It Will Be Hard To Do More

Recently I was given a raise at work after I broached the subject with my manager. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be but I have learned two things in nearly a decade in corporate America:

1. No one will fight for you harder than yourself
2. The worst they can say is no

The Raise

So I talked with my manager about my workload and compensation, and to my surprise he took me seriously. He went up the chain with some accomplishments of the year that I wrote up for him (it's his job to advocate for me, but it's certainly my job to give him the ammunition to take into battle). Before much time had passed, a big wig put some time on my calendar. I had a good relationship with my (then) manager, and even with the big wig, so there was always some amount of personal connection amidst the money-talk.

The Reorg

Cue a managerial change and reorganization of the team. The dust settled, and my manager wasn't my manager and the big wig wasn't a big wig over my team anymore. The details aren't that relevant, but the outcome was that my now manager is someone I don't know personally — back to square one of professional-relationship-building.

The Conversation

Due to the timing of it all, when my raise became official it was this new manager who signed off on it. It was their happy-responsibility to have a quick chat to tell me it was official. But that conversation was the most awkward of the three.

Does this raise of X% close the gap with the other competing opportunities you mentioned to (previous manager)? Because it'll be hard to do more than this.

I was taken aback initially. It felt almost threatening.

I really wasn't sure how to respond. I think I was grateful and cordial, talked about how I really do believe in the mission of our work and I'm thankful that I can receive a raise. This lady is nice but she doesn't know what my "other opportunities" are, so there's no honest answer for me to give. I wanted to be sarcastic, crack a joke about record profits, make light of her describing me as a "critical player in enterprise deliverables," but I'm not trying to make enemies.

The Reframe

So I called a friend to vent, of course, and he gave me some good advice.

It was a threat.

But not in the way I took it at first. My friend has been at the same company longer than me, and he expounded on her words: "it will be hard to do more." I felt like she was annoyed with me for fighting for a raise, but my friend said she was probably just trying to give me a realistic view of my position in the company. "It will be hard to do more" means there are processes in place at such a large enterprise. Rewarding start-up-like behavior and contribution just isn't well-supported. It's much easier to let someone quit who's been with the company a decade and replace them for 20% more than it is to just pay them 20% more. If someone (like me) isn't satisfied, that's not the only thing in the conversation - time at the company, time in position, time under specific manager, etc. all are hurdles to more compensation, and I'm referring to salary anyways, equity feels like it's out of my grasp. But if I'm gone and market conditions dictate that my position and responsibilities are worth 20% more than what I was being paid, that's what the position will be posted at. My previous manager and the big wig were the types to say policy-be-damned when it would get in the way - it might be how I got this raise in the first place. But no shade to my new manager, they're just doing their job.

In the end, they were just being honest, and I should appreciate that.