Potential transfer to a new job role – same pay level. How to negotiate?

April 27, 2017 8:02 AM

I've been given the option to potentially transfer to a new job role at the same university, same top department, but different sub-department. This job role has different responsibilities and is at the same level as my current job. How should I successfully negotiate a pay raise?

I currently work as a copywriter at a non-profit university in Washington DC, and have done so for the last two years. In addition to working as a copywriter, I have also worked in a dual role at the Alumni Office, serving customers and doing administrative work for the last year or so (both jobs are under the main department, but are under two different sub-departments, if that makes any sense?).

I have recently been given the option to potentially transfer to a new job role - under the same main department, but under another sub-department. Basically, the job role consists of data entry for donor gifts, in addition to other responsibilities related to working with donors and information maintenance.

I have done a quick check of salary comparisons on GlassDoor, and for DC, my position would have an average of $53k per year. I currently get paid $40k, which is way too low for me to survive on, especially in DC and given the high cost of living here.

My question here is: how do I successfully negotiate a pay raise? The level I’m on has three sub-levels: $40k (where I’m at), $55k (middling) and $70k (highest). I believe the limit on raises here would be 10% (which would amount to $44k instead of $40k in my situation), but based on my understanding, that may be just for raises staying within the specific job role I am in. The new role is at the same main level as my current job is.

The discussion began with HR (they were the ones who gave me the option), so how would you recommend I successfully negotiate a higher pay? The HR representative I talked with seemed impressed by my level of experiences, especially within the last two years at the university. The requirements/expectations on the job description meets my experiences, so I do feel I am qualified for a pay raise that comes with the potential transfer.

Many thanks!

posted by dubious_dude to Work & Money (9 answers total)

As another employee of a university, I would first look up any HR documentation to make sure that you're even eligible for a raise. My current institution will allow a change in pay as long as the title is not the same; my former institution would not allow a change in pay if it was in the same job bracket.
posted by veryhappyheidi at 8:07 AM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @veryhappyheidi - based on the employee manual, it seems like promotions/raises are based on the position itself. I can always clarify with HR if needed - just need strategies to successfully navigate/get a raise, especially given a new role and based on my experiences here at the university and beforehand.
posted by dubious_dude at 8:13 AM on April 27, 2017

You have to ask for what you want, and be prepared to walk away if you don't get it. So, tell them how excited you are about the new opportunity, and that given your experience, your expectation is that they'll pay you at the 55k level. If they refuse, don't take the role. Instead, look for a new role elsewhere that pays what you're worth.

The tricky part is actually following through & leaving your current role if they don't offer you 55k for the new one. But if you can't live on 40k, that's your motivation right there.
posted by rd45 at 8:31 AM on April 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I assume you'd have a different manager than your current one? Do you know this person and are you on good terms with them? People often have the impression that HR is all-powerful but in most organizations they exist to facilitate the things that management wants to do in a way that's legal for the organization. They don't usually have major decision-making power outside of what's delegated to them by senior management in the org. Pretty much any HR guideline with regard to things like comp and benefits can be overridden if someone high enough up in the org wants it so, as long as it complies with relevant employment law in your jurisdiction.

You mention three salary figures garnered from Glassdoor research, but I'm wondering if those are points on a larger band or set of bands. You might be able to move up within your own pay bracket (assuming the two positions are at the same grade in the organization's compensation system) even if it's not, strictly speaking, a promotion.

Either way, I think you should talk to the manager first. Unless your org is really unusual, It's that person's job (and their superiors', if necessary), if they agree to moving your salary up, to get the HR part of it done.
posted by Kosh at 8:39 AM on April 27, 2017

Your employer doesn't care about your cost of living. Don't bring that into the conversation; it's irrelevant to compensation discussions.

Non-profit universities are not known for flexible compensation policies that allow the organization to appropriately compensate their employees based on their value. You should approach this with the realization that if you value money, you should probably be looking at an organization that similarly values profit.

I think you are looking at two somewhat orthogonal concepts here - a job transfer (which is a function of what you do) and compensation (which is a function of how well you do it). Is the new job more valuable to the organization and are you able to do it at a level equivalent to what you do right now? If so, then a raise is entirely appropriate. You can simply state, "[new role] is more useful to the organization and I can pick it up and be productive right now. I expect to be compensated [new rate] to make up for the increased value to the organization, which is commensurate with how other organizations value [new role]." This is an entirely reasonable position to be made and any organization that has good business practices (which may or may not be your organization) should be able to adjust your pay accordingly. Your employee manual and discussions with HR are not particularly relevant here - the organization should have mechanisms to adjust pay correctly to retain talent.

There are a few important things for you to ensure here:

• You are actually correct about compensation at other organizations. The easiest way to verify this is to get a job offer at another organization. If so, you have unquestionable data that the market rate for your new position is actually higher. A reasonable organization (again, this may or may not be your organization) will then realize that if you leave, they'll have to hire someone at the higher rate anyway, so they might as well pay you the higher rate and save themselves the trouble of hiring a new employee.
• You are willing to leave the organization. Fundamentally, all compensation discussions are a function of your best alternative to a negotiated agreement. If you aren't willing to the organization, you have no best alternative and your employer will realize that and refuse to increase your pay. It's actually fairly easy to notice when someone isn't willing to leave the organization because they do the same thing you're trying to do - they focus solely on the organization's rules and regulations (because that's all they are paying attention to) rather than the rest of the market (which is what your employer is paying attention to).

posted by saeculorum at 8:40 AM on April 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

I also work at a non-profit higher ed institution. I would check over the Employee Manual from HR if you can because they usually have a more complete description of how HR determines job descriptions, pay grades, maximum percentages of raises, etc.

If your institution is anything like mine, and the position you're moving into has already been given the same pay grade as the one you're leaving, there probably won't be as much room to negotiate as there would be if your pay grade was increasing.

However, like you say, the fact that you are bringing an additional two years of working experience to the role and are moving into an in-demand role places you in a good position to speak with your new manager about requesting a raise commiserate with your experience and new duties. Even though it's a lateral move, pay grades are meant to represent a range rather than a fixed number, and even with a fixed schedule for yearly cost of living/merit raises, there's probably room to grow.

Good luck!
posted by helloimjennsco at 10:55 AM on April 27, 2017

Why were you given the option to transfer to this other role? Is your role going away? If it is then you have less negotiating power. If not, then compensation aside, why would you want to transfer to this role? Is it more interesting? Will it advance your career goals? Better hours, pay, coworkers, etc..? If money was no object would you still transfer to this new role? Will you have better opportunity for advancement in this new role?

Once you have the job component figured out, the reason for transfering, then look at compensation. Why make a lateral change if you will get the same salary? May as well stay in your current role. Why make the same salary if you're making a change? May as well get paid more.

Since it sounds like you know what the new role will be like as far as duties and responsibilities, I would ask what the market rate for this new role is and base my decision on that.
posted by eatcake at 11:08 AM on April 27, 2017

Just FYI Glassdoor absolutely cannot be relied on for reliable salary estimates. It's a complete crapshoot with regards to accuracy, and further ignores the many individual/contextual factors that go into determining salary. This is not to say you're being over/under paid, just to point out that Glass Door salaries are not a metric to use when determining that.
posted by smoke at 5:07 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Bring up that you know their system, you know the people (or, the departments) involved, that you are bringing useful, practical experience to the job - more than an outsider hired at the same level would have.

You want a raise because you've been there a while and have been useful; a 10% raise sounds like pretty much a cost-of-living raise since you were hired! So tell them that you want a raise because you've earned it, and transferring to a different area doesn't change that.

(Confirming that Glass Door salaries should be taken with a large grain of salt. It's not that they're inaccurate, but that they grab the average salaries for lots of jobs with the same title, which is going to skew heavily sometimes. Good rough reference point; not useful for exact details.)
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:20 PM on April 27, 2017