Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column Got a Minute? This week: earning less than someone you manage, being demoted after running a successful team, and losing your desk while youβre at lunch.
Taking a more responsible role without the pay rise to go with it is hard, but managing someone on more money than you is harder. Credit: Dionne Gain
I recently moved into a new role with team management responsibilities within a company Iβve worked at for more than 10 years. Unfortunately, it didnβt come with a pay increase. I have discovered one of the people I manage even earns more than I do. Is that fair? Because of some financial challenges the company faces I was glad to get the new job rather than a redundancy. However, now I feel like Iβm undervalued. Was I naive and am I to blame? Do I have any grounds to change things, other than walking away?
It is understandable that faced with a choice of redundancy or a new role with no discussion about pay or entitlements, you went for the secure option. You werenβt being naive, and I donβt think you are to blame. In fact, I donβt think anyone is to blame. Your company clearly values you and wanted to find a way to keep you. These are all positives. Rather than feel resentful, I would reframe this as a new chapter in your career and one to feel excited about.
You have new responsibilities and new expectations from your employer. Now is a perfect time to review, with your boss, how your first month/s are going. I would get clear agreement on your responsibilities, which can then open the door to discussing what the newly scoped role means in terms of your pay and entitlements. Be sure to quantify the additional responsibilities you have taken on. If your boss isnβt prepared to increase your remuneration right away (and that is often the case with an internal promotion) ask them exactly what they need to see from you to have it reviewed at an agreed time. When that time comes, be prepared to show what you have achieved against what you have just agreed.
Iβve successfully managed a part of our business for five years. My manager was promoted, and I got a new boss who said my role wasnβt needed. My position was made redundant, and I was offered a demoted position. I donβt understand how, when my team was the only part of the business outperforming our budget, my role can be made redundant, and I can be pushed aside.
When a new leader joins an organisation, they often want to reshape it in ways that suit their priorities, or to reflect a new business strategy they have been tasked to implement. It can be frustrating when you donβt have all the information to try to understand why decisions are made. I can hear how disappointed you are that all your hard work and achievements were not valued when this decision was made. Your new manager should have communicated much more clearly.
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They may not be aware of the success you had and had either been instructed to make your team redundant, or the decision was made on other non-financial factors. Building a relationship with your new manager will be important so you can show all you can do. If that doesnβt feel possible, it may be time to think about using all that great experience and your past achievements to find a new role outside the company. No one can take what you have already achieved away from you, so keep a record of all you did and use it to find a role you believe matches your abilities.
Our team was informed that our working space would be recarpeted over the weekend. Some furniture was to be relocated, allowing for desks to be moved. I occupied one of the desks that would be moved. On Monday morning I set up my desk and returned after a lunch break to find that a colleague had moved all my items and set her items on my newly positioned desk. There was no consultation, but our boss had permitted her to do this. Is this professional?
