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I recently nabbed some work at a new call center in my area, first set of people to walk in the doors. I was recently promoted to team lead/floor support, it was a fairly impromptu meeting. The site director asked me to have a seat in his office, told me the client really likes my learning, coaching, and technical skills and wants to have me provide floor support and team management for them at the call center.

He asked me if $0.50 sounded good as a pay boost, I said sure without much thought (which was a pretty poor decision). The individual I replaced as floor support was making more than I would be now. I was fairly caught up in the moment since I had been gaming for a promotion to get into a more challenging and mentally taxing position.

This is a fairly informal place, and the site director is a very jolly sort of guy. I understand it is a business faux pas to ask to renegotiate a wage after accepting an offer, however I feel very strongly about being paid appropriately for my work. We are already far below the lowest bracket of pay for our industry and responsibilities.

I not only want to amend the wage, I don't want to be bitter or cynical about being paid less than other people with similar responsibilities. I understand that it sounds fairly petty, but I want my time to be as valuable as the next Joe's time, and if it's not then I have a feeling of getting the short end of the stick.

What options do I have? Would it be devastatingly awful (to my continuing advancement at this company) to approach him in private and discuss the matter? How do you even bring the topic up without shooting yourself in the foot?

Thanks!

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  • No, it will not. Be open, respectful and just ask. Everyone has a right to reconsider. No adequate manager will cuss you for it.
    – Matiss
    Commented Jul 29, 2015 at 9:48

2 Answers 2

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You should always be able to have private discussion with your manager about your concerns. If your work environment doesn't support this, I would be concerned about a company culture that creates that situation.

There are things you need to consider before having the meeting:

  • You may not get what you want, so be prepared for that and react professionally.
  • No ultimatums, a manager's general response to ultimatums is to say no. They can't give in to ultimatums or there will be a long line at their office door very soon.
  • Make sure you are well prepared to support whatever number you are going to ask for. While the previous person had the same responsibilities, they may have been in the position for a while and also bring experience to the discussion. That makes them more valuable and warrants a higher level of pay.
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To renegotiate at this point is taking a risk with the relationship with your boss. If that risk is worth it to you go for it. If you don't want to take that risk one strategy is to bring up casually that once you've proven your abilities in this role that you'd like to do a performance review and talk about getting your wage in line with someone proven at this level of resonsibility. This implies that you know you lowballed yourself but you did it to get the chance to prove yourself.

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