Whats your Salary ?

My friends at work have no idea that on weekends I put on my Super Man costume and run around stopping crime, flying in my invisible jet. (The previous sentence is a lie, everyone knows that there is no such thing as an invisible jet. It's really a specially designed Flying Carpet.) Question in my mind is, do I want my colleagues to know about this? (That's the reason this blog should have been anonymous.) But now let me come to the topic of the Blog.

I recently had a conversation with some Shell Staff in STI where they were discussing their salaries and a senior staff passed by and on hearing the discussion "advised" that we should not discuss your salary with your co-workers.

I am thinking Why ?

I can only think of two reasons: 1. People are largely immature whiners. 2. Everyone else makes more money than you do.

Let's deal with the points in order. Point 1: Truly, I have found that people like to whine, whine, whine about their salaries & IPF's. Sometimes their whines are legitimate, but often time they are already overpaid or brought their own misery upon themselves.

I've been fortunate (or unfortunate) to have an inquisitive mind .....In other words I do like gossip and so more often that not I do indulge in gossip talk and I must say salaries as a matter of discssion do come up.

Why do you want to know how much money everyone else makes? It's probably not truly academic. You want to know so that when you find out that the guy who comes in late every morning and pushes all difficult projects onto you and then proclaims his greatness at every opportunity makes more money than you, you can go to your boss and whine. "He makes more money than meeeeeee!!!!!!"

Then, when your boss does nothing, you go whine to your colleagues and your partners and your buddies outside work. "My boss won't give me a raise and I deserve it!"

I'd think most managers try to pay fairly and give a fair IPF. Employees sometimes have a difficult time seeing this, as they don't truly understand what their co-workers do. Your "slacker" co-worker who comes in late every morning may have negotiated this schedule when he was hired. He may work 3 hours at home every night. Or perhaps he has some specialized skill that is in high demand.

Point 2: Everybody makes more money than you do. Let's face it, it's true. So why do you want to know that? Keep yourself happy and pretend that you make the most money of anyone in the office. (Of course that will keep you awake nights as you ponder how the president can afford yet another Gulfstream 5 when you can barely afford your Honda Civic.)

If you really think you are underpaid, go interview for a few jobs. You'll find out rapidly if your current salary is good or bad. (If no one wants to hire you, your current salary is good. If everyone wants to hire you for more money than you make now, your current salary is bad.)