Are you getting paid unfairly? Dan and Alison answer your questions with the help of Shirli Kopelman, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. They talk through what to do when a poor performer gets paid more than you, when the company salary structure is making people quit, and how to ask for more money when your boss leaves and you do their job.
From Alison and Dan’s reading list:
HBR: When You Find Out a Coworker Makes More Money than You Do by Rebecca Knight — “Your impulse might be to storm into your boss’s office and demand that he fork over more cash. Or maybe you just feel like scowling across the cubicle at your higher-earning colleague with a sneer: ‘Seriously? You?’ These actions, of course, are not advisable.”
HBR: Most People Have No Idea Whether They’re Paid Fairly by Dave Smith — “Perceptions about pay don’t always reflect reality, even if employers are paying the same — or more — than similar companies. In fact, a whopping two-thirds of people who are being paid the market rate believe they’re actually underpaid, representing a huge discrepancy.”
HBR: Envy at Work by Tanya Menon and Leigh Thompson — “When you’re obsessed with someone else’s success, your self-respect suffers, and you may neglect or even sabotage your own performance and possibly your career. Envy is difficult to manage, in part because it’s hard to admit that we harbor such a socially unacceptable emotion. Our discomfort causes us to conceal and deny our feelings, and that makes things worse.”
HBR: Make Your Emotions Work for You in Negotiations by Shirli Kopelman — “Your emotions matter in negotiations. They fuel your behaviors, energize you, and allow you to strengthen — or distance and damage — relationships with the people you’re negotiating with. But too often, people refuse to acknowledge their full range of feelings because they’re afraid of losing the ability to think rationally and act strategically.”