4 things to do before you ask for a raise
It’s the most wonderful time of the year — no, not the holidays — performance-review season at work! Now is when many employers evaluate their employees’ contributions to the organization’s mission and bottom line, and then make decisions about raises, bonuses, and promotions accordingly. So it’s a great time to ask for a raise.
But if you aren’t able to make a good case for yourself, then you might find that not only is your career becoming stagnant but also that you could be first on the chopping block in the event of corporate (or wider) economic misfortune. Assuming you don’t want to be considered disposable in the eyes of your employer, here are some tactics and strategies to implement before you ask for a raise. They might just help increase your chances of success.
1. Use your initial job interview to set the stage.
Remember how nobody cares about your money more than you do? Well, nobody cares about your career more than you do, either. In fact, in many ways your career and your money are arguably the same thing.
While there are (probably) supervisors out there who will proactively approach you with advancement opportunities appropriate for your skill set, it’s safer to assume that you’ll need to take matters into your own hands.
The best time to set expectations is, of course, before you even have the job. So if you’re still job-hunting, give some serious thought to your career trajectory. Where do you want to be in five or 10 years? How will the jobs you apply for contribute to your end goal? Voice that end goal during the interview process while making sure to be clear about what you can offer immediately.
You can also use the interview to articulate what skills you will gain in the position that will enable you to increase your contribution proportionately. This can help portray you as someone with ambition, and can also help put you at the forefront of your supervisor’s mind when the right opportunity comes along.
2. Use a performance review to re-interview … for the job you really want.
The second-best time to set expectations is, of course, right now. If your employer doesn’t schedule face-to-face meetings as part of the performance-review process, request one. If such meetings are part of the process, come prepared. Don’t complain about opportunities for which you’ve been passed over; instead, point out what knowledge or skill sets you’ve gained or currently possess that are under-utilized — and then express a desire to maximize your contribution accordingly.
In other words, just as you should think of interviewing a prospective employer as a two-way street, so too is the performance-review process. However, it’s important that you don’t just offer to do more work — identify a job title commensurate with the role you are offering to take on and request that the issue be revisited down the road. And don’t be pie-in-the-sky about it — if you think strategically and can anticipate a genuine need, it’s much more likely that you’ll be taken seriously.
Additionally, if you are pursuing or considering a certificate or other credential that would make you more valuable in the eyes of your employer, let them know sooner rather than later. They might be able to support you in your endeavors, for example, by paying the associated costs or adjusting your schedule to accommodate your efforts. Providing a heads-up also gives them a chance to make whatever preparations are necessary to ensure the appropriate promotional opportunity is available for you and set a succession plan in place for your current responsibilities.
5 things that can help you become indispensable at work
- Think strategically about how to make a positive impact on your employer’s business.
- Raise your standards for being punctual, reliable, and trustworthy.
- Determine how you can exceed expectations for your performance on the job.
- Gain industry knowledge and teach others what you learn.
- Seek opportunities and ask for additional responsibilities.
3. Document your contributions and successes quantitatively.
Maybe you’ve heard of a “brag file” or “glory file.” This strategy actually goes by different names, but the point is that you should keep track of your accomplishments in concrete and measurable terms. Depending on the size of your team, your boss may not notice or remember everything you’re doing right. Preparing a document that outlines your achievements will not only make it easy for him or her to effectively assess your performance, it will also create a permanent record of your professional growth and justify your requests for advancement.
Keeping track of the nuts and bolts of your contributions will also help you apply for positions outside your current company, which you should probably be doing even if you’re happy where you are. There are numerous reasons for this:
- Switching companies within the same industry may be the most effective way to advance professionally.
- Interviews provide a forum in which you can explain and contextualize your accomplishments, which is great practice for a performance-review meeting.
- If you are offered a better position elsewhere, you may be able to leverage that offer into a promotional opportunity with your current company.
One thing to note is that, if you are offered an outside position and attempt to use that offer to open negotiations with your current employer, you have to be prepared to resign gracefully. When I told my former employer I’d been offered another job, the first words out of my supervisor’s mouth were “Congratulations! When’s your last day?” My new job is a better fit for a variety of reasons; but if I’d been bluffing, I would have been s- — out of luck, as they say.
4. Keep your personal life out of it.
Being friendly is one thing, and no one at work expects you to talk about nothing but your job. However, while it is important to build collegial relationships with your co-workers, it’s also important that your performance reviews are just that: reviews of your performance. The fact that your dog needed emergency surgery or that you want to save money in a high-yield savings account for a down payment on a house or start a family aren’t factors that your employer considers when determining whether you merit a salary increase.
In fact, admitting that you are effectively living paycheck to paycheck can backfire big-time. If your employer can smell your desperation, they hold all the cards. While this isn’t a reason to be fake or disingenuous, it is a reason to be careful what you share throughout the year, not just during performance-review season.
On a related note, it’s important not to gossip or complain about work, at work. Doing so can make you seem petty and irresponsible, and who thinks those qualities make you a good candidate for a raise? No one, that’s who.
Final thoughts
Being strategic about creating a professional persona, developing and practicing your skills, and recording and articulating your accomplishments year-round will help you prepare for that crucial hour with your supervisor when performance-review time rolls around. Don’t assume you can wing it or rely strictly on your charm. Preparation is key to success.
How do you prepare for performance reviews? What has worked (or not worked) for you when asking for a raise? Share your strategies and stories in the comments below!
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There are 12 comments to "4 things to do before you ask for a raise".
One should live professionally in their office and should prove to be the best employee. Next rise depends upon the earlier performance and behaviour of the individual. The gap between the talent of earlier year and the present year should always be long. If the relationship of your boss is friendly then one can monitor regularly their personal and professional growth.
GRS needs a “report spam” button, apparently.
Thanks for your article. This is quite timely for me as I am about to renegotiate my job soon.
Fingers crossed! 😀
Cheers
MrRicket
Good tips! One thing I would add is to start early. It shouldn’t be a surprise when performance reviews are happening, so give yourself enough time to build a case.
#3 can be done qualitatively too. For instance, I keep an email folder for when people send thank yous or praise. My team works with many departments, so my boss doesn’t always see the kudos. It’s one thing for us to say how great we are on our PRs, it’s another to have testimonials.
I also try to take advantage of any tools my company offers for filling out PR reviews — we have how-to documents, training for supervisors, etc. PRs can be uncomfortable for those of us who hate to write and talk about ourselves, so I find the more I learn about the process the comfortable I get with it.
I make a point of sending some of those emails forward to my boss. They are usually a compliment to everyone who was part of the action being complimented, so I see it as a reason for all of us to celebrate and bask in the glow :).
That said, I can’t think of a time that I’ve forwarded one that was specifically a compliment to me personally…that would feel odd.
I don’t usually do that, either, though I have asked people I’ve helped to email their thanks to my supervisor instead of me. The supervisor always forwards it so I end up with a copy, and it feels more sincere 😉
Great advice. I especially like #2. Never thought of the performance review as a way to re-interview for the job you really want, but that is so empowering and practical.
#3 is one that I recommend to my college students as something they can do right away. I keep a hard copy paper file that is something of a professional portfolio–I have an old, yellowing one-page resume that I wrote in high school, certificates, test scores, letters of recommendation, etc. I also have a “master resume” online that I make a point of updating every few months with additional accomplishments or completed projects. When I’m actually applying for a job I create a customized resume, based on the master resume. It has been invaluable in terms of being able to remember all the varied things that make up my career path.
I like the idea of openly expressing your desired “title” as highlighted in #2. This title must definitely be your next step up in terms of promotion – for example from a manager to a director, or from an individual contributor to a manager. Often times, unless you speak up, your supervisors don’t even know that you have such interests. With all things equal, people who ask have greater odds of getting promoted over people who don’t.
I totally agree with #3- Document contributions and miles stones. In my first career as a telecom engineer we had to set yearly objectives. I would match contributions and any home runs I hit to my objectives. We had a mid-year performance review and that is when I would shoot for any salary increase and job advancement discussions. Waiting until the end of year review and appraisal at my company would be too late as they already completed their end of that process and decisions were locked in.
Where I work performance reviews are a formality, basically just a paperwork requirement for HR. Our managers and our managers’ managers know exactly what we have done because they are hands-on deeply involved in the trenches day to day. Having your project documentation handy is useful, though, because it takes the load off your manager’s creative writing. But around here this doesn’t affect raises and promotions. Raises are set by ‘market demands’ and promotions involve filling positions based upon goodness of fit. The two are only loosely correlated so my colleagues and I almost never accept a poorly-fitting assignment for more money.
I’ve never asked for a raise in my 25 year career. What I have done is test the market and let it do the talking, a concept that some may find distasteful, but it’s the game my employer plays so we’re on the same page. Basically when I get an offer, my manager has 24 hours to beat it, and the last word always goes to the outside. The last time I did this the initial offer came in at 30%, and my manager got me only a 33% counter, so I prepared to leave. But I was surprised when the outside manager declined to “enter a bidding war”, so I stayed. Ours is a small market so we can’t do this every year, which means that our pay bumps seem large but they are few and far between.
One thing I would point out is that while your manager isn’t your friend, he or she is your lobbyist of sorts, so it’s counterproductive to have a rivalry relationship with your manager. If making your manager look good bothers you, you should find someone else to work for. Managers who look good tend to be able to score more and larger raises for their teams. This is obvious but many seem clueless about this.
Very good and timely post. It reminded me of a book by Earl Nightingale where he says something like “the money we get/earn is in direct proportion to our service”.