charts and graphs on this, but I've been working for over 20 years for a variety of Fortune 50 companies as well as a few non-profits and even a city government. I have had a couple 10%-15% raises in my life. All of them when I was working for a major oil company (you've seen the price at the pump, they NEVER hurt for money), as a contractor and my boss had a lot of discretionary room. When I became a "real" employee however, I was then subject to the same 3-5% that everyone else gets. There are many different formulas for how companies issue raise percentages. The oil company took everyone in the same grade, threw them in a pool, brought their bosses into a room and those bosses fought (often very viciously) over whatever money was in the pot to carve out what they could for their employee. Sometimes that meant that everyone in the pool got an equal percent sometimes one or two superstars got the lion's share and everyone else missed out. Still, double digit raises were incredibly rare. It is much more common that there is some sort of cap at 2, 3, maybe as much as 5% that is available and allocated based on some formula related to the job evaluation score. The way you gain significant ground is by moving up in your career, not by staying at the same level and getting raises. It takes however, quite a while before you can move up. Again, this will vary by company and industry, but you should expect to be in your job 2-3 years minimum before a real "promotion" opportunity comes along. You should talk to your boss sometime about your career path with them. What is the next step and what does he advise you work on now to take you there later? I'd wait about 6 months before asking him but once you do, really listen to what he says and put it into practice. If you get along well with a boss, they can be a great source of information. Tess
The way things are now, stay where you are as long as possible, work on strengthening your weak points, and save money for the future. I agree uncertainty sucks, and you need to be prepared for it. In as much as possible, make yourself invaluable. Learn as much as you can on this job, so they will have a hard time replacing you. Look at your spending; do you really need some of the things you want? I realize you either of rent or house payments, as well as car payments and such, but is there some way you can economize? Save energy, do your own dry cleaning with Dryel or wear washable clothes, take public transit whenever possible, etc.. Switch from a bank to a credit union; they offer higher interest rates and better credit terms. Sock away your savings, because believe me you will need them. Better safe than sorry.
Thanks again for everyone's advice. I'm definitely committed to progressing and staying with my employer for the short-term. | |
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