Congrats on your promotion! Now—let’s get you compensated according to your market value.
If you get promoted, you’ll be negotiating a new rate for yourself with your current employer. This is a particular type of negotiation that, if left without strategy, may not leave you with the pay you deserve.
What you have on your side is that they’ve offered you the position! This indicates that they think you can do it and they are willing to make a bet on that. If you need a reminder about how brilliant you are for getting promoted, spend some time here.
Now, it is common for a company to have a policy that specifies a cap to salary increases for promotions.
What this looks like in real life:
You’re a sales associate who has just been promoted to sales manager. (Go you!) As an associate you make $40K. During the negotiations the hiring manager reminds you that there is a 10% cap to salary increases for promotions, per company policy. Due to this policy, she offers you $44K. However, the salary range posted for the sales manager job is between $50K-$60K.
How you respectfully and firmly counter her offer:
Acknowledge your awareness and respect for the company’s salary increase policy. While you’re at it, thank her again for believing in you and offering you the job.
Remind her of the pay range of the position ($50K-$60K). The company values the work of this role at that rate. Then, explain your concern about the difference between this range and her offer.
Once you’ve highlighted the gap, explain to her that you understand that your next position’s responsibilities are not relative to your current responsibilities. Therefore, your pay should be reflective of the new responsibilities, not relative to your previous pay.
Finally, close on a positive note, by informing her that you’re ready to produce work that is at a comparable level to the other sales managers. If your output is comparable to their’s, then your pay should be too. Remember, when you start your new role, they’re not going to go easy on you just because you’ve been promoted from within. If you’re going to be expected to produce like all of the other sales managers, your rate should not be deeply below theirs.
By taking this approach you will actually be aligning yourself with the hiring manager. Remember, you want her on your team. You want her to believe that your compensation should be based on the position’s value, not the company’s policy. The goal here is not to have them re-write company policy. The goal is to get you paid fairly. Therefore, do not attack the company policy. Your thoughts on the policy are irrelevant for this negotiation. Keep it focused on your situation.
Although some companies may stick more tightly to their policies for salary increases, you’d be surprised by the exceptions that are made in the face a strong negotiator. Of course, if after you present your perspective the hiring manager is not budging on her offer, don’t keep pushing. You don’t want to alienate her. Take some time to decide if you’re willing to take the position, knowing that you’ll be paid less than your peers. Assess if your ego can get over that blow, and if you’re just grateful for the experience. If you are going to take the position, even at a lower rate, you’ll want that hiring manager to continue being on your side.
Have you dealt with a promotion cap in your career? Tell us about it in the comments below.