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Recently a woman in her mid 20s, who we’ll call Annie, called to ask for advice about a dilemma at work. One of Annie’s co-workers was leaving, and she was asked if she would be willing to take on that person’s responsibilities in addition to her own.
Initially, the company indicated that the increased workload would come with an increase in salary, and on that basis Annie provisionally accepted. Over the next few days, she pressed for specifics. At that point, both her manager and HR began to waffle on the timing, certainty, and size of the salary increase. Then they said they would first need to see how she performed in her additional responsibilities before considering a pay adjustment. Their initial ‘commitment’ got progressively weaker from there forward.
Annie’s question was, ‘What do I do? Do I take their word that they’ll raise my pay later? And given that I initially accepted, can I now refuse to take on the added work until they sort out the salary increase, without looking like a jerk?”
While the specifics may vary, many of us have likely found ourselves in a situation like this at some point in our careers. It’s flattering to be asked to take on a bigger role, but how do you decide how hard to press for an increase in pay to go with it? And how much faith do you put in a ‘promise’ that you’ll be be taken care of, in terms of compensation, at some point in the future?
Ultimately, these types of situations present the need for you to re-consider the calculus of your relationship with your employer. You can do this using a simple 2x2 framework (below) that prompts you to consider what you and the company both give and get in the potential new arrangement.
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