How would a raise make you FEEL about your work?

Question

A couple weeks ago I asked what would you do with some extra money if you got a raise..... that got me thinking ....what would you like better about your career or position if you got paid more to do it? How would an increase make you feel AT work?

Ella Molnar · Answer

In March, I left a job that was paying just slightly above the area's competitive range for my title and responsibilities. I had been working toward a promotion in both title and responsibilities for some time, but the politics game was impossible for me to play and the entire job package was starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Right at the end of my time with them, they promised a raise if I could hang on until my yearly review (which was already a month late).

The 'competitive' pay rate started to feel like a 'we know we treat you like the dirt on our shoes, but we pay you enough that you won't get comparable pay elsewhere so you can't really leave us' pay rate. Getting the promised raise would have made me feel obligated to stay longer, to prove I had earned it. The raise would have felt like hush money, or 'take our s**t and like it' money, or a bribe, or some other patronizing effect. It would have made me more unsatisfied with the company and the work.

They fired me instead of giving me the promised annual review, and I was 38 weeks pregnant. After 4 months of actively seeking work while hugely pregnant, recovering from delivery, and nursing a newborn, I got four offers of work all in the same week.

I took the one with the least pay, but the best package. The pay is 30% less than my last role, but the company are extremely clear about their politics, and they have outlined a promotional package. The outline shows exactly what I need to do and what the pay and responsibility increase will be when I do it, the total path outline is about 20% of my last pay rate, and they project the full path is achievable in three years.

It's 100% remote, so I don't need daycare for my infant, and I don't have to pay for gas, work lunches, or (unofficially mandatory) 'happy hour' drinks/meals/extended child care. We figure the total compensation, when compared to all the expenses of working out of the home with a newborn at my old rate, before any promotion, is actually only about 10% less.

A raise here and now would alleviate the burden that two months of no pay and no remaining emergency fund has placed on my financial, mental, and physical health, as well as those of my entire family.

A raise here and now would make me better able to focus on the actual work I'm doing for the company instead of attempting to field calls from billing departments and debt collectors while trying to do my work.

A raise here and now would make me enjoy my work, instead of feel like I was grinding gears as I try to learn new company processes, and work toward that first promotion stage as quickly as possible, and care for a newborn, and hold off all the other responsibilities that accumulate while you're at work.

A raise here and now would make me feel like they were trying to keep a valuable asset, like they realized I brought more to the table than they thought I would (why do people fudge their resumes?!?! It makes it impossible for honest people to get paid fairly right off the bat!!!!), or like they just want to encourage me to go down the promotion path faster. A raise here and now would endear me to the company and the work, rather than drive me away.

Basically, the impact your work environment makes on the feelings associated with a raise is nearly fantastical, in that you don't believe the difference could really be that drastic until you are faced with the situation twice in so short a time.

How would a raise make you FEEL about your work?

You're invited.

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