This is a bit of a rant, feel free to skip the TL;DR at the bottom.
I joined a PortCo a little over a year ago as their Director / Head of Finance reporting to the CFO. The move required me to relocate across the U.S. but to an area I was happy land in.
The new role was an increase in Title but a lateral move in salary under the claim that the company was cash constrained at the time I was hired. Lo and behold, we did have to thread the needle a few months cash to cover payroll, but last summer we received a large investment from a GE shop and since then, cash has been a non-issue. In addition to the investment, the company experienced massive growth and has revenue is 2x+ since I joined and is projected to double again in 2022.
I took the role with the understanding that I would build out the strategy and FP&A departments. It is now more than a year later and I am still a team of one and have been informed that at some point over the next few months I will be layered. Annoying - but I don't really enjoy working for my boss so it is a welcomed change. It probably makes sense to have someone who has more financial reporting experience above me as we intend to have a public exit.
Issues with my team's buildout and my boss aside - other teams (marketing, IT, merchandising, real estate, etc.) have grown their headcount with relative ease and RIDICULOUS compensation packages. I can appreciate the adage that comparison is the thief of joy I cannot help myself from using these figures as additional data points.
Over the last year I haven't completely lost my mind... but working every weekend (even if just a few hours) and consistently pushing close to 70/80 hours while other teams are over staffed and looking for work has worn on me.
I told myself I'd keep pressing the gas until we had our annual reviews and compensation discussions at the end of February. A slap in the face is an understatement. Being under market and remembering the conversations during the hiring process about my lateral salary and not receiving an increase since 2019 due to Covid, I really hoped that I'd get a "market adjustment" in addition to any merit received.
Company wide increase was 4% (prorated for months of services); I was given 8% with no mention of market adjustment. Compared to the salary software used for new hires since the cash infusion last summer, I am underpaid by about $60K. The executive team has gotten wind that many people are not happy about the increases and have doubled down that it is "in-line" with industry standards.
What type of increases did you guys get? Are you at a stable or growth stage company? I can't help but feel that given the trajectory, investment we received, and the time I put in that I should have been given more than what feels like peanuts.
TL;DR - Moved across the company to build out the finance team of a PortCo. Got the rug pulled out from under my with regard to what I was hired for. Pushed hard for an entire year while everyone else relaxed and was only given a slight increase.
Looks like it's time to find a new job, got a 20% pay raise and 10% bonus. I plan to make a move in the next few months for an even larger gain - assuming the Director opportunity that is on the horizon for me (at another company) doesn't materialize. I am at a growth stage company and don't really intend to ever work for a "stable" company until I've moved up enough and quickly enough to make it worth it.
If you don't mind sharing, which industry are you in? Agree on the time to find a new job... only issue is I have technically only been in a director-level seat for just over a year and think that it will be somewhat difficult to maintain that level if I want to move back to a larger company. Which to be fair, I am fine with... but think it may be worth letting off the gas and trying to coast for another 6 months or so if that means I can say that I have been at the level for almost 2 years.
I work for a late-stage healthcare startup. To your point you may want to stick around for another few months but start the search now, these opportunities don't typically materialize quickly.
Certainly recommend switching firms and starting to look for jobs now while shooting for 2+ years (if you can hold out).
I have long criticized the need to constantly jump around to get increases to get you towards market. It's infuriating beyond belief to have employees who should absolutely be at market comp and have virtually no levers to get them there. Turnover is a drag and, candidly, you are re-hiring anyway at higher numbers. Smart organizations will stretch and keep high performers at any cost - as they should. I will never, ever understand not promoting someone who is a high performer - allow them to leave - then hire a position at market + 10% for the same person.
Take this as a learning experience IMO, if you don't have it in writing, assume the other part is lying. Sorry OP, hope you find a good gig soon, with your title, you should be able to move to something solid at a company that respects their employees.
Thanks man, definitely chalking it up as that. Luckily, this is the hardest issue in my life right now as I love the city I live in, have a ton of friends, and a wonderful girlfriend. If getting a larger raise is my biggest issue, I think life is pretty good.
I had the same thoughts in my last role. I completed the most deals in my group for the year and felt like I was working at a level above my title but management thought otherwise. Fortunately for me, I got the sense early enough that a promotion to the level I wanted was not in the cards so when that moment of confirmation came from management, I had offers lined up for a few different roles that came with significant comp increases.
Agree with others that it is time for you to look for other roles that will pay you closer to your expectations. This is a situation where you can thank them for the opportunity and keep it moving even if they try to convince you to stay on after receiving an offer.
Top performing in F100 ranking (2YOE), 2.5% raise. Already offered a 35% increase in salary from a smaller, but still large private company... going to keep searching around though.
2.5% raise lmfao.
What is stopping you from taking the new role? Just wanting to continue searching and see what else is out there?
+4%
Thanks for the data point!
My non-finance add in. Got promo'd as part of a restructuring, 10% base increase and bonus target moved up another 10%.
I asked for 22% base increase and got told no. I'll be leaving in a year if all goes well.
I'm at a F200 FLDP at the post-MBA level. I got a 4% raise on my base salary, and a pro-rated ~30% performance bonus (have only been with the company half a year).
I feel like CorpFin can be hit or miss at a PE portco since they're always going to keep an eye on costs no matter what to boost returns.
Agree with you. In my situation, costs really aren't monitored all that closely unfortunately and I think this was simply a function of my boss having a boomer mentality. To add insult to injury I was in his office the other day and he minimized a file that left an excel sheet showing.... the sheet had the entire team on it listed by years of experience, years of industry experience, undergrad, masters, etc. Pretty infuriating to see that my compensation is based on checking certain boxes rather than my performance.
Yup. It sounds like you're in a less-than-ideal situation. It happens. Best advice I can give you is to get as much experience and develop as many transferrable skills as you can while searching for a better opportunity (with better management/pay/trajectory/etc.).
Most importantly, try and be a better manager than your current boss when you inevitably find yourself in that position.
3% raise after a record year for the firm (specialized commercial bank in a niche product, won’t elaborate more). Top bucket performer consistently doing tasks 2 levels above my title. This year is expected to be very busy given aggressive growth targets from management, but with no additions to headcount for my team. Needless to say, already accepted another offer and counting down the days until I can put in my 2 week notice. If you won’t value your top performing employees, don’t expect to retain them.
This is what I love to see. It amazes me that employers are handing out 3% raises amidst 17%+ inflation.
should find out this week. a couple months ago, i got a spot equity grant RSUs for ~55% of salary, wondering if others have seen companies doing the same to keep their opex in line
I was in a somewhat similar role. I joined a PortCo with the idea that I would build out their FP&A group. We were in an industry that is heavily dependent on discretionary spending and the ability of people to leave their homes, so we almost crashed and burned during COVID. My workload probably increased 10-fold given the heavy amount of reporting, bridge building, etc. that I am sure you know is required when you miss budget almost every month. I was promised three direct reports (analysts) to help me with the ever increasing work, but every time someone else needed budget, it was taken out of my department, so my three direct reports quickly turned to zero. I ended up leaving for another role in a more resilient industry with a better titled (moved from manager to director), but almost flat pay, which to me was worth it at the time just for some fresh air.
My advice would be to start applying elsewhere. Look up some of the big headhunters out there and get in their systems- they are always looking for PortCo finance people. The old "I was promised X and did Y above my title, so I deserve a raise" holds no water anymore- most people are reluctant to go through the recruiting process, so companies come out ahead by basically forcing you to choose between below market salaries or searching elsewhere. We're in a sellers market. If you have a desirable skillset, which you do, you're in the drivers seat.
Who are the big headhunters in this industry? I only know of Robert Half but they aren't great
Amity Search and Oxbridge tend to have several positions. Same with some of the smaller PE-focused headhunters.
Charles Aris is good for corpdev / strat roles, they also do some PE.
Thanks! They seem to have some solid roles posted. Any others?
One other thing (WSO won't let me edit my previous post for whatever reason).....I have found that in my albeit limited experience in a sample size of one (lol), your comp at a PortCo is going to be directly tied to your department head's representation at the c-level table. Whoever barks the loudest at the CEO, is the one who generally gets the largest share of the pie. So, if the head of IT, for example, is more demanding and fights more for their department than the CFO does, you are going to come in second, or third, or fourth, or whatever.
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