How do you guys plan to move up in your company?
Thanks for the responses yesterday on the salary vs experience thread. Lots of great data there for any of you who are looking to negotiate salary. I wanted to follow up with another thread - how do you plan to advance your career and salary? Again, feel free to use the anonymous checkbox if you don’t want your name to appear by your comment.
Comments (9)
My experience is that if one wants to increase their salary or advance to a more responsible position, it will require switching jobs. Once in a position, a salaried employee is typically locked into the regimented pay scale. This will only allow an annual COL increase. There is usually a max amount in each scale, so this can provide a salary ceiling. I have been in a couple of positions in which I was hired at the top of the pay scale, and then could not get any further increases without moving up to another pay tier, which would mean a job promotion. So, to get a big pay increase, one usually has to take a new job.
As to advancement in position, unfortunately most companies do not have many EHS positions. There are typically plant level positions, and then from one to a few corporate positions. Safety people tend to work until they die at their desks, so the wait on an internal position can be very long. One of the downfalls of safety practice is that while there are usually plenty of jobs available, they are not concentrated. I am in a position that I would like to pursue a corporation-level leadership position, but it would mean moving to corporate headquarters in my current company or moving somewhere else to take a position with another company. My wife has threatened to murder me in my sleep if I suggest moving again, so I am probably plateaued at my current position of facility EHS Manager.
Here’s my thoughts on personal development. I’m more E than EHS so I’d appreciate your corrections if they are needed. In no particular order:
1. Learn any equipment you use, or pay someone else to use. Use, calibration, maintenance if that’s realistic. Never know when you’ll have to cut their contract and do the job yourself. I’m referring to monitoring equipment, air/water/waste sampling equipment.
2. If you aren’t an IH person, then take IH courses/seminars.
3. 40 hour Hazwoper hands-on course. It covers a lot of the two items above. I’ve never stopped using what I learned from the Hazwoper training.
4. Presentation and speaking training.
5. Learn/refresh about any regulation that affects your facility, especially those you pay someone else to cover. OSHA, EPA, NFPA, etc.
6. EMT or any sort of medical response certification.
7. Learn every floor, attic, basement, nook and cranny of the facility where you work. Learn what every piece of equipment does, how it works, and how it is operated. This will help you avoid surprises (I didn’t know we had that..., I didn’t know they were doing that...), will help you earn Operator/Labor respect and will help during incident investigation and audit.
8. Courses geared toward supervisors and labor management. You may not have any direct reports, but this might help get you there.
9. Offer to help your sister facilities if that avenue is possible. Offer to mentor. Try to establish an EHS network group if your company doesn’t have one (and there is more than one facility). This things will help get you known across a wider population.
10. Participate in company audits at your facility and sister facilities.
Most companies will give a wage increase for substantial credentials like CIH, CSP or CHMM. Usually a promotion involves a position vacancy or restructuring. You ”move up” by meeting opportunities competently and decisively. Unfortunately, making friends and developing allies is equally important.
I'm an EHS Manager, next level up is North American Director - I've never been able to move up within a company...typically I have to change jobs. Honestly, would rather just own my own business and not worry about "moving up"
Above my position is the EHS manager, and above him is the North America Director, and above him is the VP of EHS. Quite the journey to get there, and honestly I have no idea what those higher positions would pay. Just gotta keep grinding I guess