I recently hired a new developer for my team. She stupidly asked for what I believe is well below market rate. I want to build a team for the long term, so I (and the CTO, my boss) had to stand up to HR to get her what we think the position is really worth.

In my experience, it's HR that stands in the way of employee satisfaction (whether that's salaries, or flexibility in various benefits, or whatever). You'd think they're there to be the champions of the worker in the corporation, but it seems to actually be just the opposite.

Correct. There's a misunderstanding by many. Many believe that HR is there for the employees, which is not the case. HR exists to serve and protect the company. Squealing to HR about problems isn't likely to help an employee, it's more likely to put them on the chopping block.

In the department "Human Resources", never forget that "Human" is just an adjective and "Resources" is the noun.

At my company, we call the department "People and Talent," but it's colloquially known as "PeepOps" here. Company is about 800 people and publicly traded.

> In my experience, it's HR that stands in the way of employee satisfaction (whether that's salaries, or flexibility in various benefits, or whatever). You'd think they're there to be the champions of the worker in the corporation, but it seems to actually be just the opposite.

I also thought the same thing, but a month or two into my first job quickly dispelled that illusion. HR is for the benefit of the company, not the employee.

I heard this from recruiters when I was negotiating salary right out of college. "I want to give you more but we have a policy that unless you have another offer..."

What's to stop someone from just lying about another offer?

I think primarily the fear that their boss will call their bluff, and they'll be forced to either admit the scam or quit the job and have to scramble for a new one.

That's for leaving your old job, not for negotiating with your new job.

You've hit the nail on the head. It's poker.

What if your boss says "ok, sorry. We can't match that?". That has happened to me multiple times with real offers. Then you either say "ok, well, I like this company so I'll stay", which sounds disingenuous, or you have to quit and find a new job.

If you feel under valued, and talking to your boss doesn't get you a raise, why not just look for a new job? Doesn't cost you anything.

Unless you either don't find one and/or do not want to move to another city.

Not finding one is no worse than not looking. I didn't say to quit. Looking for a job while you have a job is incredibly empowering. It puts you in the driver's seat. You don't have to get a job as fast as possible just to get a paycheck.... you can take your time and find a job that suits you, and that pays you well. You'll be more confident in interviews, more assertive when negotiating salary... Also, companies often tend to value people who are currently working higher than those who don't. If you're working, you implicitly have a reference from your current employer - they obviously think you're worth a recurring paycheck.

ethics, and usually they'd ask to see that offer and get the details!

Ethics is one thing, but forcing a candidate to produce a competitor's offer seems intrusive.

I had a (great) boss in my late 20s who was overjoyed to have me share my offer with him so he could go to bat with the corporate overlords (in another state) and get all the local devs a raise based on market conditions.

I was more than happy to share, but we also already had a relationship where I knew he wasn't out to screw me.

I have never shared one companies offer with another, nor would I. Of course if I company was not willing to negotiate I would immediately walk. I have just learned a lot about the people who work there.

I'd guess lying for financial gain can be prosecuted as fraud.

Same as lying about your previous salary.

So if a company tells me they don't have the budget to hire me and they really do, I should try to get them prosecuted for fraud? The company might be purposefully undervaluing me for their own financial gain. Lying goes both ways.

You can not be prosecuted for fraud for lying about your previous salary. That's ridiculous.

Yeah happened to me. I had a low paying job for Seattle and decided to ask for a raise after I fixed a couple of seriously expensive bugs in our S3 management scheme. They told me that I would only get a raise if I had another offer. I said "There doesn't need to be another offer for me to get a raise" and they disagreed. I am now making 57% more at another company which is less fun but definitely more lucrative.