The Dangers and Costs of not Asking for what you are worth…

Guest blog by Adrian Evans

A client of mine was a loyal employee. He had a consistent track record of developing new customers and delivering above target revenue for a leading global technology company. 

He was the type of individual who believed in conducting himself in line with company values and thought in return he would be appropriately rewarded. He was however keen for his next internal career move.

He took the time to understand his key motivations and who the best people within his organisation were to connect with. He met a number of prominent VP’s, the HR Director and the Managing Director EMEA. He felt he had extended his network and influence within the business.

Whilst he was making positive steps he was feeling some major frustrations on a day to day basis. His line manager had not reviewed his performance effectively or regularly, he had not had a pay review since joining the organisation and no career path was in place. He enjoyed large parts of the culture of the business but he was feeling undervalued from a financial and career development perspective.

His Challenge:

After further research he discovered he was significantly underpaid compared to his peers, this was in terms of both basic salary and bonus payment.

He then received a call from a headhunter who had seen his profile on Linkedin and thought he would be a very good fit for a role with a direct competitor.

Being a loyal employee he normally ignored these approaches. This role however was offering a potential 45% increase in salary for doing the same job. So whilst feeling slightly disloyal, he decided to explore the opportunity.

He was successful at first interview and was invited back to give a presentation. He was able to stand out and the organization were keen to employ him.

The Result:

He accepted their offer. His current business was surprised when he resigned. The company announced he was leaving. Naturally many of his colleagues were shocked - as a top performer they thought he would have been well rewarded and treated fairly.

Finally a senior director intervened. He apologized for the company mismanaging his career and remuneration and offered to match the other company’s offer and pay him a 30% retention bonus.

We calculated that he would earn £65,000 more over the next 12 months - this was for doing the same job and no additional responsibilities.

Had he not been advised to ask for his worth he would have missed out on over £250,000 of earnings over the next 5 years – is that fair?

Many thanks to our guest blogger Adrian Evans