Q & A Table of Contents
I've Been Doing The Work But Not Getting The Pay
From: Grace, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Question: Since my boss left 8 months ago, I have been officially assigned as the acting Head of Department, with no one available for me to delegate to my present role & responsibilities. Meanwhile, I have also placed a formal application for the vacant position.
The company policy does not entitle any employee in an acting capacity to any acting allowance. The rationale is the employee's capabilities are being developed in his / her acting capacity.
It has been made known to me that a new boss, with more years of working experience will be coming on board soon. This means, I'll be reverting to my previous position. While the management has expressed their satisfaction with my job performance thus far, I have been told that I am not the best candidate for the job due to my lack of experience. However, they wish to groom me and not loose me as a highly valued employee.
I wish to negotiate for:
- some form of monetary return / compensation to the additional
responsibilities I've taken on over the 8 months and
- a solidified development plan to take me to the next level over the next
12-18 months
Otherwise, I'm planning to start looking for greener pastures.
How should I go about negotiating for the above without jeopardizing the relationship I have established with the top management?
Response: You need to head in two directions at once: First you should start looking immediately to find out whether there are 'greener pastures'. As you derive information about other places where you might get a job, including their compensation policy and opportunities for advancement, you will be developing your BATNA, your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Your BATNA give you a sense of the balance of the power in your negotiations with your current management.
The second thing you should do is develop a series of questions to ask your present bosses. Think hard about their interests; find questions to ask that will give them a chance to tell you how much they value you. Develop questions that give them the opportunity to have the bright idea that you need (and deserve) a meaningful incentive to continue working for them if someone else gets the job you've been filling for the past eight months.
You have a reasonably clear sense of your interests. Make sure that nothing you say goes contrary to those interests. Expressing anger, for example, may be needed to let them know how you feel about their policies -- but the language you use has to be carefully considered.
Once you know about your BATNA, what sorts of 'greener pastures' exist in the job market (and whether it means you would have to move, work different hours, etc.), and once you have thought about what kinds of information you need from management to know what you can expect from them, then you are ready to negotiate.
There is nothing wrong with telling management that you were quite flattered to be placed in the acting position -- and that because you still had your old responsibilities, you were doing two jobs rather than one. Finding out their assessment of your progress can help you draw a conclusion about how far you can go in looking for rewards for your past efforts and what you can expect as dependable incentives for the future.
In your negotiation, you should be clear in presenting your case -- but you should spend more time listening than presenting information. Ask questions that require more than just a 'yes' or 'no' answer. The more you learn about their analysis of the situation, the more effectively you'll be able to make your points about pay for the past and incentives for the future.
If you have an attractive BATNA, you can tell management that your loyalty has been tested by their failure to pay you for doing two jobs and their (anticipated) failure to hire you as permanent rather than acting in your current situation. Ask them what they would do if they were in your situation. What would they request? What would they expect?
Your good relationship with management sounds as if it may be a one-way street. Investigate that with your questions. If they do not reciprocate your loyalty, you have to question whether it makes sense to continue to have the loyalty all flowing in one direction.
Good luck,
Steve
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