I am looking for data to back up a request for a salary increase. I need data I can get online, I’m willing to pay for it if neccessary.
I’m an admin reporting to two senior executives in a specialized industry.
Where would you go if you were doing salary analysis?
Thanks.
I would go to www.salary.com of all places. Their basic data is free and I thorough analysis is about $50. I bought the complete report a couple of months ago for my new job. It has a ton of survey information and lots of little graphs and thing. I still failed miserably but not because of the report.
Got the book right here.
Let’s see
Admin, admin
::: Finds section, runs finger down list:::
Senior executives
Add for unexpected OT due to mutilple bosses
Add for specialized industry
Add for being a doper
::: punches calculator:::
Low of $100,000
High of $200,000
Average $152,500
::: double checks figures:::
Yup those figures are correct. Admins run companies regardless of what the suits think.
Well, yeah. 
But seriously, I do have a profile from salary.com, but I need to find at least one more. Two would be better. And I really prefer to use what folks in HR would use.
Rick, can I come work for you???
Usually some of the best salary data comes from professional associations. Is there a national association of administrative professionals or such that would apply to you? Or does the specialized industry you’re in have a professional organization that does salary surveys?
I work as a remuneration consultant in New Zealand. Specifically, I conduct salary surveys which are sold to organisations. These reports contained detailed analyses of market rates for various roles. I suspect your organisations may purchase similar reports or, as many of our clients do, work with a remuneration consultancy who provides all this information as the background to a formal pay structure.
Clearly, I work in a completely different country to you, and have no idea how your organisation operates, so the following may or may not be of use to you…
I very much doubt that you are going to find robust data on the net, whether or not you pay for it. And I also doubt that your HR professionals will be willing to consider the data you present over the data they already have.
Have you already indicated that you would like your position’s salary to be reviewed or is this a pre-emptive, get-as-much-info-as-i-can-then-hit-them-all-with-it exercise? I’m going to assume it’s the latter…
If you are wanting your salary to be reviewed, you may be best focussing on your performance in the role, as opposed to nominal market data. The problem with market data is that it simply represents a range of pay being paid in the market. Chances are that your salary already sits within this range, otherwise you wouldn’t have taken on the job. So using market data to support your ‘pay me more’ case may not be effective. A document outlining your performance and accomplishments in the role may well carry some weight though.
Also, it’s important to consider your organisation’s financial position as this also has a bearing on salaries - you may be the best damn admin in the whole wide world, but if the company you are with is going through tough financial times, then they aren’t going to be able to pay you more, even if they want to. Also, even if your company is in great financial shape, if they don’t see your role as being pivotal to the organisation’s success, then they may not want to invest any more in you.
Obviously I’ve made a lot of assumptions and none of this may apply to you so please feel free to disregard as you see fit. However I would still stand by my advice that your performance has to justify the review, and that you should approach your HR team and discuss what their procedure for reviewing salaries is, rather than try and do a market exercise on your own.
All the best!
Yes, it’s the lack of robustness and credibility of what I can find on the net that concerns me. And I only have this weekend to pull it together.
I did make a detailed proposal in writing to my boss outlining everything I do for him and the company that when on for four pages. I have a strong depth and breadth of competence and knowledge that few others have. I tried to keep the conversation - such as it was, more like me trying to stay on topic and him being snarky - focused on my individual talents and value. He may rethink his position over the weekend, but as we left it, he doesn’t care that I’m much much better than the average admin, that my job requires a lot more than what the average admin does. The only thing he, ultimately, cared about was that what I asked for could be substantiated in market data.
I agree that averages are only that. Averages, and don’t reflect an unique person’s value they bring to the organization.
My roadblock today is my boss. His subordinates have the discretion to decide raises, even aggressive raises, and so I believe he has this discretion also.
He gets that good people who do good work should get rewarded. Except for me, it seems. He’s given his own people good raises before. I know because I process the paperwork.
He didn’t seem to be much swayed at how much I do and how well I do it. I think you and I see the value of viewing each individual individually, but I don’t think he does.
Anyway, I’ll do my best to see what I can find, and if he doesn’t agree, he doesn’t agree. I’ll just put my resume out there and let the market decide when I take my next job. I’d rather not do that, but I’d also rather not be underpaid nor work for someone who thinks that a skilled employee should just take one for the team because it’s the “right thing to do”.
Sorry, I’m a little ticked off at this whole situation. At least I stayed calm and focused in my discussion today!!