Finance workers will quit before asking for a pay rise



Employees in the accounting and finance sector would rather quit than talk to their boss about a pay rise.

A survey of 656 accounting and finance workers carried out by specialist recruitment firm Robert Half found 52 per cent of employees believe the only way to gain bargaining power to gain a bigger salary is to change jobs.

Of those surveyed, 27 per cent claim to never negotiate salary and 57 per cent only discuss salary during an annual performance review.

Director of Robert Half Andrew Brushfield advises accounting and finance staff to at least have a pay rise conversation with their manager before jumping ship.
 
“What a lot of people assume – and rightly – is that they will receive a five to 10 per cent increase on average if they change jobs versus staying in their company and getting just CPI of two to three per cent,” Brushfield says, referring to the Consumer Price Index (cost of living).

While Brushfield acknowledges many accounting and finance professionals were over looked for pay rises during the GFC and may have also done poorly during 2010 pay reviews, he is concerned about the consequences of job jumping just for money.

“People are not wanting to talk to employers as to whether there is any chance for a pay increase and are instead just moving jobs but then moving again quite quickly because for whatever reason the role didn’t work out,” he says.

In Brushfield’s book, the right reason to move jobs includes a role that offers more responsibility, greater challenge or a learning opportunity as well as a good salary. The wrong reason would be simply more money.
 
“Candidates that are too focused on getting an increase are not lifting up the bonnet [of the potential new job] to find out about the day to day responsibilities involved in the role or thinking about whether the workplace culture is right for them.”

He says having a few roles on a resume in just a few years can put a potential employer off hiring the candidate.

“So what we are saying is, ‘if you are happy in your role but you didn’t get a pay rise this year or the pay rise was not what you wanted then talk to your employer’. Finance people can be introverted types and a bit reticent to talk about salary,” Brushfield says.

“Negotiating salary is most effective if it’s timely,” he said. “Therefore, think about how you have gone above and beyond your job description and benefited your employer. Have you recently helped save money or brought in a new client?”

He urges those happy in their jobs to also think about some non-salary rewards to ask for such as flexible working conditions or work-related training or even a different role internally.

“If you don’t ask you don’t receive.”

According to Brushfield, head-hunting activity by larger firms will pick up as the economy strengthens so there will be good opportunities soon.

“Employers will be looking to hire people with specialist skills such as risk management, compliance and treasury skills as well as replace staff that were made redundant during the downturn,” he says.