Let’s
take the current scenario in corporate cube farms across the world. I’m
talking about the “post-solid raise and bonus world”, which, from my
estimates, has withered away since the late 90’s.
Imagine
you have a strong work year. Not a monster year, but a strong, solid
year. The feedback supports it. And review time comes, and you get a 3%
or so raise, and a 4–5% bonus. Maybe. You probably get even less than
this.
Now, most bonuses are taxed at about 40% or so, which means your bonus is really 3% or somewhere in that vicinity.
Next,
your raise gets wiped out from cost of living. So really, you’ve broken
even at best. Think of a treadmill where you run faster, just to keep
the speed you had last year.
As for your
bonus, it really amounts to very little, if any. Because there’s a
chance you had a one time expense, or something which that money went
to.
Ah, and here’s where it gets fun.
Because in the “post-solid raise and bonus world”, there’s a high
probability of your team size shrinking, or, your boss increasing your
responsibilities, without the measurable increase in compensation. So
now, you work harder, just to keep pace with last year.
Compare
this with a successful business owner/entrepreneur. One correct lever
pulled, one tweak made, can result in skyrocketing gains and
lifechanging money for a business. None of which will be punished or
“held back” by some silly annual review technicality.
This
is why no salary seems good enough, unless you increases/bonuses
reflect your work level. And from employee surveys and job hopping
stats, they never do.
To combat this, you have two options:
- Job jump, since you can make 3 to 5 to 5 to 6 times any annual review on a good job jump, up to a certain point of course
- Start and grow your own side business
And
I’d also add, the probability of a person feeling like no salary is
good enough increases with age and time in the corporate cube farm. Why?
Because they see, over and over again, the broken promises by middle
managers, the numerous annual reviews which don’t match up money with
feedback, and the constant “change in direction.”