FWD: RE: Problems with Hiring, Equity

["Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

Name withheld upon request. Please reply on list.

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Anonymous wrote:

        person duly sent in CV.  Existing experienced writer (10+ years)
had doubts
        as the CV had several typos and grammatical errors.  Despite
these
        reservations it was decided by management to interview.
Interview went
        well (technically proficient candidate) but the existing writer
still had
        doubts.  Candidate got the job.

        The existing writer then found out that the newbie was on a
higher salary.
        He raised this with his manager and MD and was semi-placated -
newbie
        wasn't legible for company benefits, pension, Profit Related Pay
(PRP)
        Scheme etc.  He was told that it would all be sorted out in the
next round
        of pay negotiations.  These are now due and no mention has been
made yet by
        either party.

Sadly, this is a fact of current business life. I found myself in an
almost identical situation a few moons ago. Newbie with limited
technical proficiency was hired as a JUNIOR writer, to train under the
more experienced doc team members. It was discovered shortly thereafter
that not only had the newbie lied in the interview about knowledge of
certain tools, but that the newbie was making considerably more than the
most experienced doc team member.

The manager that set the newbie's salary informed me that he was in the
process of re-evaluating the salaries of everyone in the company. He
noted that the writers were being underpaid and was aiming to correct
the problem. Some numbers for my particular experience were mentioned
and I was asked to be patient, the changes would occur.

Newbie eventually left the job for something that paid even better;
another writer was laid off, and the remaining writers had their
workload doubled. No new writers were sought and everyone was too busy
to complain (hoping the hard work would be duly rewarded). Prior to my
next salary review (almost a year later), I politely reminded the
manager of his promise. He used a lot of words to tell me that he had
lied to me. Company executives then cut back on profit-sharing programs
(that had already been slashed from previous years) and a mass exodus
began.

The lying manager soon left the company (for more money) and handed the
doc team to an inexperienced manager with the people skills of wet
cardboard. I got out before I was mis-managed out of my job, but the
whole situation taught me to GET PROMISES IN WRITING! Without documented
evidence, you are SOL when it comes to calling someone (especially a
manager) to task. If the situation continues without showing tangible
signs of improvement, I'd say take the money and run.

Best of luck!