i love my job. for sure there are some parts which are challenging, and there are days that are so overwhelming that i can barely function as a human, but despite all this, i still, after almost 18 years, love it. i’ve done so much and learned so much and changed so much because of this job. i struggle to even conceive of another path i could have followed that would have given me the same level of fulfillment both personally and professionally.
yet, there is one part of it that i loathe. and the worst part about it is i know what needs to be done to fix it, but alas, it is out of my reach to effectuate any change on.
talent budget. fuck me. this is all managed by finance and vp of operations and then handed down to every dept head, who just have to make lemonade with the rotten, sour lemons we’re given. i know how they do it, and it drives me nuts. they look at the numbers for the last year and then laser focus on profitability only. they then make a calculation based on that one metric to answer the question “what percentage increase to the salary cap can we apply across the board, and maintain profitability targets?” which then gets directly translated into the budget available for annual salary reviews for all staff. so for example, if our profitability target is 15% and we’re currently doing say, 16%, exceeding targets. they then calculate what that would mean in salary cap increase to maintain at least 15%. this often translates to something like 2.5% for raises. which coincidentally is exactly the magic number for this year. i’ll let you imagine what happens when we don’t hit profitability targets…
anyhow, that means for each employee i need to meet this year, i can offer them a 2.5% raise.
inflation rate alone this past year is closer to 2.9%. so i have to, with a straight face, tell people who are doing their job perfectly well that as a reward for their hard work, they will have less money in their pocket this year.
meanwhile, the company they work for maintains their profitability targets, and as part of the leadership/management/executive board/team (we don’t really have the terms defined), i get bonuses because of it.
this feels so wrong. i hate, hate, hate how this works.
don’t get me wrong, i am not some kind of saintly figure who happily will give up my bread in order to feed the unwashed masses. i like making money. and if i offer a significant contribution and personal sacrifice in order for this company to achieve good profitability, i expect my cut. i don’t work for free. but i also want to recognize the contribution others have given. i would never have been able to achieve what i have without the dedication of the people who work for me.
certain roles and even certain departments are MORE VALUABLE than others to the company. that needs to be acknowledged and accounted for. sometimes certain individuals or even whole teams go above and beyond and really push the envelope, they deserve to be compensated for that effort, even if it means cutting into the profit margin temporarily. over the ever so slightly longer term, that investment will be paid back in improved productivity, efficiency, culture and ultimately profitability tenfold as they continue to push push push and set the example for others to do the same.
you know what happens to a high performer who gets slapped in the face one too many times? they lose their motivation, they stop performing, or they simply leave.
i so wish that instead of this arbitrary percent calculation for raises, each department would be afforded a total talent budget and then allow the department heads to allocate that budget as they see fit. the budget should be considered as a percentage based on the value of said department and should be adjusted quarterly in order to account for new contracts, or the loss of existing contracts. this would make the whole process of hiring and firing so much more accountable and representative of the overall health of the company and team and also allow individual contributors, or high performing teams to be compensated more equitably.
if i have a team of 5 high performers doing the job of 10 average performers, i would like the ability to compensate those 5 accordingly. unfortunately with the current system, i cannot. and instead i get to slap each of them in the face and hope they do not quit.
today i am doing evals, and i fucking hate it.
ok, vent over. not sure i will keep this post up, i just needed to get that out of my system.
