These columns (despite the brilliant art) always piss me off. “They can ask all they want, and you are welcome to decline”? Really? She comes from academia and has no grasp of the real corporate world. (Edited)
Hope you can read her latest column in this gifted link.
@stonze Yikes - the social media one was one of the ones that bothered me the least.
What's with the one about the person who was seemingly offered a massive promotion after helping restructure their team? We don't live in an ideal world? No way I'm staying in that situation longer than it takes to find a raise elsewhere lol.
@katrina2017 Real answer is to write a letter/email asking for a raise in your own words (don’t trust your mgr to advocate for you). In this letter, quantify the change in your position, as well as any increased revenue or other benefit to the business.
You can even ask for a specific salary that you think would be fair and back it up with comps: a brief list of other current job listings with advertised salary ranges. Include attachments with their job descriptions so that they can read through and compare themselves if they’d like to.
Pass this along to your manager to share with higher-ups and HR again.
This shows them that you understand your worth, and are also seriously looking at the job market.
At the same time, rage-apply to see what other offers you can get.
@stonze Yeah her responses often feel flippant or dismissive to me. I really strongly prefer Ask A Manager, both because the answers are usually more thorough and because they are more empathetic. The include a lot more "in an ideal world X, but at someplace it is really Y" and it just feels more helpful
@merrik And Allison Green with sometimes go straight to "your boss (usually) is an asshole and isn't going to change." She is validating the writer's feelings and telling them there's not much rhey can do but move on. She'll also give a "in a perfect world" response, but acknowledges that the letter writer has a different reality to contend with.
@merrik This is the first time reading Gay’s advice column. Didn’t know she had one until this post. I’m a huge fan of Gay’s essays and I’m a fan of Allison Greene. I’m sincerely confused by why people say this column is bad. It may have a different tone than Greene’s because Gay is super direct, but in my decades of non-academic work experience, Gay’s responses are realistic. When work is unfair, the only real thing under your control is the decision to stay or leave. Or on a similar note you can make a decision to say no to something but you should be willing to have hours cut or lose your job if you stand your ground. Even great managers can’t help you if workplace policies or upper management decisions are stupid. Mid-management is only there to implement and enforce. Appealing to them is unlikely to do any good. The only time I’ve seen salary adjustments or re-distribution of work loads is after talent has left and the employer could not recruit replacements under the current terms. I do think exit interviews can make a difference for your coworkers who choose to stay.
@stonze I like it. It’s rooted in reality. Those are the real choices. Work isn’t an idea - it labor that you sell. Not satisfied? Not being heard? Suck it up or take your labor elsewhere.
