Demand Better Compensation
More and more of us are making less and less for more and more work.
Our workaholic culture has primed us to think we can get more from each other for less. Our “everything is online” culture convinces us that anything worth having is worth having for free. Why pay for it? I can find it all online!
We can’t continue to devalue ourselves and we can’t continue to devalue the contributions of others.
We need to face up to that. Now.
If not, know that you will be doing more for less over the long-haul and that getting fairly compensated for your talents will never happen if you refuse to fairly compensate others for their unique gifts. That’s how it works. It’s called reciprocity.
The ‘non-stop work machine’ will stop at nothing to get more from you, grinding you up in its cogs along the way. It’s not personal (yes, we know it feels personal). The machine doesn’t care. People care and if you care enough about yourself and others and creating a workplace where we all can legitimately demand what we are actually worth, then stop pulling the levers of the machine, begin asking for what you deserve, start rewarding the valuable contributions of others, and learn ways to give back more than you take out.
- Determine your desired compensation. Take your fair market value, add your Financial Serenity and Compensation Continuum, and stir.
- Research average salaries and benefits for the work that you do in your geographical area, consider your level of expertise and your Calling Card and check in with a career coach or other experts as well as with your gut to determine your fair market value.
- Define your Compensation Continuum–assign a value–not just monetary–to your time, including a continuum of ‘payment’ that encompasses such factors as spiritual, interpersonal, energetic, familial, and intellectual remuneration.
- Define your Financial Serenity–that point of income and balance between want and need, peace of mind over financial anxiety.
- Meditate on these three components and land on a number that feels right in your bones, not too high, not too low. Think about this number each day without grasping at it.
- Take a stand for your value. It’s a lot easier to undervalue someone when they already undervalue themselves. If you don’t take a stand for yourself, who else will? If you don’t take a stand for yourself, then you’re one more person contributing to our culture of undervaluing. Get grounded in the compensation that you require. Don’t back down, whether you’ve been in a position for 5 years or you’re applying for a new job. Don’t give in to the culture of fear and workaholism. Sound like la la land? Get support until you can, at least, consider the possibility of creating fair compensation. If you don’t, you will very likely stay stuck in undervaluing yourself and others and in underearning.
- Take a stand for other people’s value. Compensate others as well as you possibly can. Be innovative about offering flexibility and cultivating creativity. The more you compensate for what you value, the more you can expect to be compensated for the value you bring to the world.
- Community organize around fair compensation. In our culture and our world, money often serves as a mechanism to marginalize and limit our possibilities. None of us should take this unfortunate dynamic lying down! However, be careful not to oversimplify or demonize people or institutions with money or high salaries–that can be another form of marginalizing and limiting. Instead, we each need to work steadily to encourage ourselves and our colleagues and friends to ask for what WE deserve. The bottom line: take salary and benefits out of the back allies of secrecy. Talk openly about what you need, not just to survive, but to thrive, engaging in honest dialogue with those around you about your fair market value, your Compensation Continuum, and your Financial Serenity.
