Tl;dr: I make about 15% less than my other coworkers at the same level with similar or less seniority. I learned this because our office listed an open job with my same title with a salary range where the floor was 5% higher than I currently make after two years in the position. How do I handle an upcoming salary negotiation?
Hi everyone!
I’m seeking some advice on salary negotiations. I work as a type of niche research project coordinator at a nonprofit with about 50 employees on nearly every continent but with a headquarters presence in DC.
I was hired almost two and a half years ago when the org was just <30 employees. I was early career and hired for a position they explained to me was intended for a mid career level person but they couldn’t find that person and decided instead to give it to me at a lower title expecting that I would grow the position. And I have! I advocated for the hiring of a talented intern who is now a full time employee paid as much as I was first offered but their title is a lower level than mine. I grew the position into an entire department that includes my boss, this employee, and as I have suggested, an intern. I received some free training in my style of research from a respected institution last year and a relevant trade publication learned about our evaluation process and asked if they could share us as a case study for others in the industry.
The problem is—after consulting with other employees at our early to mid career level—apparently myself and the other full time employee are the lowest paid full time employees at the org. Even though I’ve only been in the position for a little over two years, I’m one of the junior staffers with security due to some demoralizing turnover of a whole swath of early and mid career colleagues. Last month, they posted a job with my position title and a starting salary with a range where the lowest level was $2k a year more than I currently make and $5k more than I was offered back in late 2019 for the same title. I complained and they said that apparently my salary will be adjusted to match the lowest level salary in the job posting i saw. so a $2k raise.
im a woman of color, also, and did a significant amount of work for both the leadership's DEI strategy and policy but also an initiative related to my culture that my name never appeared on. i think thats significant. and for context, if i were to make as much as the median employee at my org and within my experience level, i learned from our junior staff discussions, i would need a raise of $7k or more than 15% of my current salary..
I meet with HR within a week to discuss my salary. What do I do?
(I’m on mobile forgive any typos)