The Paradoxes of Corporate Life: Compensation

I should really be saving this rant for another date and time early next year when we have to dole out the yearly salary increases, but I’m feeling inspired right now. 

In corporate life, there are many things that are paradoxical, contradictory, or even counter-intuitive.  There are many mixed messages that get created in the whirlwind of corporate ideals, goals, spin doctoring, and priorities.  Historically, yearly salary administration has been the bane…THE BANE…of my existence.  For all of my years as a leader and manager, I have recited the same lament: “I hate this time of year.”  A common variation is, “I love everything about my job except salary administration.”  Not so anymore.  Something has fundamentally changed my outlook this year.  It makes the most sense if I first tell a short story.

When I was a newly minted manager, I had but a few weeks under my belt before annual salary administration came around.  Nobody blamed me for their inadequate raises…because, after all, what you get is NEVER enough.  Well, almost never.  For me, my raise that year was plenty.  Apart from having to administer raises in tandem with the gentleman who I was replacing, as an employee myself, I got to enjoy the other side of the table.  The gentleman I was replacing also happened to be my boss, so, when we sat down to talk salary, the man who had been my mentor and most ardent supporter was allowed the pleasure of telling me my percent increase for the year.  Back in those days, there was a very rigid system in place that matched salary grade to job description.  It was so rigid, in fact, that to promote anyone required that the person in question be given compensation equal to the very minimum of the salary range for that position.  In my case, my current salary and the minimum of my new position were vastly different.  I’m talking about a sizable gap.  Sizable.

I arrived at my boss’ office.  He waved me in.  I sat down.  We talked.  I told him how excited I was about my first leadership assignment.  He told me how proud he was.  We exchanged encouraging compliments.  We wished each other well on our new roles.  And, then, he told informed me of my increase.

“17%,” he said.  “Not even prorated.”

I was floored.  It was incredible.  I couldn’t believe it.  My wife was going to have a baby when she heard about this…and we weren’t even pregnant. 

I think he gushed some more about me, how he was entrusting his team to me, but I can’t remember anything else.  When we were done, I stood to leave.

“John wants to see you,” he said.  John was his boss.

I hesitated.  “OK,” I said reluctantly.  I was barely in my mid-20s, and I was still very susceptible to organizational intimidation.  I didn’t “gel” with John, and I could swear that dude thought I was a dork.  Regardless, I gathered up my courage and headed off to John’s office.

I knocked at the door.  John turned around. 

“Come in,” he said.  He gestured towards a chair.

Small talk.  Congratulations.  After about 5 minutes, he got to it.

“You will never, ever see this kind of raise again.” 

I was crushed.  There was nothing gentle about it.  There was no note of pleasantness, no glimmer of hope.  All he gave me was the assertion that I would never, ever be worth that much to this organization again.  And I listened to him.

I believed him.