St.Louis Business Journal
ASSERTIVENESS AT WORK

By Anna Navarro

January 1999  

Author's note: Client stories in this column are based on actual situations fictionalized to protect privacy and told with permission.

Many of today’s information workers dream about joining a small firm and growing along with it. Especially in the high tech field, it’s possible to start small, grow rapidly and reap financial and psychological rewards along the way.

However, as your company grows you want to make sure your career keeps pace.

That’s not what happened to Jerry, a client who started as Human Resource Director with a relatively new firm about six years ago. Through strategic mergers, the firm has grown to national stature and Jerry’s responsibilities have increased but his status in the company has stayed about the same.

While his raises have stayed ahead of inflation, he was beginning to feel as though he was being taken for granted. New hires were receiving more important titles, bigger offices and larger paychecks.

Jerry likes his job, the people with whom he works and the company. He wanted credit – psychological and financial – for his contributions, but he didn’t want to issue an ultimatum that would cost him his job.

We worked through a five-step process to prepare Jerry to regain control of his career within the corporate structure.

1. Goal Setting. While Jerry was feeling unappreciated and somewhat resentful of his situation, he also admitted that being assertive was not his forte.

I recommended that, as a first step, he get clear about exactly what he was willing to ask of his boss.

Ideally, he wanted both a salary increase and a title change to vice-president. However, asking for both things at the same time was overwhelming to him. In the end, he decided to go for a salary increase.

2. Research. I suggested that Jerry check with some of his peers in similar positions at other software development companies and get an idea of what their salaries were. He was surprised by their candor and willingness to share information. Through an industry trade association, he secured a salary survey which showed he was being paid about 20 percent less than those with similar experience and responsibility.

3. Rationale. I helped him develop his argument. I asked him to draw up a list of his accomplishments. As a troubleshooter, he often saved the firm time and money by anticipating problems before they became major obstacles. That type of effort, by its very nature, often is invisible to corporate higher-ups. Jerry came up with about eight examples of what he had done within the past six months to improve the company’s performance.

I also suggested that he forthrightly tell his boss that he’d done some research on salary and would like to share his conclusions with him.

4. Timing. I proposed to Jerry that he wait til 6-8 weeks before his next salary review before talking to his boss. This is the typical time frame in which most managers are pondering these issues, and it is when they are most susceptible to input. I also suggested that we get back together to rehearse his delivery just before he planned to talk to his manager.

5. Rehearsal. Jerry wrote what he planned to say to his manager, practiced saying it aloud. We anticipated objections (“Why Jerry, I’m surprised to know you are concerned about your salary”) and planned his retort (“I know this company to be fair. Please explain what I need to do to reach the salary level of others in this industry whose jobs are comparable to mine”)

Jerry and his manager have met several times regarding Jerry’s salary concerns. Because of budget constraints, the manager (who admitted he had not been fully aware of all the problems Jerry had helped the company sidestep) couldn’t give Jerry a 20 percent raise to bring him to industry standards. He did, however, give him a 7 percent raise and promised another, probably smaller, in less than 12 months.

Jerry didn’t get everything he wanted. He did make some gains financially. He also feels more visible and less taken for granted.

It will probably take several rounds of continued assertiveness during his salary reviews to make up for the years when he allowed himself to be invisible. He also needs to keep his manager better apprised of his accomplishments all year long.

Perhaps the most important gain is that he laid the groundwork, both within himself and in the company, for taking better care of himself in the future. Assertiveness is not a one-time action. It’s a life-long behavior.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that trains independent career strategists and consults with individual clients.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.