Seeking Advice: How Can I Request a Raise for Personal and Educational Needs?

Dear Seniors,

A very big hello to all of you :)

To start with, I am a Bachelor of Management Studies with a total experience of 1.2 years: 4 months in Sales and 10 months in HR, specifically in Recruitments and General HR. Currently, I am working with an IT company in Mumbai for the past 10 months, which has an employee strength of 100-105 people.

I am drawing a salary of 78k per annum, which is significantly lower compared to other employees in the HR department in my office. I wish to request a raise due to personal problems and the need for funds for my further studies.

Undoubtedly, you all must be well-versed with such situations. I seek your opinions and advice on the same.

Thank you,
Priyanka S

Hi Priyanka,

How can you compare your salary with others in HR? Probably, they have more experience.

Secondly, try to quantify your work so that you have some backup to ask for a raise.

Thirdly, you need to complete at least one year in your present organization and current role before asking for a hike or raise.

I think I have addressed your concerns.

Regards,
Sanjeev Sharma

(BLOG: http://sanjeevhimachali.blogspot.com/)

Hi Sanjeev,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I agree with your point of view. In my organization, people working in HR do not need to have a degree or any special course in HR. Individuals with similar experience and undergraduates earn much better, and they handle only recruitments. In contrast, I shuttle between General HR and Recruitments. Depending on the grade, I am very poorly paid.

Hi Priyanka,

While I agree with Sanjeev, I can very well understand your dilemma. On one hand, you are toiling hard and getting paid less, whereas your colleagues with not so prominent roles are getting more pay than you.

These kinds of anomalies commonly occur in organizations where there are no fixed pay scales commensurate with qualifications and experience. Being in the HR function gives you the advantage of highlighting these discrepancies in an overall manner, considering the salaries of all others. You can present a comparative statement to the management through your boss or immediate superior, indicating that due to these anomalies, employees are losing morale and are unable to perform at their best. If you present your case alone, the management may not listen and ask you to wait until the annual performance review. Additionally, they may view your representation negatively, potentially leading to humiliation. To avoid such embarrassments, you must act diplomatically and propose recommendations to the management to eliminate salary discrepancies within the organization. To do this, you may need to gather information from employees across various departments regarding their salaries and expectations. I believe there are many others like you in different roles who are underpaid. Given your role as an HR Generalist, this task should not be too challenging. Once you have collected the necessary information, you can present it to your boss along with your justifications and recommendations. Observe their response and ensure your name is included among those receiving lower salaries. Even if the management does not immediately increase salaries, they should consider giving due weightage to employees receiving lower pay during the next revision. What do you think?

Good Luck!

PRADEEP

Hi Kamadana,

Thanks for your reply. What you suggested is a neat strategy, but being in General HR, I am not supposed to use that information against the management; that would be unprofessional. Can you suggest something else?

Hi Priyanka,

You are not using any information against the management. You are just trying to eliminate the anomalies in salaries which, in the long run, may affect the morale and motivation levels of employees in the organization. You are just doing the balancing act. How can you say that it would be against the management? Your interest, as well as in the interest of the organization only, you are going to put forth the proposal for rationalization of salaries. Nothing harmful is being done by doing this, and you are not resorting to any unethical or strong-arm tactics to convince the management. You are just presenting the reality as a whole to the management being an HR professional. Nothing wrong! Don't worry!!

Regards, PRADEEP

Hi, I hope you will get the answer to what our seniors suggested because you have only invested 10 months here. Previously, you were in sales. Stay some more time here. If you ask for a raise and management denies it, your interest in working for that organization will diminish. You may feel monotonous; every time you go into the office, these things remind you. This situation will create a gap between you and the organization. Stay a few more days there, do as much as possible, put in your 200% effort (100% Soft Skills, 100% Hard Skills) to excel in your field. Prove that you can be a great asset to the organization, helping to cut costs and showing that the company is profiting because of you. If they ignore your efforts after that, at least stay for one more year.

Regarding further study, you can consider joining an MBA program from IGNOU. Perhaps the fee is Rs. 6000 per year/semester, but this is not confirmed.

Regards,
Bunty.

Hi Bunty,

Thanks for the reply. Basically, my organization does not believe in annual appraisals, and it's already April with no communication about the raise from the management. I don't know how long to wait. I have been multitasking various roles in HR unlike others and have done so proactively. As I mentioned before, here undergraduates are paid more than what I get paid, and postgraduate degrees are not a factor for a raise.

Thanks,
Priyanka