For non-union jobs, the more you get promoted, the more severely underpaid you become. Each promotion comes with a raise, of course. But the raise is a percentage of your salary, dictated by some archaic HR policy. Your new salary has absolutely nothing to do with your market value in your new position. Currently, I could do the exact same work somewhere else and make about 17% more money. The more promotions I get, the bigger this gap will become. NS is pushing freight prices as high we can, trying to gain the maximum market value for the service we provide. But ironically, employees can’t get the full market value of the service we provide. NS really needs to pay people their market value if we want to attract and retain top talent.
So, when you negotiate your starting salary, negotiate very hard. Get your base salary as high as absolutely possible. All of your future raises and bonuses will be a percentage of this initial salary. Yes, extra vacation or a signing bonus are nice. But 10 years from now you will wish you had negotiated a higher base salary.
Furthermore, your job title and job description have nothing whatsoever to do with what you’ll actually do from day to day. I just so happen to love what I do, but I’d never have guessed that based on my title or job description. I’ve had 4 different job titles and 4 different job descriptions with NS, none of which were remotely close to describing my actual work, and all of which I could’ve earned a higher salary elsewhere.
My management has never established any written, measurable performance goals for me. I have no idea how my performance will be evaluated. When it comes time for my performance review at the end of each year, it will be a complete surprise to find out whether I “need improvement,” am a “solid performer”, or an “exceptional performer.” Furthermore, I have no recourse if I disagree with my review, because it is not based on any measurable figures. My review is simply the arbitrary opinion of a group of leaders many levels of management above me, who have no idea what I do, much less whether I am doing it well. And everyone is judged to a different standard. I want so much to be exceptional, and I’m sure the company wants me to do exceptional work, but there is no way for me to know what it takes to be considered exceptional.
Also on the subject of performance, the performance reviews are required to follow a bell curve. Meaning that a department can only give “exceptional” to a certain percentage of their top employees. Your performance review has little to do with how well you met your goals; it has to do with how well you met your goals relative to how well everyone else met their goals. I think NS could deliver much better results if we built teams of only high performers.
It is especially frustrating because people’s annual bonus depends on their performance review. In order to get the bigger bonus, you have to be reviewed as exceptional. So even if you have a legitimate objection to your review, it just sounds like you are whining because you didn’t get a bigger bonus.
If you are in a non-unionized field position, there can be lots of moving. I’ve talked with one guy who’s moved 12 times in 10 years. The company pays for the entire move; the employee never has to lift a finger. But that can be a very hard lifestyle. On the other hand, office jobs are almost all located in Atlanta, so if you’re taking a headquarters job there is very little moving.
There is an expectation of constant work. Nights, weekends, even on vacation, people are checking and responding to emails and phone calls, and doing work. There is little separation between work and personal life. You’re in the office from 8-5, but the work never really stops. You’re given the flexibility to leave for doctor appointments, sick days, car repairs, and so forth. But in return, you have to be available 24/7. In my opinion, if one individual is so critical that they have to be reachable 24/7, then there is a fundamental flaw in the business structure. What happens if that person suddenly has a heart attack? We need to be able to detach ourselves after hours and decompress with our families. That is key to a long and successful career.
NS is under constant pressure to please shareholders. One of the drawbacks of a publically-traded company, is that we are working at the whim of Wall Street. We have limited ability to make our own decisions about what is best for the long-term future of the company, we are only able to do what is best in the eyes of the investors – usually, that means short-term profits and an operating ratio lower than some other railroad. Some people walk around the office, glued to the stocks app on their phone. It is a rather sad way to exist.
