Let’s Talk Money – Part 2

In last week’s blog I shared how I successfully negotiated my first pay raise in 2008 after participating in a salary survey for Registered Dietitians and learning that I was underpaid.

When Salary Alone Isn’t Enough

Fast forward to 2013. Although I did successfully negotiate for a higher, fair salary, I left that job and took a new one because it offered me different challenges that would support my growth. My previous job had grown stagnant, and my negotiations to develop the role we not as successful as my salary negotiations a few years prior.

Data Can Validate Growth Potential

Looking for direction and data to guide my next steps, I was sitting at my desk listening to David Hunnicutt deliver the results of WELCOA’s 2012 National Wellness Compensation Survey for wellness professionals.

Here are a few highlights from that report:

• Overall, a composite demographic profile of WELCOA’s National Wellness Compensation Survey respondents showed they were likely to:
• be female;
• be in their 30’s and 40’s;
• work in health/wellness, health care/social service, and financial service organizations;
• work in the North Central, New England, Mountain, or South Atlantic region;
• work in organizations with more than 1,000 employees.
• The majority of respondents had worked in wellness for 0-5 years, did not supervise any other employees, and were not consultants.
• The median salary was $55,000.
• Men made, on average, $6,100 more than their female peers.

“The richness and depth of my experiences in my career needed to be significant. That gave me the direction I needed.”

If you could create a picture of this employee, it was me. I represented 7 of these 8 bullet points. The only one that didn’t apply was my geographic location. At this point in time, I managed my own budget. I knew there was no money for a pay raise, and I was making the average. Though I wasn’t going to get a pay raise out of this, I could see tremendous growth potential in that data. Everyone had 1-5 years of experience. The richness and depth of my experiences in my career needed to be significant. That gave me the direction I needed.

A Lot Can Change in 10 Years

Looking at our industry today, I suspect we may have significantly different findings 10 years later. I hope we can see a longevity of talent that has stayed in, even when it was difficult. I hope that we see we have closed that gender pay gap. I hope that we find we have more women in leadership. Please join us for the event to find out what the report will share.

---

Want Help Getting Started?

To join a network of professionals taking this industry to the next level and gain the support, skills, community, and tools you need to maximize your impact, become a WELCOA Subscriber today.

Get Started

---

---