Great Pay Expectations

It’s come.?frankly, as a bit of a surprise to me?how?some companies?(or their representatives) value themselves and their potential?future employees - which speaks volumes about how they?most likely value their current employees - in the current IT employment market.

Let me explain myself, because I don’t?- in any way -?want this to come off as aggressive.?Simply…surprised.

I’ve been in the IT industry - whether in?infrastructure,?architecture, services, field tech, partner business management, account management, delivery management, project management, transitioning,?transformation, implementation, training etc. - for just over 15 years now?(Has it been that long?) I’ve seen anything from the entry level call?center?to transitioning high-end service desks?for?Fortune 500 companies?(on both ends?of the process).

It’s been a wild ride, with all the ups and downs one could expect (and some I think nobody could have foreseen). I’ve learned quite a bit of what the industry holds -?though obviously nowhere near what I’ve seen in my senior?colleagues - and find myself now in what I perceive to be the beginning of the middle of my journey. I’ve got enough accumen to understand high-level business needs and strategies?(and be part of those conversations), while just not enough to be able to run such impessive enterprises independently,?but at the same time?just enough to be able to translate high-level language?and necessity,?industry needs and breakthroughs into calculated,?definitive decisions and actions that would affect tens, hundreds, even thousands of people globally all at once,?in various brackets of activity.

Now I’m not just tooting my own horn here. I know where I’ve been and what I’ve done and the people that I’ve gone through it all with, which I’m?very proud of.?Sometimes you crawl, sometimes you run, sometimes you leap, and it all depends on not just your preparedness, but also the people with whom you work?alongside.

Why did I go through all this apparently self-serving diatribe? Well, because as industry standards change with the times, so do mine (and I expect a similar notion for people in my age/experience group).

I’ve held this presentation many times. Had this conversation many times. Once you’ve got enough money on the table to not worry about your lifestyle (anything from a roof over your head to food on your table, to gas in your car, to schooling for your children etc.), there’s three major payment methods that a lot companies miss simply due to either antiquated approaches to business or?a prideful approach to micromanagement?(please, stop micromanaging, it so rarely yields results):

MASTERY

AUTONOMY

IMPACT

Mastery:?getting better at something. Feeling like you’re learning. You’re not just doing the same thing over and over again, but evolving with your activity, improving yourself as your understanding of it evolves.?It’s why people learn guitar just for the sake of it.

Autonomy:?having the freedom to do your work, implement change, make a difference without someone breathing down your neck?constantly.?It’s as?simple as explaining your idea or plan and the higher-up in charge saying:?“You’ve got a good idea.?It sounds like you want to do something cool and useful! Let me just get out of your way. I’m here if you have questions or need support.” Of course, they’re putting their trust in you, so results are necessary, so you need to balance out cost/time/outcome and offer results.?Not within two hours. Not by EOD. But by?when it’s necessary and tested. And it’s yours?(honestly, I see fewer and fewer?yellow/green belt?projects starting up as I go along).?Have something of yours!

Impact:?your work has meaning! What you’ve been working on for the past 6 months? Here it is. Welcome?to the go-live! Or welcome to the service center you’ve set up. Or the customer you’ve helped resolve their payment problem. It can be anywhere?and anything. But at the end of the day, you want to see your work?WORK and be proud of it - even if it wasn’t a complete success, it lead to other, greater things. Few people end up seeing their time and effort come to fruition, not because they did a bad job, but because they’re left out of the loop.?It’s just numbers to a lot of them, which inspire much of nothing.

These in turn lead to qualities in the employee that money simply cannot buy:

LOYALTY

CONTINUITY

EFFORT

Loyalty:?pretty self-explanatory. I think the classic saying is “take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your customers.”?Once that trust is built, the employee will lay it down to ensure business is?kept smooth, healthy and happy.?Yes, even if they are offered more money, the drive they have for the company/organisation will keep them driving it.

Continuity:?what’s the turnover rate? Far less for employees that are content and happy with where they are. Continuity ensures you’ve got knowledge remaining withing the company,?within?the organisation,?within the team, that customer?reps become familiar with their counterparts, leading to higher retention.

Effort:?of course if you’re valued and feel it, you’ll put in the work. Pride in ones achievements is what kept me around in several projects that others may have simply turned down. I was willing to put in the hours, but I could see my work turn into something greater.?Every extra hour I spent lead to the other two qualities I mentioned?before (or was certainly because of them).

So I ask?you: do?you do all these things for your employees? Do you expect this from your employer??And vice-versa

Recent data has me postulating: are employers aware of what they can offer? Are employees?aware of what they can get? The money is the basis, yes, that’s where all negotiation starts, but - BUT - are employee and employer aware of what they’re about to ask of each other and - more importantly - what they’ll cost each other??The right person in the right place at the right time will make more difference than any cost-saving plan imaginable! And the company with the right nose for it will always know.

It seems to me there’s a turning down on both sides of potentially beneficial employment opportunities based solely?on cash appraisal, rather than business match.

Yes, the industry in some areas is moving towards lower-cost offshore solutions in hopes of cutting expenses, but now we’ve come to the question of quality vs quantity.?Willingness to cut experience out for the hope that the overall?grind will make it work.?An unfortunate tendency, but I realize,?naturally occuring?due to reasons I won’t expand upon, but that are equally naturally occuring.

I won’t even start on foreign language levels?and expectations. And for those that instantly got that, you know what I’m talking about!

But that is a conversation for another time.

Know your worth and know what value you’re hiring. That goes both ways.

Cheers!

Calin.