Underpaid and over-bullied

TGIF everyone! I’ve been ready for this week to be over since Tuesday when I said “Thanks, you too!” after my waiter told me to enjoy my meal. 🙃 But hey! That’s show biz baby.

Vibe out: In anticipation of today’s anti-bullying, pro-money Q&A and next weekend's Rihanna concert that will also feature some football…the one and only Bad Gal RiRi herself.

—Rod

B*tch Better Have My…Pay Transparency

 question 
I’m approaching three years with my company and a fresh-out-of-college employee is getting paid more than me for the same position. I tried negotiating my salary when I was promoted last year and they barely raised it, saying it was “the best they could do.” How do I approach my boss about increasing my salary to at least match my coworker?

 answer 
Want to know where not talking about our salaries gets us? Overworked, underpaid, and unfairly treated.

In fact, pay transparency is a major means of helping the underrepresented—often women and minorities—get paid fairly (remember: Black women make 64 cents for every dollar white men do).

So we gotta talk about it, even if it’s awkward.

I b-stormed (brainstormed, please get on board with this abbreviation) some ideas for when you have the meeting with your manager. Print them (if you can find a printer), try them out on your higher ups, and let me know how it goes.

How to ask your boss for the meeting:

What to say in the meeting:

How to follow up after the meeting:

One final piece of advice: Always have a paper trail in case you need to remind your manager what they said when you were face to face.

Okay this is actually the final piece of advice: Approach a conversation like this bearing in mind that your manager will likely mirror your vibe. If you lead with emotion, you’ll get emotion in return. If you lead with logic, you’ll get logic in return. So go with the latter—because it’s only logical that you get paid fairly.

What If Regina George Worked in the Billing Department?

 question 
There's a bully on my team who is always condescending and rude even in front of executives! A handful of my team has brought it up with our manager, but their behavior has only gotten worse as time goes on. At this point, I’m worried about blemishing my own reputation because I have to work directly with them. What should I do?

 answer 
You don’t have to tell this theater kid twice: Bullies are the absolute worst. My advice?

Zip it. Anyone who made their best friend while eating lunch in their favorite teacher’s classroom knows that trauma bonds are hard to break. And though high school may never end, try not to complicate your work life by gossiping with your coworkers, even if you both thought that comment in today’s all-hands was way out of pocket.

Sit tight. My grandpa always said, “No matter the amount of perfume you spray or roses you spread around it, an a*shole’s still an a*shole.” Wait it out ’til chiller minds prevail (read: your boss notices).

Call ‘em like you seem ‘em. While you don’t want to be a bully back, calling out toxic behavior instead of stewing over it may save you from a big blowout.

Check in. We never know what others are going through. Hurt people hurt people, right? If you’re comfortable, approach your bully as a concerned colleague and ask if everything’s okay. I’m not saying they’ll open up, but at least they’ll get the hint that their behavior is negatively impacting the team.

Got a Q for me to A? Submit yours here.

Things to Slack your work besties

…as you “follow-up” for the 8th time with a client.

The results from Monday’s poll are in! In the case of “the dress,” we have a winner…but, like, barely. Haven’t seen a nation this divided since the Spice Girls broke up.

Whenever I want to feel 18 again, I listen to Leona Lewis’s “Bleeding Love” on repeat. But very rich entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has a slightly different approach to handling aging.

The collab we never knew we needed...Lisa Frank x Pillsbury sugar cookies?? *Adds 10 to cart*🦄

Jennifer Coolidge hopes her comeback can inspire others to never give up. If Jennifer says so, we have to believe in ourselves, right?

Thanks for reading! I’ll see you back here on Monday to see if ChatGPT can write this newsletter??

IDK WHAT DO I KNOW?! LMAO!

—Rod