I've never been good at negotiating salary. I get paid pretty good, but I know if I left and they wanted to replace me that they would have to pay someone at least 20% more than they pay me. But HR is a master at keeping raises as low as they possibly can. Each year they set a range for raises, and the max you can get usually ranges from 0% to 4%, and then, where you are in your grade also impacts that. If you are in the lower end you can get up to 4%, middle up to 3%, upper up to 2%. With a promotion you can get up to 10%. When you are in the upper end they review to see if they can adjust your level.

For years I was getting 4%, largely based on being in the middle to upper end and my supervisor requesting an adjustment. Last year, the max I could get was 3%. I was rated "Expert" in one of the evaluation areas, unheard of in our company. But HR turned down the request to adjust this time.

It sucks because I worked on a major project redesigning our company website with our systems division from 2015 through 2016, and had a major role in this project. The two systems people I worked with the most got promoted to AVP and likely a 10% raise to go with that as well as an additional week of paid vacation every year. Me? 3%. It's not their fault, they have a manager that takes care of her people. My division has had managers that take care of themselves.