Equity in reward and remuneration - Part 2

Dear Caroline, I work for a law firm and have been employed with the firm for close to five years. I have steadily worked through the ranks from a legal clerk when I left university to now a legal associate. Our firm has done well over the years, and we have expanded. As a result, we have had to recruit new team members. This is all good; however, over the last year, I have noted that newly recruited staff are being paid considerably high entry salaries, very close to what I am earning, yet, they do not have the same experience. In many cases, I am the one supervising them. This is demotivating.  I want to know how firms should develop a fair and equitable salary structure and how I should raise my grievance. 
Sharon

Hello Sharon,  last week I took you through the basics of how companies should develop an equitable and fair salary structure; this week, let’s walk through how you handle your case and how you can get an audience for your concerns. The first that you will need to look at is your job description. Many times, these are edited, adjusted etc, every two-three years, and what informs the changes is either a change in strategy or the business has diversified, and your role has been re-aligned.  

Take some time to review your job description and ask yourself whether what is documented accurately reflects what you are doing. As you review, you will find some aspects that are not captured but for which you spend time undertaking, and they have outputs and outcomes that affect the business. If you have any differences, note them down. Think through what you do, why you do it, what resources ( knowledge or skill) are required to do the work, the output and outcome and, very importantly, how that work adds value to the business.

The next part is to think through what competencies, technical and behavioural, are required to do your work. Again, indicate how you have these competencies and how you have used them. It would help if you also thought about any teams you supervise, are in charge of managing, are responsible for any financial budgets, are held accountable for risks associated with your work that may cause reputation damage to the business, etc. The last part is to think about how long it has taken you to acquire all your competencies, which are validated by your work.

When you have all the above information, you can now state your concerns about aspects of pay and, more importantly, be able to show how your wealth of experience and exposure outweigh the new entrants who are being rewarded close to your salary. Be mindful that while they are new, they may come with experience from other law firms. The point that you will need to be mindful of is that your firm may have recognised that the market requires that lawyer is paid more vs the market rate, and what is happening is they are paying more to attract talent.

Caroline Mboijana,
Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U)  [email protected]