Compensation

My company bases pay raises and promotions on our quarterly and annual evaluations. They also look at the whole person concept such as being a team player and using conflict resolution to resolve situations within the office because everything does not need to go to the manager. My company had a seminar that was voluntary on how to ask for a pay raise and preparing for your promotion. In the training session we where told they want to separate the leaders from the followers. Management realized they where not being fair because some employees where not team players but was getting selected for promotions and pay raises which was bringing the moral down in the office.

Many companies consider pay raises on the anniversary of the employee starting with the company, which is a good process, but its possible something’s can and will be missed if you wait and address the accomplishments annually. I like that my company reviews every ninety days because it’s easier to remember accomplishments because you don’t have to go that far back to capture what a employee has done that may warrant a promotion or annual pay raise. If an employee does not ask for a raise he or she probably will not receive one. The bottom line for a company is to keep expenses down and unless you are a standout employee they are not going to offer a pay increase because the economy is so unstable. My company usually gives a cost of living increase but the past two years instead of receiving it in January we received it in October and because of that many employees didn’t think it was a good time to request a pay raise so they didn’t ask.

When I was in the Army pay raises were automatic because it was written in the fiscal budget so I never had to request a pay raise and my promotions were based on my performance so after each promotion I would start to set myself up for the next one by asking what was required to get promoted to the next pay grade. In the civilian work place pay...