Staff “Catch-up” Raises
 January 1, 2005

Some firms have been using the up-turn in their economics during 2004 to justify large raises among select senior administrative staff members. It seems that a number of firms severely limited raises for staff members during the 2001-2003 recessionary years. During the same period there was fairly high attrition among administrators and managers. Frequently the replacement hires came into firms at salary levels well above what their predecessors were earning. The result is some large salary gaps, particularly between the CFO and CIO positions who are often pegged at roughly the same salary level. Most Executive Directors who have worked their way though this problem recommend complete candor with the staff members involved and corrections programmed to coordinate pay over several years.