Layoff Lesson 7 – Maximize Your Earnings

I have struggled trying to write this article without sounding either jaded having been laid off or sounding too Machiavellian.

This is my philosophy: a job is where you spend much of your time. Doing something you love and with a team that you enjoy is extremely important for a good quality of life. Depending on your financial health, it may be even more important than maximizing your salary. You also need to consider the health of the place that you work. It probably does not make sense to sign on at a company that is going to double your salary if at the same time they are insolvent and struggling to make payroll or having to report to a dysfunctional boss.

We are going to put these important factors aside so that we can conduct a thought exercise that will challenge us to think through if we should be actively working to get more money for our time for the purposes of this article.

Are you at your earnings potential?

I have known a surprising number of people who have been told by a member of their leadership team that they are behind their peers when it comes to income. If this is you, or if you think it maybe you, it is important to assess why.

Asking if there is a legitimate or semi-legitimate reason for this is paramount. A legitimate reason might be that you are a junior member of the team, and you still have a lot to learn. Maybe if you put your resume against a more senior peer they would look virtually the same, but you and your employer recognize that you still have a lot to learn before you can justify earning as much as a senior team member. This might also be an opportunity to look for other jobs elsewhere.

This could also be a semi-legitimate reason. I have worked for several teams where there were a few senior members who were paid close to double my salary because they had been at the company for a decade or more. The problem and frustration that I had was that I was being asked to carry a heavier work load because I had a stronger work ethic, had the technical ability to automate work, and/or I was coachable.

Make an honest assessment and make that assessment from every angle. Your perspective and your supervisor’s perspective.

If you feel like you are underpaid, it is probably time for a critical conversation with your boss and/or a recruiter.

Are you too comfortable?

A few years back I worked for a fantastic boss. I learned so much working for him and our team did some incredible things while he was there. He received an offer he could not refuse and left the company.

The department placed an interim director in his place who was also great at what he did, but after a few months they opened the director position to fill it permanently.

I was speaking to my former boss about a week after the company made their hiring decision, and he made the comment that he could not believe they did not hire me. I could. I failed to apply.

I was happy with my team. I was happy with the work I was doing. I was happy with my pay. I was comfortable.

I would have loved the director role, though. It would have been right up my alley. But I was not able to see myself as a director yet even though I met the qualifications. I had gotten too comfortable without even knowing it.

Are you unreasonably happy?

I have had a lot of conversations with individuals with career aspirations who opt to not pursue their career because they love the team they are on.

This is not a bad a thing, but a concern I always have for these team members is that things can change overnight. The boss gets promoted, the team moves to a different department, a couple of team members move up or out and now you have a team with a completely different dynamic.

I always caution individuals to make sure that they would be happy even if team dynamics were to change.

Never close a door permanently

I had a team member that was interested in becoming a manager. When a position for manager opened, the team member came back and said they were no longer interested.

The next three manager positions that came up I recommended other team members for those positions. A year later she came back wondering why she had been passed over. We failed to explore together what she meant when she closed the door on that first manager position.

My advice to her was to provide clear feedback on individual positions but never close the door on the general career position. This leaves the door at least partially open.

I do advise team members to be careful about turning positions down that are a rung up on the career ladder. As a career moves forward there are fewer and fewer opportunities. A ‘no’ or even a ‘not now’ can be a real setback.

Do not be picky

I had another team member that desperately wanted to be a manager, but he only wanted to be manager over a specific team. The company came to him and asked him to assume other manager positions, but he turned them down because he wanted to be manager over the work that he loved.

He would have been a great manager, but he was too picky and set his career back by a half a decade as a result.

Call to action

First, assess your current role and your career aspirations. Are you investing and actively managing your career? If you are not, you need to.

Second, get at least one good mentor, but preferably a few. These do not need to be awkward and formal relationships. It might be a person in your Sunday School class that is a couple rungs higher on the career ladder that you can grab a coffee with once a month. Another great person to engage with is your boss.

Third, grow your soft and hard skills. Could you use more technical knowledge? Learn it. Do you need more soft skill development? Learn them. Take on additional project work to get your name and brand out there across the organization you work for. If nothing else, it adds to the resume.

Fourth, as you earn more, invest it. Make that money work for you. Find something that works for you.