9 Reasons To Stay At A Good Job Despite A Bad Raise
In 2022, if you got less than 7.9% inflation raise this performance review cycle, you got a net pay cut.
Yes, there’s other good jobs out there that could pay you more, especially in such a hot job market.
Before you rage quit, however, here’s 9 things to think about that might help you realize that you actually still have it pretty good at your current job.
1. You still have growth opportunities ahead of you
You probably aren’t the only one with a bad raise, and bad raises contribute to attrition.
The benefit of waiting it out is that roles open up above you. Taking on additional responsibilities feels counter intuitive when you’re being compensated below your expectations, but less people above you also means you now have easier access to leadership.
You’re going to be pulled into different rooms in front of more important people.
Suddenly, your influence and opportunities grow.
2. You’re visible at your company
If people already know you as “that-person-that-knows-x” in some shape or form, then you’re on the right track.
Pay attention to who speaks positively of your name when you are not in the room.
When your reputation precedes you, more opportunities naturally open up for you at your company.
3. Work-life balance is still flexible
You put in the time to build trust, respect, and skill redundancy on your team, and now you can fully disconnect on PTO with the peace of mind that you have set your team up for success.
If you’re taking PTO at a new role, you might not have this peace of mind until you’ve built a reputation there.
4. You trust your manager
You can only go as far as your manager believes you can.
Your manager plays a huge role in advocating for you. If you trust that your manager believes in you and your growth at the company, and they actually show you that they are trying their best to find you opportunities, then you are one of the lucky few.
You can stay at your job to make the most of this relationship, or take a gamble at finding a strong advocate for your career at another company.
5. You don’t want to be running away from something, you want to run towards something
You may have gotten a bad raise, but is it worth the trouble to go through multiple interview processes only to find out that the new offers were only slightly better?
Offers can be unpredictable, and you could find yourself in the same predicament of getting a bad raise at your next company as early as the next performance review cycle.
If you plan to leave your job, reflect on what you want in your next role, so you can be running towards another exciting opportunity.
Carve your own path.
6. You have intrinsic motivations that align with the company’s OKRs
Intrinsic motivations involves performing a task because the act of performing the task is personally rewarding to you. You are intrinsically motivated to do your hobbies because they are enjoyable to you.
While monetizing hobbies can make it feel like a job, have you tried the opposite? Make parts of your job feel like your hobby.
For instance, writing is my hobby, and my company’s OKRs emphasize recruiting and building our brand. Voilá, I can write articles for the engineering blog to strengthen our brand. This builds a skill that I’m interested in improving, and I can get paid to do so.
7. Moving jobs sets you back in the promotion timeline
If you’re looking to get promoted soon, moving jobs for a lateral change is likely to further delay your promotion.
Tenure at a company impacts the decision to promote candidates — many companies consider employees ineligible for promotion until after a year of tenure. So if you’re in a strong position to be promoted soon, consider staying for the title change that you deserve.
8. The work you do is still fulfilling
If you’re able to end your day feeling the dopamine hit from something you accomplished at work, then your role is still fulfilling.
If you share the same mission as your employer, it’s nice to know that you play a role in building something you care about.
9. The interview process takes forever, so you might as well get paid while you interview
And if all these reasons don’t work for you, just stay a little bit longer to start the conversations you need to find your next opportunity while you’re still being paid.
Sometimes, a job is a job. You’ve grown tremendously. Hopefully, the bad raise was only the final nudge to get you to start looking, and not the main reason.
Stay connected to your colleagues, as your network is one of the most valuable things you can take away from your current role.
