Reviews, pay and promotions

“You've basically been running the team”

I've been doing a higher-level job for a year with no title or pay change.

What's really going on

• This is sometimes called a "dry promotion": more scope and responsibility, no matching title or pay.
• Some companies deliberately run a "prove it at the higher level first, then we'll pay you" approach. That's a bad deal for you. You're doing next-level work at your old rate, and an outside hire for the same role would have been paid more from day one.
• A year is well past a reasonable trial. A few months is enough to show you can do a job. A year of "still evaluating" points to inertia or convenience, not real uncertainty.
• High performers doing bigger work sometimes get stuck precisely because they're too useful in their current slot to move without disrupting the team.

What to say

"Can we talk about my role for a minute? For about a year I've been doing [higher-level responsibilities], and I've really enjoyed it. My title and pay haven't changed though, and I'd like to talk about making it official."

Change the words so they sound like you, but keep the tone.