Career Resources

It's a Question of Value

Sooner or later, the question arises. It's one of those things that can't be ignored. It demands your attention like an unrelenting itch under an arm cast. We all want to know, "Am I being paid what I'm worth?" An easy question to ask, but one not so easily answered. Compensation issues can be a slippery slope for even the most savvy of employees.

Fort Knox Should Be So Well Guarded

For starters, many employers guard company salary structure as closely as Colonel Sanders guards his secret recipe, so it's hard to make comparisons within the organization. The general sense around many boardrooms is that the end of the world as the execs know it, will come to pass if salary information falls into the wrong hands (i.e., the employees). Although there are many very cogent arguments for a well-designed and fully communicated compensation plan that provides market-specific wage ranges for all positions, for some that still remains one very hard pill to swallow. So, assuming one works, shall we say, for a monetarily tight-lipped organization, how does one put one's compensation into perspective? Fortunately, there are some resources that allow us to bring some illumination to where previously there was none.

Consider the "Total Package"

But before focusing on pay rates and strategies for gathering comparative info, it's probably appropriate to reflect on the notions of value and worth. Salary alone, tells just part of the story. For most of us, the first impulse is to say, "Show me the money". It is after all largely how we measure our value against others doing similar work. But take home pay is just part of a broader spectrum. How does your benefit package stack up? Are stock options or bonuses available to you? What tangible and non-tangible perquisites are provided that are unique to you or your organization? Does your company offer unique promotional or professional development opportunities which may not be reflected on your 1040 but will likely have a profound impact on your future value? Compensation can come in many forms.

Then there are those "soft" benefits - things like scheduling flexibility and accommodating work hours, a comfortable environment, a synergistic work group, access to resources, a boss that respects you and provides you opportunities to grow, and so on. These are the kinds of things that are often overlooked in estimating whether one is or is not adequately compensated for his or her work. In reality, a great place to work isn't exclusively about money, and one's worth can, and should, be measured in terms of the full employment package. Call it the happiness factor.

So How Much Do You Make?

But still, the itch is there. Most of us want to know how we stack up in financial terms against others doing the same kind of work. Since so many organizations are reluctant to share salary information, wage comparison is often a task undertaken solo. Fortunately, for the lonely information seeker there are some terrific and easily tapped resources available. Web sites such as Salary.com, and CareerJournal.com' s JobStar provide cogent advice on wage issues and an abundance of links to a wide range of salary surveys, both general and specific, which can pretty much allow virtually anyone to make meaningful salary comparisons.

You Get What You Give

At the core of wage issues and an employee's relative worth to any organization is value. Bottom line? What do you as an associate bring to the table that ultimately enhances the effectiveness of the company for which you labor so diligently? What distinguishes your outcomes from those of others doing similar work? A wage search will serve little benefit if you can't be very clear and specific about the ways in which you consistently add value to your team - regardless of where your compensation falls in relation to others in your field. If you can articulate the measurable ways in which your employer benefits directly from your efforts, then chances are that the comparative salary data you've collected will positively influence your future compensation. Are you paid what you're worth? Armed with the right information, you can make your case.