Handling Increment Discrepancies in HR
This is prevalent in many organizations, where the support functions may receive a lesser increment compared to operations or core functions. Please try to deal with this situation wearing your professional hat. As an HR department, you are privy to a lot of employee and business information related to individual increments, which is accessible to you only because you are from HR. Let this information not be your benchmark to ask for a higher increase.
Take an example:
There was an HR operations person in my previous organization who had access to annual increment data for the organization. When she came to know of what increment she was getting (even before she got the letter), she confronted the HR head, saying she had received a very low increment compared to the core functions and needed to be paid more. The HR head asked her to draw a line between her personal case and professional duties. The increment data she had access to was part of her professional duties and should not be a factor in deciding her own case. There are various other variables involved.
I do not agree that because we are in HR, we should be paid more or at par with operations. It is all dependent on our respective roles, experience, and the maturity of the organization to reward the support functions, commensurate with our job and achievements. There could be two people in HR in different organizations, doing the same role but paid differently. This is a fact of life, like the sun rising and setting.
Do have a talk with your management about what your achievements are, savings in time and money for the organization, and how you have made a difference to your role and the company. At the end of it, if you still feel you have been shortchanged and the organization is not willing to recognize your work, maybe it’s time to think of other options.
Regards