Is My Salary Fair for an HR Executive in a Small Software Firm? Seeking Advice on Appraisal Expectations

Hello everyone,

I have just joined this wonderful community and hope to gain a lot of learning from everyone in this group. I have an issue, and I would love to have your comments on the same. I am working as an HR Executive in a software firm with 1.2 years of experience with a startup company in Pune. We currently have about 26 employees. My current take-home salary is about 18k now, and I have my appraisal in 2 months.

I would like to know if I am fairly compensated now or not. Also, what is the kind of salary appraisal (percentage-wise) which I can ask for? Please do help me out on this.

Thanks in advance,
Deep

Hi Manish,

Do you mean to say that my current salary is fair as compared to the market standards? What kind of appraisal percentage can I ask for considering the fact that I have four recruiters working for me and I am involved in both recruitment and complete selection activities?

Thanks,
Deep

Deep,

I think you are getting a good amount for your experience. But then you must be really good. :) I would say somewhere around 15% or so would be a good hike. But if you are too good, then you can even think of 20% or so. All the best.

Hi Sush,

Thanks for your reply. Would 15-20% be the maximum percentage that I can ask? Or could it be more than that? I mean, as compared to the huge amount of work I do, I need to be compensated more. Do you mean to say that 15-20% is the average industry hike?

Thanks

Deep,

Need a couple of clarifications:

1) Have you been working in the IT firm for the past 1.2 years? How much total experience do you have? The % hike you can ask for would also depend on your company trends and not on industry standards alone. Does your company have a tendency to pay its performers well? The standards also differ location-wise. For example, salaries in Mumbai would be higher than Delhi, etc. 😊 If you have been working with the company for more than a year, you can ask for a 15-20% hike. It can go up to 30% too, but that would depend on a) Your company policies b) your performance rating c) your work experience in the company.

Yes, Deep,

I think you are receiving a handsome salary with this experience. I agree with Samira that it completely depends on your experience with the company. If it is a complete year of experience, then you may ask for 30%. But as you mentioned that it's a startup company, it also depends on the profit level generation of that company.

Amit Seth.

Hi Samaira,

Thanks for taking an interest in clearing my doubts. As for the replies, I have been working with IT Recruitment for the last 1.2 years. I joined my present company 6 months back. In my company, we pay employees well. We do not have a fixed appraisal slab. Whoever performs well and shows a keen interest in growing along with the company is paid well.

What percentage hike could I ask for?

Thanks,
Deep

Hi,

I feel your salary is in line with the market trend. If you feel that you are contributing fairly enough, you may ask for about a 25-30% hike.

Regards,
Rajan

Hi Deep,

I agree with my colleagues that a 20-25% salary increase would be reasonable. However, after reading your posts, it seems that you are:

1. Aggressive
2. Ambitious :)

Good! Why not?!

I would suggest that you prepare your performance evaluation in terms of your contribution to the company's bottom line in monetary terms. When conducting your evaluation, share this document and do not show your aggressiveness, as it might put them off. Just be cool and discuss your points.

Best wishes,
Rajat Joshi

Hi guys,

Can anybody please tell me what would be the fair salary to expect in a software company for an MBA (HR) with 1.8 years of experience? I have good communication skills and knowledge of HRM. Please help me by providing some insights.

Cheers,
Simran

Dear Deep,

It has been seen that some companies do go up to a 40% salary hike. But that definitely differs from company to company. Tell me something, after this very appraisal, when would your next appraisal be due? Is it gonna be annual or semi-annual again? A lot depends on that as well.

It also depends on what responsibility level you are at. For instance, if you are independently handling major recruitment/policy drafting, etc., and have performed well, then you can look at a good 30% or more hike. (which is what I am expecting...:)) Do let me know how things work out....

Kind regards, [Your Name]

Well Deep,

With 6 months of experience in the company, I believe the percentage hike would depend solely upon your performance rating. If you have been a good performer, your management may consider you for a 20-25% hike. But usually, performance is evaluated over a period of one year before giving a substantial pay raise and designation change.

Cheers

Dear Sush,

What you wrote made perfect sense. Just to let you know, we have salary appraisals twice a year. At this point in time, I am handling complete recruitment activities, including the HR interviews and offer finalization as well. I am not actually a part of the other activities as the management wanted me to take care of complete recruitment activities as we are steadily ramping up. However, I would be given other activities to do as well, which I am looking forward to getting during my appraisal discussion. I would surely let you know of the happenings. Do let me know your personal email id, or else I could inform you over the forum itself :)

Thanks,
Deep

Hi Deep,

The current salary that you are drawing now is pretty good for your experience level. When it comes to appraisal, I guess you can expect a 15-20% hike.

Regards,
Divya

Dear Deep,

Your current pay package is good as per the current HR trends in Pune. In your next immediate appraisal, you can ask for a 20 to 25% increase if your performance is consistent and good.

You can assess your performance in a very simple manner. Since you are newly joined to this company, then definitely every appointment in any firm involves carrying out specific tasks. Please evaluate your rating depending on the KRA (key result areas) assigned to you. Determine whether you have successfully completed the assignment or if it is still pending. I believe you will find your answer there.

Instead of relying on others' judgment, you can provide a fair assessment of your appraisal and position. I hope this will address your question to some extent.

Regards,
Mona

Hi Deep,

I believe you are just at the beginning of your career. Take away what percentage of your appraisal you would get from your mind. Set a goal for what other areas you will be able to learn and excel in within the next 6 months. Fortunately, you are working for a small company, so you will always have chances to learn more in other areas apart from recruitment.

Put in 200% of your effort into learning, and the rest will follow. Do not be surprised if you have not received a 25-30% salary hike; just let go of the numbers. You are currently drawing a decent salary. Focus on tuning your career.

All the best.

Regards, Radhika

Hi Radhika,

That was really well said. You are perfectly right in saying that I am still in the process of shaping my career. I surely feel lucky to have got the chance of being a part of a growing organization at this nascent stage of my career.

I am really not looking for an abnormal hike in my compensation right now! I just wanted to get some invaluable leads from my HR counterparts. I am really delighted with the way I have got various perspectives from everyone over here.

Are you also working with recruitments or are you into business HR?

Thanks,
Deep

Hi Deep,

I am also working in an IT company, and for us, the "A" grade (Above Excellence) employees get up to a 35% hike, but this happens to only 5% of the total employees. Even if you are the top performer of your team, when the normalization happens, you could move to another grade. I believe that the salary you are earning now is as per the industry standard (I assume you have an MBA degree).

Thanks

Hi Menon,

I appreciate your comments on my query. I am an MBA graduate as well. I agree with your perspective that only a very limited percentage of employees actually receive the maximum salary appraisal.

I am eagerly looking forward to my appraisal now, having gathered a lot of invaluable insights from everyone here.

Thanks,
Deep

Hi everyone,

I am a Senior Software Engineer working for a well-established company on emerging technologies and other related stuff. Please don't think, "What is a techie doing on HR forums?" I follow quite a few posts from citehr for HR trends, basically.

I have been working for my current employer for 2.4 years (Total Experience 3.7 years), and my current CTC is 5.76 lakhs. I have just completed my Ph.D. in Embedded Systems Engineering and would like to know how much raise I can expect because I have an appraisal next month.

Thanks & Regards,
Daniel

Hi Sush,

This is with respect to my previous posting done about a month back regarding my appraisal. 😊 My appraisal went off quite well, and I might get a chance to dwell upon the other aspects of corporate HR. I am really happy with it as I was looking to widen my profile in the near future.

As for my appraisal, I got a 25% hike, which I felt was really good as my manager appreciated my work and my continuous efforts to make this company a much better place for the employees to work in. 😊 I just wanted to let you know this as you had asked for it during your last reply!

How did your appraisal go?

Thanks,
Deep

Hi Daniel,

If you join any of the design engineering centers with your qualifications and experience, you should get anywhere between 7-9 lacs.

Hope it helps.