promotionI was hired in December 2005 to conduct product training. I accepted the position at an income level significantly lower than to which I am accustomed (52K), based upon the expectation that a managerial position would become available. I performed my responsibilities well and a Sales Training Manager's position has opened (for which I am qualified). Salary.com lists income at the 25th percentile at 76K and the 75th percentile at 106K. The company has offered me a temporary position (about three months) to determine my capabilities and to determine if I can perform my duties from home rather than from the home office. Four weeks ago I conducted a sales training program for 9 salespeople, some with very little experience and some with more than 25 years. Despite having only 2 weeks to prepare, I hit the homerun and even the senior sales people loved it. All the management team members gave me rave reviews. The company has tried other trainers in the past and has been disappointed. All signs look positive. I replied to the original offer (three month trial, no compensation amount) asking that my salary bump be in line with what salary.com lists, and that the bump be retroactive to about 1 month after the trial period began. Today my proposed manager (VP Strategic Ops), who is my advocate, said that the senior team will not make it retroactive, and that he expects that they will be 10-15K less than my expected income level (I said that I expected to be at least at the 25th percentile). I am now creating a second sales training program for an internal group and will have a meeting next week with a third group for product and sales training. I fear that they are using me and that I am being set up for disappointment. My new manager says that my problem is that they know how much (little) I have been making. Do you have any suggestions? I can always accept their offer and begin looking for another position, but I like the team and the company. Thanks very much. There is a general feeling that most of the salary surveys tend to run higher than real world salaries for similar positions. So, it may be unrealistic to expect to receive a salary that's reflective of what any of them indicate one should be earning for a particular job. It is, after all, the employer who gets to decide what a particular job is worth to his or her organization, not the external salary survey. If I were you, I'd wait to see what salary is actually offered and how much of an increase it is over what you've been earning up to this point. If it's a significant increase - at least 15% higher - I'm not sure I would make too much of a fuss about it our quit in a huff. That's not to suggest that you can't ask if the proposed increase is negotiable and see what sort of response you get. If you think the proposed increase is too low, regardless of what any salary survey says, and assuming their initial offer is negotiable, I'd base a reasonable counter-offer, expressed as a range, on a realistic estimate of the job I was doing, not on what some external survey says a job like this one should pay. Frankly, I'd think a reasonable salary range would be 10% to 15% more than you were earning when you were being paid $52K. If the offer is in that neighborhood, I'd take it. If it's more than that, obviously, I'd accept it and say, "thank you very much." If an error was made it would be expecting your employer to live by external salary survey data which may, or may not have anything to do with the value your employer has determined his or her jobs are worth. Paul W. Barada The Negotiation Expert
Thanks very much. I appreciate your advice and will follow it. Wish me luck! | |
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