Okay DH found out last night about his annual raise/bonus. He got the highest rating for the year from the company but no promotion. Probably next year because he's been working only for 1 year. So next year a huge bump up is the likelyhood.
However his annual raise was only 4%! I don't know whether to laugh or cry over his working so damn hard for what? I know he's upset, but hasn't said much because it doesn't feel like the company gave out a lot. This is different from when I worked
First off he got two separate ratings individual/company. He got the higest rating for both and still ended up with a "generous" 4% raise. The rating were 1-4 and he got a 4 = 4% raise. That's apparently high for the company. He seems upset/frustrated and we're not sure what to think. Is this typical? He realizes that at the company people get 2-3% and fired if they get bad ratings. Yep they dump the bottom 10% of people annually, usually people who get 1 ratings.
But then he got a larger than expected annual bonus because the standard was 8% but he got 110% and 120% "extra" performance based compensation. So he ended up with a 11% bonus overall. Plus stock bonus another 4-6% annually, 12% annual signing bonus, so his bonuses are making up a huge chunk of income.
Is this typical? Should he be happy or disappointed? Overall the 4% raise is nothing, because with the annual bonus his income overall comprised of 75% paycheck and 25% bonuses in 2006. Which is nice, but it's frustrating because I don't think we should always count on bonuses. He agrees and wonders how do you budget such stuff?
Can everyone shed some light on how this works? What to think about bonuses and raises? And how to assess the value of such compensation properly.
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I don't know much about the industry yet since I just started working, but I believe most annual raises are just to cover inflation and a bit more. I know for my company 4% is near the high end also. Usually you can expect a bigger raise when you're promoted, but I think it might be unrealistic(albiet also illogical) to expect a promotion every year you produce great results. Our bonuses are also less, about 5% for the less important people. :)
He started last year with this company but was at another company for a bit before that and thus the promotion would have occurred if he had stayed with the first company probably this year.
But because of layoffs he had to wait a bit. So he was hoping, but it wasn't meant to be. Next year for sure or else he's out of the company.
Mainly because he is going back to school and needs more experience managing people. Plus this extra schooling and experience makes him the ideal candidate for a promotion next year. Or so he hopes.
He's been a little worried the company is trying to keep salaries low but keep people happy with big bonuses. Which can be difficult when you try to switch companies and have been underpaid, justifying a large raise.
4% is actually a fairly good raise at a large company. The 8% bonus is also pretty good. Don't invest too much time in a company if you don't see a lot of people getting promoted. The best way to get a better salary unfortunately is to find another job. Take on the most "marketable" assignments, projects, tasks at the existing job, so you can add that to your resume. Don't spend long hours working overtime on tasks that you wouldn't put on your resume. If you want to play hardball, go out and get an offer and present it to your Boss. See if he can match it but only if you really like the job/company. If you don't see yourself at this company longterm just get a better paying job and leave on good grounds (don't burn any bridges). If you take this approach, in 5 yrs one could add 30-50K dollars to your salary and then end up in a company/position that makes you happy (at least salary wise). I wish I had taken this approach. My 2 cents. Good luck.
Nope this is a temporary job, he's decided if no promotion next year he's leaving. That and we need to get out of new england anyway.
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