Balancing the pay packet

Dear Caroline,

My company brought staff back into work full time following the 18 months of lockdown. It was good to see all my colleagues and get back into my work routine. In the last three months, I have noticed that my bills and cost of living have gone up. My earnings are made of salary and commission based on what I sell; I work in advertising. However, my clients have reduced significantly because they are struggling. How do I address this matter?

Stella

Hello Stella, I am sure the return to work must have been a relief; coming back and having broader social engagements. Staying or working from home, while initially many of us enjoyed it, the isolation of being by yourself comes with its challenges. But that is a discussion for another day.

The social-economic landscape has changed; first the impact of covid, which is now compounded by the Ukraine war.  I suspect it will be a long while until things get back to normal. It is also unlikely your employer will have sufficient capacity to give you a pay rise as they too struggle to break even or even make a profit. In your case, you have some options that you can think about in addressing your situation. When you say you were brought back to work, I assume you were previously working from home. If this is the case, my suggestion is to request your supervisor to return to this format, even if it is three days a week. This adjustment will reduce significantly the cost of coming to the office. The tools of the trade should not be an issue as this was what it was before. You may want to consider expanding how you work by attracting and retaining clients online beyond your “in the country” clients. By doing this, you grow your client pool and, inevitably, your earnings for both your employer and yourself, increased commission.

Given that you work in advertising, this has all gone online anyway, and the probability of success is higher if you focus on working with online clients. If you have not thought about it, you could take a risk, work for yourself, manage your clients online, and start your own business. You would need advice on how to set up a business model; you would need capital, and you would need to understand your legal obligations etc. If you go down this route, you need to be 100 percent committed. Your competitor is not only in Uganda but the global market, where there are millions of self-employed business owners providing the same service. The beauty with this is you have a broader platform from which you source for clients and showcase your work. 

Caroline Mboijana,

Managing Director, The Leadership Team (U) [email protected]