I really like the Stack Exchange network. Many of the sub-sites contain rich resources on many obscure topics. On many occasions, I found myself finding answers to problems that had nothing to do with code.

I once asked about a particular combinatorics math problem I had. Once I asked about an OSX problem I had, that was making it log itself back on. There were a couple times I had Salesforce problems [1] [2]. Not to mention the dozens of questions and answers I accumulated on Stack Overflow over the years.

profile for luksfarris on Stack Exchange, a network of free, community-driven Q&A sites

This post however is about a specific post. My first post in the Workplace sub-site, and my most popular question on the whole network:

Question

Context: This person became a manager one year ago - the previous manager had a burnout and the person was the most senior in the team - at a large corporation. As far as we know, the burnout was from them not enjoying line-management responsibilities and other personal matters.

One of their team members (new joiner, been at the company for a year) has been asking for a higher salary for 6 months (in fairness this employee really is on the lower end of the pay range, and their performance meets expectations), but raises are only given at the annual performance review. Pay rises are not guaranteed (not even inflation) and are given based on performance.

When the review came, the manager did his best to request and provide evidence that this person deserves a raise, but was denied for budget reasons.

The next opportunity is in a year but the person can easily find a higher paying job in our area, doing potentially more interesting work. The manager really doesn't want to see a team member quit, but doesn't really have leverage to change the system.

Question: besides salary ranges (internal, external) and performance, what are other arguments the manager could have used to persuade leadership?

This question received over 20 up-votes, and 5+ comments. It touched many people on a personal level. I would like to share the two most voted answers, starting with the one that I personally thought was the best:

Quote

If "we might lose this person and we will not find a replacement as productive for the same salary" is not convincing management, nothing will.

The only thing that will convince management is the pain of actually losing that employee.

However, if someone joins a company and asks for a higher salary because it's below market rate 6 months into the job... that's a red flag. I mean if it's so badly paid and the market has better offers, why take this job in the first place? Did something happen externally, that demand has shifted so massively in just 6 months? Because if it was underpaid 6 months ago and the person took the job anyway, I can see why management is like "they won't quit".

Why did the employee expect a raise that early into their contract? The ink isn't dry yet and they want to renegotiate already? Seems fishy.

You could show the employee that you recommended them for a raise, so at least they know it's budget reasons, not their performance review, but if the company decides it's not going to give a raise despite the managers recommendation, there is nothing you can do.

You may want to check whether there are perks you are entitled to give out, that aren't their salary.

- nvoigt

This answer received almost 40 up-votes, and nearly beat the next one. The most voted comment (60+ votes) was:

I do not see anything fishy. The job market seems to be hard at the moment, so he land on this job, reluctantly accepting the low offer and he is probably still hunting for a higher salary job. It is better to have a low paying job than nothing. - Tom Sawyer

The second most voted answer, which received about 35 votes, was:

Quote

TL;DR - I have been in that employee's shoes... I walked

The likelihood of you succeeding is very small.

However, the best chance you have to succeed is how you frame the problem:

"Person wants a raise of \$10K PA"

To Management this is an additional cost of \$10K PA - which is really easy to say "We don't have the budget"

Whereas consider this:

"This person wants a \$10K PA raise. To replace them would cost us at least \$10-20K in recruiters fees, they would ask for the current market rate for Salary - which is \$20K PA above what we are currently paying, and there would be 6 months of lost productivity whilst we train them up"

Now - a \$10K PA rise is significantly less than a \$20K PA rise with a \$15K Recruiters fee on-top.

Knowing the full cost of hiring a new employee:

  • Recruiter fees
  • Lost productivity from interviews
  • Lost productivity from a vacant position
  • Lost productivity from someone getting-up-to-speed in your organization
  • The cost of Salary negotiation at the hiring process

and being able to articulate that to upper management can help.

In addition - if you can tell Management a story about the employee where they did something like:

  • Decreased Costs
  • Increased profitability
  • Decreased mistakes
  • Decreased Re-work

And articulate it as a Dollar value to the company: "They helped get rid of this legacy piece of software that was costing us $10K PA" or similar.

But yeah - if Upper Management are holding fast - then you'd better spend your time organizing the leaving party.

- TheDemonLord

These were great insights, and I learned a lot from them.