Asking for a Raise

Asking For a Raise

Advocating for yourself isn’t just an exercise in confidence, but it takes some preparation – especially when money is involved. Here are some tips to help you best approach the nerve-wracking situation of asking for a raise.

Look back at your career at the company with and make note of all your achievements. Have you found any cost or time saving measures? Did you receive any awards or accolades? Have you gone above and beyond – working overtime consistently, getting involved with volunteer activities, being on different committees?

Find out the market rates for your position. What are competitors paying for starting salary wage and increases for different amounts of tenure within that company? If above the market rate already, consider asking for a non-monetary increase, such as additional paid time off or additional flexibility within your work life or work shift

Know your value to the company. Look at how many people in the organization do exactly what you do. How do you compare? If you don’t know exactly what others are making, relate everything back to what you are making at the time and what you are looking for.

Choose an appropriate time to ask for the raise. Some opportune times to ask: after company posts record profits, after you bring new business to company that will increase productivity and gross margin or have exceeded target.  Be sure to ask when your supervisor is in the best mindset to be more receptive to your conversation.

Schedule the meeting with enough time to have a good discussion. Be professional - don’t take what it said personally. Practice what you want to be saying and how you want it to be delivered, so you can be extremely confident in everything you are saying.

Listen actively to what they say in response to your pitch. Be prepared to address concerns. If they need more time to decide, then schedule more time in future to discuss.

Develop an action plan to implement feedback immediately. Don’t have training, expertise or knowledge? Find someone to help you. Continue to excel in your role with a positive attitude, regardless of whether your supervisor’s response to your ask is positive or negative.

If you have had the conversation about a potential raise and you don’t feel valued or heard, continue to give your full effort to the job. Take the time to consider any potential counter-offers and decide whether it’s worth staying with the company or if it's time to move on.

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