Could you imagine saying something like this to a company when its competitors are knocking on the door and trying to steal market share?  Yet this is exectly what employers are telling employees every day.  

The bottom line is that you should know what the market is prepared to pay for your skills; you should look at what your fellow staff are being paid, and you should know what your company's competitors are paying staff in similar roles to yourself. 

Yet most bosses will try and tell you that - "Talking about your salary with other staff about pay rates is unethical, and you shouldnt do it."  Only the other day I had a manager tell me that it was unethical to talk to fellow employees about salary levels.  However, this is your employer talking. An employer who is looking out for their own best interests, and those interests may not necessarily be the same as your interests.  They expect loyalty, dedication and hard work from you....and you give it.  Very often you give more than what is required.....however what are you getting in return?  Is this a balanced equasion?

The only reason that a company doesnt want you to open your eyes is that they want to pay you the bare minimum in order to keep you. 

As an employee you should know that the market is willing to pay for your skills.  You should know what a company is paying fellow employees.  You should also be prepared to move if a better opportunity comes along.  This is called market research.  The last thing you want is to be short paid $10 or 20 thousand dollars because you believed that the company had your best interests in mind.

You’d think that companies benefit from secret salaries and that’s why they keep them secret, but really, if salaries were 100% accurate—perfectly pegged at the employee’s worth to the company—then the company would have no problem revealing all salaries. Brazen Careerist

Think of yourself as a company, if you didnt do market research you would soon be out of business.  Dont sell yourself short.

Resources for the discerning employee that wants to do his/her market research - (Brazen Careerist)

Payscale.com is a favorite.

Salary.com is a good one if you are trying to get a raise. Salary.com is not as thorough as Payscale with its data collection. So employers generally favor Payscale. But Salary.com skews higher than Payscale, so if you have to bring a first number to the negotiating process, use Salary.com. Bonus: These are the people who bring you the statistics on how much a housewife is worth.

But really, if companies are smart, the conversation about salary will go quickly. You tell the company how much you’re worth. You bring very good data to back that up, and the company pays it. Then other factors like company culture become much more important.

That’s where Glassdoor comes in. It’s US magazine for the company you are considering—a little gossipy, with first-hand information about companies from the people who suffer in them. Bonus: Glassdoor is a new company and there are not a lot of competing perspectives on the site yet. So if you drop a bomb about the place you work, it’ll hit hard

If you have any comments please feel free to click on the title of this article and insert them at the bottom of the article.

Jobjett