How to go about re-negotiating salary after moving department

Question

How do I approach my new manager to renegotiate my salary, not long after transitioning from another department ?

I used to work in a department that was set up to run a specific project. The project ends in June this year, and the roles are being made redundant. Most people on the project were seconded from other areas of the business, and will go back to those roles.

I was a new hire, so did not have anywhere to fall back to.

However, my manager did not want the company to lose me, so I have transitioned into a new role. in another department. Any job at the company should normally be advertised. However, my new role was not, and my job title has not changed either, I was told the reason for this was so that they could get me into the new role through the back door, and without any questions from HR, and no need to go through the interview process.

However, I also feel I missed the chance to re-negotiate my salary. Although my job title is still the same, I am now working on a lot bigger projects than I was before, and feel I should be paid more for this.

What is the best way to approach my manger about this ?

Or should I perhaps wait 7 months for the end of year review ?

FYI

I am an analyst, I was working along side Supply Chain on the previous project, and now am working in Sales & Operations planning.

Edit

I am of course very grateful to live in a country where finding a good paid job is fairly easy. (England)

And am happy the the company could in fact keep me on once the project ended.

But being in this very lucky situation, is by no means a reason to settle in life, I still want to earn as much money as possible to provide my child the best in life too.

Answer 1

Let's see it straight: your project duration ended, so you're given a new assignment in a new project. Good.

Your new assignment comes with more responsibilities - that's expected. You're more experienced now.

• They retained the designation / cadre.
• They did not "officially" transfer you, it's more like a backdoor-internal transfer.
• Your annual performance review is yet to happen (7 months down the line).

So, in your situation, where you have agreed to perform the roles and responsibilities offered to you before transitioning, you did not think of negotiating, so it's very less likely that they are going to allow you a raise right now.

I am now working on a lot bigger projects than I was before, and feel I should be paid more for this.

Usually, the scale of the project does not matter much, your salary depends on your contributions / value-adds made to the project / deliverable. Just because you are part of a bigger project / program, does not mean there's more value to your work - rather it might be the opposite.

In another words, it depends on the contributions from your side and expected roles and responsibilities. If they did not change (much) - expecting a raise just because you transitioned from one project to another does not hold any weight anyways.

My suggestion: Complete the remaining part of review cycle and appear in the next review meeting with

• Your accomplishments from both the projects
• How you used the transition to better yourself (handling bigger projects)
• How you made yourself useful to the organization (changed role based on need and adapted to it to deliver)

and then, negotiate for a raise. You'll have a much better shot at it that point of time.

After considering above points, if you still feel you're being underpaid: Check How should I properly approach my boss if I'm feeling underpaid?

Answer 2

If you had competed for the job with more responsibility, then you would have a case for a raise.

If your job wasn't in danger and they asked you to join a new team to help them out of a desperate situation, then you would have a case for a raise.

But you were the one with your source of income in danger. They came up with a plan to save your income by getting you on another team with a minimum of fuss. In that situation you don't have much leverage to ask for a raise. Now if you do a great job over the next 7 months, you will be able to use your great performance in the new position to ask for a raise.

A long time ago on a project I was on I asked for a promotion, but it was rejected. Not two weeks later a person on a another part of the project retired. They had to scramble to fill the spot before the customer complained. Now I was begged to take the open position, and they gave me the promotion the same day. In this case I had leverage because my job was secure.