Doing Someone a Service by Screwing Someone Else…

Why can’t we all live in a perfect world where everyone is awarded according to our own skills and experience?  Allow me to share a little story.

Not too long ago, we interviewed a person and decided to extend an offer.  Not a ton of experience, but enough.  And, an excellent drive to succeed and passion for technology.  The hiring team and I chatted, we determined where she fit on our scale experience wise and started crafting the offer. And here’s where it began to get sticky.

So the hiring manager says to me, “I want to bring her in at a salary below So-and-so.”  (So-and-so is a made up name, to protect the innocent.) Turns out that when So-and-so was hired, we underestimated his abilities.  He jumped into the role and impressed everyone right off the bat.  He was a stud and they were going to recognize this by promoting him at the upcoming review complete with a nice raise.  Overall, the manager thought So-and-so was a stronger programmer than the person we were about to offer a job to.

Problem was, however, that even with the raise that So-and-so received, a standard offer for the candidate we had just interviewed would have still put her above So-and-so. By the way… have you caught on that the candidate is a female?  Which of course makes this all even better.

“So,” I say, “Let me get this straight.  You want to bring a woman, who you have concluded clearly meets the qualifications for level X in at a salary below a man that you are just now promoting into that level?”

*silence*

“Well…that’s not the reason!” the hiring manager responded.

Of course, I completely believed him.  I didn’t feel that this was a matter of wanting to pay a woman less than a man.  In fact, I think this aspect made it easier for me to make my point.  Still… gender aside, why do so many people think that the solution to the problem of under-paying a person is to bring future people in at salaries below them?  Two wrongs don’t make a right (but… two Wrights make an airplane).

I’ve seen this almost everywhere I have worked: companies and/or managers who seemingly don’t want to make radical changes to a person’s salary.  When it’s realized that one isn’t being paid enough, there is hesitancy to say, “Hey…this person needs a bigger bump than we normally give.”  There always seems to be a mathematical equation that needs to be worked in rather than just saying, “Let’s put this person where they should be.”  Why is that?

I work on what I like to call the good side of HR.  I hire people.  My job is pretty much to make everyone happy, whenever I can.  I have said before that I refuse to low-ball candidates.  So, I have trouble understanding why it’s okay to low-ball employees.  How many times have we heard the line, “I have to leave the company to get paid what I’m worth?”  Too many.

In the end, I got my way.  My candidate was hired at a salary worthy of her skills and experience.  So-and-so is on his way to a nice promotion and pay raise.  And I am off to keep paying people what they’re worth.