-4

I manage our production team of 5 and about 1/3 of the company's purchasing. The majority of our company, which has about 60 people in all, makes the money we do from what we output from production. I'm 21, dedicated, and basically feel incredibly unappreciated. Not just emotionally at work, but my compensation is dirt next to the other department heads. I understand that I'm young but I'm worried that they don't think I'm worth more than what equates to 12.5/hour full time.

  • I'm worried that I'll find other work and have to learn a new company culture/flow.

  • I'm not sure how to make it clear that while I believe "fair" means getting me to do what they want for as little as possible, I can't justify doing so much for what feels like nothing.

Thoughts? Been there? Help. Please.

Improve this question
  • 1
    You need to add way more detail. What is normal pay for your position? What kind of formal education do you have? Who is paying you and what is your official job title? Did you talk to this person yet? Which country do you work in? – nvoigt Jun 28 '15 at 15:25
  • Here's an average salary for my official title, Production Manager. I don't have formal education. I was put into a "sink or swim" situation but am very much swimming. I'm in the US. I've not talked to my boss (co-owner) about this as I've felt like they probably think I'm in a "learning phase", but things are doing great now and they recently offered me a 25 cent raise, and I'm just insulted. I am 21, but am doing (as I've mentioned) the work of someone who was here before me for 15 years. I don't know how else to prove my worth? – user37614 Jun 28 '15 at 15:31
  • see also: How can I determine a reasonable salary to ask for? – gnat Jun 28 '15 at 15:55
  • 1
    Unfortunately companies often do pay as little as they can. With no degree and young is going to limit other jobs right now. Maybe gut it out for a couple more years. 4 years experience as a production manager puts you in line for jobs that might require a degree. In the next couple years they may come around on salary. It does sound like you are getting some good experience. – paparazzo Jun 28 '15 at 16:05
  • 3
    You replaced a 15-year experienced guy doesn't mean you deserve as much as he was paid. When the system has a really, really bad problem, will you be able to bring it back on track as well or as quickly as your predecessor did? (This is barely scratching the surface.) People are not paid just for the work they do, but how well they do it, how much value they add, and the assurance they provide for dealing with problems when they crop up. – Masked Man Jun 28 '15 at 17:24
5

I see a disconnect between the job title "Production Manager" and the expressed concern about having to learn a new company culture/flow.

The average salary figures will include people like the production managers I met in the computer industry. They were very knowledgeable people who could design and set-up the flows for manufacturing a new product, and were continuously looking for changes that would improve quality and/or productivity.

Unless your company has been building the same product in exactly the same way for the last 15 years, your predecessor was likely to have been involved in creating the current flow, not just keeping it working.

Maybe as far as your employer is concerned, and relative to your predecessor, you are in a learning phase, and should be studying other ways of doing things in preparation for proposing changes or dealing with new products. If broadening your understanding of manufacturing does not result in improvement in your current job situation, it will help you obtain and transition into another job.

Improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .