Acquired! Day 123
I finally got the written offer for the promotion. I haven’t yet signed the offer letter because I want to get more money out of them. My employer has made an interesting move. They are offering me a title, which is good. They are offering me more money, which is also good. However, the raise is much less than I had expected and the new title includes a significant increase in responsibility. In short, they are doubling my work but only increasing my base pay by 15 percent. There is also a commission component to the offer, but it is not very exciting. I could make roughly the same commission by staying in my current role.
I don’t want to turn the offer down, but so far they have rebuffed my attempts to get more money. They seem very willing to let me go. I haven’t made the threat explicitly yet. I am picking up signals that they would simply accept my resignation and happily underpay the next sucker in line. So now we are in a bluffing game and they have the upper hand. If I submit my two weeks notice, then they will have to act. If they realize my value, then they’ll offer me more. On the other hand, they may call my bluff and let me go. However, I have to consider the possibility that they are bluffing. Perhaps they will only sweeten the offer if I show that I am ready to resign.
I have been creative with my counter-offers. I tried pointing them to industry data that shows what I would make in a similar role at other companies. I also pointed out the fact that a former colleague (who was pretty worthless) quit. I suggested that they not backfill his role and instead split his salary between me and the other guy getting promoted. These ideas were rejected. Our CEO has a reputation for being cheap, so I may be negotiating with someone who’s hands are tied. I have not yet appealed directly to the CEO (which is a common practice in such a small company) but I may have to. In fact, that will probably be my last resort.
This is part of the Acquired! series.
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Tags: Acquired!, Career Development
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February 11th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
I’m shocked that you are daring enough to write this type of article online. If I was your boss and I found this, I’d certainly not be worried about letting you go. Saying your CEO is cheap! Wow… He does have a business to run to make profits, did you remember that? What are you do to add to these profits?
I get the impression that if your boss doesn’t want to pay you more and is just as happy to offer the position to the next guy, its because YOU haven’t sold your abilities and if that is the case, you aren’t in a very good bargaining position anyway. If you are as GOOD as you think you are, they wouldn’t let you go when you counter offer or demand more money. Are you really adding that much profit they can’t afford to loose you? That’s the position you need to get to before asking or demanding for more money. Prove yourself first, that’s how you earn what you make or should make.
February 12th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I write here anonymously. Do you know my name or which company I work for?
You are right that I have some work to do convincing the CEO. I have to do a better job of selling my value to him. It is difficult since I work remotely and have very little face time. Negotiations ALWAYS go better when you can read a person’s body language. It is a really crazy time at the company right now and I’m just hoping not to get left in the fray.
I know that I am worth it. The problem is one of perception management. I know I’m worth it, but he doesn’t. If you just sit around and hope people will notice your worth, then you are setting yourself up for low wages and a slow climb on the ladder.
Oh and regarding the CEO’s need to make profits. He just sold the company for $350M and gave his longest serving and most value employees NOTHING. This set off a chain reaction where we are all trying to grab some money while we can. Can they spare an extra $20k for a good employee … I think so.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Well Dan, I guess without knowing more of that story its tough to comment. If I were in your shoes, I’d go elsewhere and not look back if you get shafted at opportunity and pay in a company doing so well. However, you do have to work to make yourself known and you MUST do that before expecting the pay, but do this in an organization where you WILL get noticed. Its not worth it otherwise.