Paid the same as my coworker who has more experience

Question

I'm paid the same as my coworker who has more experience and knows more about the company process, where I frequently need help because I'm new, however maybe it's due to me negotiating during the interview. Recently I got a new manager that doesn't seem to like me too much (likes to micromanage, point out mistakes etc) Should I be worried about getting canned? I do think that I do okay work for the amount of experience I have at the company just my salary is a bit high compared to coworkers with more experience.

Also I work in finance fields but we use alot of company software that I need to learn for book keeping transactions etc.

Also what should I do in this situation to either improve my standing if needed or look to the next step before getting canned?

Answer 1

Should I be worried about getting canned?

I presume you are asking if the chances of you getting fired are higher because you are being paid more than your colleague. Not necessarily.

Companies have a payscale for every role / designation, and if you are being paid on the higher end of the payscale, it is because the company values your skill more. Note that companies don't just value someone purely on their technical skills and qualifications. It could also be your work ethics or your loyalty or your social skill or your ability to please / upsell more to your client etc.

The real issues are:

1. You not having a good professional rapport with your new manager.
2. Your insecurity that you aren't fully competent at your job.

This is what is causing you anxiety and worry, and that's where your full focus should be.

Dealing with your Managerº:

Note that it takes time to establish a good working relationship with anyone new. Just because your new manager micro-manages your work or is critical of some of it, doesn't mean that he dislikes you or is out to get you. That may simply be his style of managing people, unpleasant as it may be to those under him. (Perhaps he himself is new at this and is dealing with his own insecurities of learning to manage people).

Rather than doubting or speculating about this, go have a frank chat with him. Request a meeting and talk directly. For example, you could tell him - "I noticed that when you assign any task to me, you pay a lot of attention to it, even overseeing it. Is this because you feel that I am not yet fully competent at that particular task and have a lot more to learn?".

A good manager will politely clarify your concerns, and even try to address it to a certain extent.

You can (and should) even ask for his help - "I realise that I have to upskill in so and so area - I'd certainly appreciate it if you tell me what your expectations are from me in so and so area and what I should prioritise learning to make your job easier? Could you suggest some good resource, like a book or online resource, or even someone else that can train me on this subject?".

Your job is to make your boss' job easier. So it is important to understand what his specific expectations are from you. (Good manager are upfront in communicating this to you. With others, you have to use your own intuition and experience to figure out what pleases him). It is also helpful to realise that people who micromanage others tend to have anxiety issues. That is why they don't fully trust people to do their assigned tasks and involve themselves too much. You just have to slowly build trust by meeting his expectations.

How he addresses your concern will tell you a lot about him. Worst case, he may just be a jerk, in which case you will be stuck in a lousy work environment.

(Note that such a meeting may not necessarily be a one way street - your manager may quiz you too on what your future goals are and what you like or dislike about his style of management. Be prepared. Be diplomatic, but don't sound like you lack confident.)

º I am going to assume the manager is a guy.

Answer 2

This is an advice from one of my coworkers long, log time ago:

If you think that you are expendable, i.e., can easily be eliminated without much consequence to the department, you will be sacked.

He went on to elaborate saying, if you are in that mode, continuously doubting yourself, trying to bite more than you can chew, because it will make you look good at the end, well, it most probably will make you look even worse, because, doing something without knowing the intricate details, like your more experienced coworkers do, you will look foolish and unproductive. Then eventually you'll get canned.

Look at the situation from another perspective. Do you feel grief from your coworkers, about you making the same money as they do? If so, are they vocal about this? As in complaining to the management constantly etc.? Remember, not everyone is driven by making few cents or dollars more. Some desire challenge more than financial compensation. As long as they are not grossly underpaid, some people are happy to get a little less money in return for a work they like doing. Maybe, just may be, they are happy that you are taking the mundane work from their shoulders, so that they can devote themselves to something more exciting.

In my workplaces, the newcomers usually get the grunt work that no one wants to deal with. And I for one, appreciate if someone new comes and takes a hefty portion of my work off my shoulders, so that I can devote more time to new projects waiting for my attention. If this person is maing the same kind of money I am making, more power to him/her. I would have a problem if someone coming in new gets to be paid way more than I am making, which means company doesn't appreciate my work.

So, as long as you are doing what is expected of you and doing this good, there is no reason for the company to can you. Of course finding a psycho manager whose life's purpose is to make your life miserable and unfortunately there is no remedy for that, other than leaving on your own accord. I don't believe you are not at this stage yet.

Answer 3

I think you should not got canned, because they agree to pay you that much. The HR should've considered you worthy and have the capability to work according to your job description.

My personal advice is, you have to try to accelerate your learning curve and catch up with the performance of your peer. It is true the veteran will perform better, but at some point you should be able to match their capability to a certain point, right? They're still your senior and its acceptable to ask them for help here and there, but you gotta show that you are also capable.

Maybe at some point, if you feel comfortable working without supervision, you can start doing that. To make your efforts known just go for peer review/ask manager to review you. Don't afraid for the mistakes, you'll learn from them. Additionally, you can also try to talk with your manager 1-on-1 and ask him what did he/she expect from you, therefore you can be clear about the target on how well you should be performing.

If they couldn't accept that you're not performing the same as the more experienced employee when you're still new, it's not your fault. It's on them.