I agree with you. I began my corporate career (explained a few posts below) with the mentality that if I worked hard and worked smart, I would be rewarded. Well, I worked for 3 years, and was only promoted once. That promotion just moved me from the first level to second level developer (in a big company, a promotion essentially just means a raise and title change from <bla bla> I to <bla bla> II). That promotion came with a slightly higher salary, but it also came with ineligibility for overtime pay. As a result, my overall pay-per-hour kinda sank. I didn't care though. I still thought doing a good job would pay off well in the end.
Well, one day I asked my manager for a private meeting and asked for a promotion. I was performing at the level of people several levels above me, and I thought I brought more value to the company than I was being compensated for. What he eventually said echoes in my mind: "Sometimes it's possible for you to grow too fast in your career." The idea that there was some sort of meritocracy came shattering down, and it started dawning on me why they had mediocre software even with so many developers. For those of us doing the actual work, there was no real reward for being the guy with the solution. There was no motivation. This wasn't a place for anyone who expected to be appreciated for hard work. They probably just looked at me and thought, "Hah, that's cute that he's trying so hard."
So I ditched the corporate world, took a slight pay decrease, and now I work for a great startup. The end. ;)
Wanting to avoid this fate is essentially what led me to learn social skills & politics. I literally doubled the profits of one 40-person company and received nothing but a "congratulations."
One of the best things you can do is work out an agreement beforehand. Say, "If I accomplish X, Y, and Z in the next year, that's definitely worth (reward Q)." You probably can't get this in writing, but almost any boss will honor their word after a highly specific agreement. This tactic is (part of) how I got a double promotion just 8 months after joining one of the most bureaucratic companies in the world-where the average time for a promotion was 7 years.
From a manager's perspective, agreeing to a promotion in exchange for a certain level of performance feels like a business transaction. But being asked for a promotion after an employee has accomplished something feels like you're just paying more for the same work. Irrational, but true.
(By the way, if anyone ever wants advice on salary negotiations/corporate politics, I'm always happy to help fellow HNers. My email is in my profile.)
>Say, "If I accomplish X, Y, and Z in the next year, that's definitely worth (reward Q)." You probably can't get this in writing, but almost any boss will honor their word after a highly specific agreement.
I've had that in writing, accomplished X, Y, Z and had the reward refused, seemingly at a whim (in truth, the company couldn't afford to keep the promise at that point in time and used whatever cover they could to not pay the promised reward). However, it did provide bargaining power in the future, though I felt dirty afterwards.
I could probably use the negotiation/politics advice ;)
One thought I would contribute regarding negotiation is that, while you might not get what you want, you can usually get something. If they can't pay you, then ask for a title or autonomy or a better project. These are "free" but can be very valuable, in the long run, for your career.
You almost never get everything you want out of a negotiation, but you can almost always get something.
Reading over that again, I realize 3 years and one promotion is pretty good for some places. At the company I worked for, it was expected to be bumped through early levels rather quickly (or at least so I thought).
Well, one day I asked my manager for a private meeting and asked for a promotion. I was performing at the level of people several levels above me, and I thought I brought more value to the company than I was being compensated for. What he eventually said echoes in my mind: "Sometimes it's possible for you to grow too fast in your career." The idea that there was some sort of meritocracy came shattering down, and it started dawning on me why they had mediocre software even with so many developers. For those of us doing the actual work, there was no real reward for being the guy with the solution. There was no motivation. This wasn't a place for anyone who expected to be appreciated for hard work. They probably just looked at me and thought, "Hah, that's cute that he's trying so hard."
So I ditched the corporate world, took a slight pay decrease, and now I work for a great startup. The end. ;)