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I may get a promotion in the upcoming month, and I want to know what sort of pay to expect or negotiate for. My senior colleague is in the same position I would be promoted to, and I would like to know what his pay package looks like for comparison.
What is a tactful way to approach my senior colleague about what his pay package is?
Ask him.
What would you consider it reasonable for me to be offered if I was promoted to ....?
That way he can choose to tell you what he is getting if he wishes to, even if he does not tell you what he is getting now, he may tell you what he got when he first got promoted.
Also it may be better that you prove you can do the new job well before asking for lots of more money, your “market value” will not take into account the new job until you have been in it long enough for anther employer to believe in your new skills.
This is in the realm of "use your empathy" - if you feel that being asked about your package would make you uncomfortable - don't do it.
Mileage will vary based on culture, friendship, and other norms. I've asked friends of mine what their packages are, so I could get a baseline for myself, but it's not an OK thing to ask to every random coworker in the US. I wouldn't feel comfortable asking the majority of my colleagues or anyone I consider a purely work acquaintance and not a friend.
If him asking him (or a similar relationship but in the reversed position - i.e. junior to you) would make you uncomfortable - live with the lack of knowledge. In the end, there really is no perfectly comparable situation - two people of the same rank are NOT the same person, and will offer different things to the company, which may make their salaries slightly different - so the best you'll get from a single colleague is a single datapoint.
Another option is that if this person is someone you'd consider to be a mentor, you may ask a more abstract question - "what salary should I expect as a starting senior engineer?" - means it's less personal and less specific, but also more reasonable to answer across many data points - I can answer that for my role without disclosing my particular salary.
Here is how you diplomatically determine your salary band in relation to others without anyone knowing the exact figure (unless you watch their faces).
It requires at least 3 people (A, B, C).
Each of you add a random value to your current salary.
A writes down their total and hands the paper to B.
B adds their total and gives the new total to C.
C adds their total and gives the new total to A.
A removes the random amount they originally added and passes the new total to B.
B does the same and hands to C.
C removes their random amount, then divides the value by 3.
You now have the average salary between the three of you.
That said, there is more to a persons role then their salary. So even if s/he is at the role you are moving into you also need to factor in their experience so far, other areas the work in you won't be doing, etc. So it is rare that salaries will equate 1:1.
In the USA, it's actually illegal for an employer to prohibit salary discussions amongst employees, according to section 7 of the National Labor Relations act. If that's your company's policy, and it is a US company, they are breaking the law. Here's 29 U.S. Code § 157 - Right of employees as to organization, collective bargaining, etc.:
Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and shall also have the right to refrain from any or all of such activities except to the extent that such right may be affected by an agreement requiring membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment as authorized in section 158 (a)(3) of this title.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/29/158
Regardless, your fellow employee may feel uncomfortable discussing their compensation. You can try to warm them up over a beer, but how do you know they even did a good job in negotiating their own compensation? Your best barometer for your worth to the firm is to talk to other people who might want to hire you, and see what they believe you are worth.
If they think you're incredibly more valuable in another firm than where you're at, I would suggest, for the good of our economy, which benefits from a proper allocation of valuable resources, that you consider taking the other offer in spite of the discomfort of leaving a firm to which you have grown accustomed.
First of all, be aware that some companies have very stringent policies that explicitly prohibit compensation discussions between employees. As in, it may be a fire-able offense (it was in every company I worked for).
Sources: [1], [2], [3] (which actually makes legal argument that such policies are tricky in terms of enforceability), [4] (again actually casting doubts on whetehr such policies are OK).
Second of all, if the company is reasonably large, check it out on GlassDoor. It has anonymous salary ranges for many jobs.
If your company doesn't expressly prohibit salary discussions, you can then approach your coworker with GlassDoor data (for your company, or a close competitor) and ask him if he thinks the range is reasonable. That way they don't have to divulge their own personal numbers but can still provide useful feedback to you.
