Hi everyone,  I am new to the forum so maybe this has been discussed recently and if it has I apologize.  We are a medical practice with 17 employees (3 of which are the providers/owners).  We have an employee who was just promoted and given a raise to reflect the new job responsibilities.  Her annual review date (same as her hire date) is next week.  Her question to me was will she get an additional raise since the annual review is based on past productivity.  My feeling is that the physicians will not want to authorize an additional raise on top of the substantial one she received with the promotion.  How is this handled in most companies of our size?  Any suggestions and ways to term my answer to her would be most appreciated.

Suzanne 

 

we change the review date to the date of the promotion when a promotion occurs at another time than the review date.

The employee may have a point, unless the raise tied to the promotion puts them at a pay rate that significantly exceeds the rate they would have been at in the old position after a merit increase.  If not, simply explain to them that the promotion put them at a higher rate than they would have been at with a merit increase in their old job and leave it at that.

 

We leave review dates the same and consider promotions and inter-term raises when considering comp adjustments at review time.

Our company policy is also to change the date of evaluation to match the date of promotion.  As we are on an annual evaluation schedule with quarterly reviews, we want to look at the performance of the person in their new position since the promotion....

Also, as a small company we have a policy of merit raises only....

 

Dave Scholl

If the promotion (and increase in pay) is being made around the same time that we do annual performance reviews and wage increases then I will tell the employee they will be evaluated in 6 months for a possible increase at that time.  

Wasn't her recent promotion due to her past productivity and performance?  If she wasn't performing, she would not have been promoted and gotten the requisite increase. 

If someone has gotten a promotion within 6 months of their review date, we do not give them an increase until their next review date.

I agree with the idea that you could shift her review date to the promotion date if that is easier for you to track.

 

 

Performance appraisals do not have to mean a raise.  It is feedback on performance and a tool to be used for consideration of future opportunities.

I would generally consider the size of the promotional increase given.  Factor in the relative performance of her peers and how this would impact internal equity.  I usually communicate to the person at the time of the promotion conversation that their raise is included in the amount (if you can't or don't need to give her more money).  

 Anything you say to her at this point is going to be perceived as a negative because she is already anticipating more money, so you're doing damage control now.  I would explain that, since she just got a sizeable increase, you already factored this in.  I would make sure this is the historical practice as well - you don't want her coming back with a precedent that undercuts your position.

Her annual raise was based on her past performance, but so was her promotion.  She earned the promotion based (hopefully) on strong performance and by demonstrating the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to do the new job. We normally combine merit and promos if they're in close proximity time-wise, and let her know that her increase was substantial based on the norm.

Next time, you could convey this with the promo communication (x% is your promo, y% will be your merit).  Make it easy.