GET THAT SALARY RAISE: HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR SALARY SCALE

GET THAT SALARY RAISE: HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR SALARY SCALE
by Linda Ann Nickerson

http://www.helium.com/items/290546-get-that-raise-how-to-research-your-pay-scale

Homework Pays Off
Most companies prioritize staff positions in a complex hierarchy of pay grades. Each level is assigned a salary range. Once an employee reaches a certain wage or salary level, their possibility of pay raises is capped out. Despite their stellar performance, such staffers are ineligible for increases, unless their positions are reassigned to a new pay grade and compensation range.

Know Where You Stand
All too often, ambitious employees gather up their wits and courage and march into their bosses' offices to request pay raises, only to be turned down. Alas, they have reached the top pay rate allowed for their position. Perhaps they would do better to propose a promotion, instead of a pay hike. How can an employee determine where he or she is on the company's pay scale?

Do Some Inside Research
Check the company's publications, whenever possible, employee and policy manuals, and web-site. Are the salary scales posted? Make an appointment with the human resources manager/director. If possible, set up a session with the HR staffer who recruited and hired you in the first place. Ask polite, but direct, questions about pay levels in your employment track. Find out how close you are to the ceiling for your slot.

Check Out Financial Publications
Several periodicals annually publish salary survey editions. Major newspapers do this as well. One such publication is the SNEF’s annual salary survey. You have to bear in mind the survey data is usually one to two years behind. Do make allowance for the time lag. Look for job titles that match or approximately your own. What are similar workers making annually? How do your wages match up? (Be prepared for possible surprises. You may count yourself fortunate, or you may find yourself seeking employment with a more generous company.)

Go Online
Several job-related websites offer helpful salary survey information. Search on SALARIES, and a myriad of sites will pop up. Online resume listing sites also offer salary information. See what job openings exist in your field. Make a few confidential inquiries, just to discover what wages are available. (No one said you had to accept a new position, but you certainly could! Keeping your options open is always a good strategy.)

Check With Your Headhunter / Recruitment Agency
If you know any headhunter or recruitment consultants, check with them about the appropriate salary range for your position title, with the same number of years’ experience. Most of them are in the market and they would be able to tell you accurately the salary range for your position/number of years’ experience.

Consider Redefining Your Position
Job descriptions are rewritten all the time, and positions may be upgraded far more than most people realize. A promotion may not mean an immediate pay raise, or a significant one, but it may raise your pay ceiling and open the door to larger increases in the future.
A little homework can help you to realize what you are worth to an employer, so you can approach your own boss more intelligently, productively, and successfully.

Boost Employee Morale - Part 1

Boost Employee Morale
(Low morale - low profits. High morale - high profits.)

Part 1

By: Terri Levine

Employee and manager morale dipped even further toward the end of 2002, and the current climate that businesses are operating in does not offer any promising turnaround. Businesses are too focused on the negative, and economic threats, terrorist threats, the war, etc. are contributing to a continued downward spiral in morale.

Studies have proven that the morale of a company's workforce is directly linked to profitability. Low morale - low profits. High morale - high profits. This is because workers who are happy in their job and with their employer perform better, resulting in higher and improved productivity and profitability.

Prior to all the terrorist activity and outbreak of war, it was mostly the workers whose morale was poor, but now management is showing signs of concern and their lack of optimism does nothing for the existing morale of their workers. What is even more alarming is if management has this attitude, it will confirm in their employee's minds that any effort is futile, so what is the use?

What does all this mean? Well, apart from a larger number of unhappy people in the workforce, if immediate steps are not taken to boost morale, few businesses will see any respectable profits within the next six months. If management and workers are both coming from a place of negativity, it spells serious trouble for business.

Surveys performed by Gallup have shown that the old-fashioned methods of offering financial incentives, company cars, etc. do not produce long term benefits. Their research has found that as many as two-thirds to three-quarters of people employed in Sales, for example, are performing at much lower standards, which has a detrimental affect on the entire business. Add to this a management that agrees with them and you can see the trouble for which they're headed.

Employees and managers need to feel emotionally attached to their work and their employer in positive and uplifted ways. Senior management needs to convey optimism and send that down the line, with a message that conveys strength and security. They need to encourage and show frequent appreciation of every employee's efforts, and find ways of helping employees work in jobs that utilize natural talents. Both employees and management need to know that what they are doing is highly appreciated, that opportunities for advancement and self-growth are available within and by the company, and they need to come to work in a happy and positive environment.

It is a mistake to think that morale will improve when business picks up, or the war is over. Of course, these things do have an impact on company morale, but for a long term improvement, focus needs to be placed on the individual within the organization. When everybody goes to work and loves what they do and where they work, their productivity is high which produces the profitable results for the business. The challenge is matching employees to roles in which they can and will shine - sometimes it is possible to modify existing roles to bring out the best in the employee, and other times it may require a transfer to a different position or department. In any case, consultation with the employee is important.


More and more companies are hiring professional Coaches to establish methods by which employee and management morale will be permanently boosted and profitability assured. Many H.R. professionals are seeing the benefits in the Coaching procedure and are learning coaching skills to use within their organization. But for those businesses that choose to try and sort it out themselves, they can take steps that are definitely in the right direction.

These steps will be presented in next week’s newsletter. Please keep a look-out for it.

Part 2 will be posted next week. Please keep a look-out for it.