'The Job Market'

Ernie O. Cecilia

Contributor

MANILA, Philippines—Salary is one of the most ticklish career issues. This is especially true with young employees or those who depend solely on their salary for a living.

Among the employees’ problems I have encountered as a career counselor, salary issues are one which almost everyone wants to know about but are afraid to ask. In fact, during job interviews this is an issue every job applicant wished were discussed by the interviewer. Getting more money as an employee is a nagging issue, but few have truly mastered the art of making the boss want to give them a raise they deserve.

Reality check

No businessman is willing to throw away good money and give this to employees who do not deserve it. On the other hand, even the most tightfisted businessman in the world will admit that he must pay market value for good people when they deserve it.

When are you deserving of a salary or salary increase? You don’t deserve a salary increase simply because you were a flood victim. You don’t deserve a salary bigger than another employee simply because you have more mouths to feed. Salary or salary increases are hardly a function of an employee’s need.

So, what is the key to success in asking for more money from your boss?

The job market

The first thing to do is to understand the job market. Employees usually get paid on the basis of the market value of what they do. Ask around from your peers or friends who are working in other companies. If you are doing the same thing, you will likely be paid almost the same level of salaries. If you can get a copy of annual salary surveys, you will know the range within which most employers pay for a certain type of job. This is a good benchmark for knowing your worth in market.

Some industries pay higher than others. You must also understand this reality. If you want big bucks from being an employee, the first thing you have to do is look for an employer that pays big bucks. They are usually in the oil, energy, pharmaceutical or a few other industries - mostly, the large multinationals.

Personal value

The second thing to understand is how your personal value as an employee is perceived by your boss and your company. What you do is not exactly the same as how you are perceived. You may be doing your darned best, but if you are not seen as a great performer, you still might not get the salary you deserve.

Performance does not speak for itself. The boss is too busy to know everybody in the organization. Doing great is one thing. Getting noticed or perceived to be doing great is another. To deserve more money from your company, you have to be good at both.

Expertise

The best way to get noticed at work is to be the expert on something, anything. When you join a company, ask your boss about the most important expectation he has from you. Develop the skills to exceed that expectation. Continually learn to be the best in whatever you do, until you become known to be the expert, the best in class.

When do you know that you are the expert? You will feel this when your boss acknowledges your expertise, when you get recognized or awarded for being an expert, or when you become the “go to” person in your field of specialization.

In short, you’re like the Ghostbusters. As the movie’s theme song says, “When there’s something strange in the neighborhood … who’re you gonna call?”

Trust

Even if you’re the expert, but if your bosses don’t think highly of you, you might not get the pay you deserve. They like like-minded, amiable, obedient, efficient employees. They don’t like barbaric technocrats. If you fall into the second category, they will likely clone you quickly so that they can replicate your expertise before they fire you.

To deserve the high salary, you have to create trust with your bosses.

In summary

Now you know how to make your boss give you more money. You have to understand the job market. It will tell you whether your pay is lower than what the market pays. If it is, you have a good chance of getting a raise.

Next, understand your personal value, as perceived by your bosses. If you have established that your bosses believe in your personal value as an employee, and are paid lower than the market, you double your chances of getting a raise.

Establish the trust between you and your boss. You can’t coerce or con your boss into giving you a raise. Make him want to give it to you, by helping him make the right decision. Sometimes, the company does not have the financial capacity to grant you a raise at this time.

Other times, the boss or the company isn’t simply willing to pay the market value for your services. When this happens, you have a different problem - how to look for another employer?

But many common employees will not leave their jobs even if they are not being paid the right salary. Sometimes, I think God must love the common people, He made so many of them. Or God must really hate the common people, He made them so common.

(Ernie is current Chair of IR Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). He also chairs ECOP’s Long Range Policy Planning Committee. He was also President of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines in 1999. He is the President and CEO of EC Business Solutions and Career Center, a human resource consulting firm. He can be reached at ernie_cecilia@yahoo.com)