How to get a salary raise in 3 simple steps
After Christmas, New Year’s celebration, here they come — performance reviews! That’s the time when most of us hope that our manager will organize a meeting with us well in advance, and with a big smile, announce a huge salary raise.
We will then dance out of the meeting room (or a video call these days) and call our loved ones how rich we will become in the coming year. Doesn’t that sound great? Of course, it does! In reality, that is what rarely happens, though. In most companies, we are usually left in the dark to the very last moment only to learn that the raise is not as high as we expected or even better, no raise at all!
Asking for a salary raise doesn’t need to be as scary as we think. It always requires stepping out of comfort zones a little. But those 5 minutes of uncomfortable conversation are totally worth it because we might get it. In the end, life begins at the end of the comfort zone, right?
What are the things that are usually holding people back from asking about the salary raise in the first place? Most of us think the manager should be the one suggesting the raise. They know our performance best and if we, by any chance, start that conversation ourselves, we might be perceived as greedy and that we are in only for the money. Some of us are even worried that it will hamper our relationship forever. Of course, negatively. This kind of thinking is a bit flawed and let me tell you why. In reality, your manager understands that you work for money, and they will understand your request if you lay it down properly. And most of the time, they will even be happy to grant it. All the good managers will never hold it against you in the long run, and if they do, you have a bigger problem than just asking for the raise.
Here is a straightforward 3-step approach to asking for a salary raise that will give you a bit more confidence to bring it up and hopefully assure that you will get it as well.
1. Make sure the timing and conditions are right
Right timing and conditions might break or break your salary negotiations.
Timing:
- In most companies, salary reviews are usually around their performance review cycles. That’s usually the end of the year, but for some, it also happens in the summertime. Make sure that you are well aware of when the next one is coming for you.
- Send a meeting request to your manager before your final evaluation meeting to discuss it. You don’t need to say specifically that this meeting will be about your salary evaluation; just make sure that the meeting happens before the final review. Why is it important? If you decide to speak up during your evaluation meeting, it likely will be too late already. Change (or no change) in your compensation must be agreed (and approved) prior to the meeting, so there’s only a little you can still do about it.
- Make sure to choose a time when your manager is not in a bad mood or stressed out (difficult family situation, working on an important project with a tight deadline…). Ideally, do it after you have successfully finished a project and your manager is really happy about you. That kind of momentum helps :)
Conditions:
- One of the first conditions is your performance. In case you performed poorly, it will be tough to justify the raise. That seems self-explanatory but many people justify their raise by having some kind of personal situation (their rent has increased or they would like to buy a house, etc.). Salary negotiation should be about your performance and your performance only; anything else is irrelevant.
- Your company has a healthy performance. Especially in these days of the crisis, some companies are struggling to keep their boat afloat. Under such circumstances, it might be challenging to give salary raises. As employees, there’s nothing else left but to empathize.
2. Build your plan
A lot of people go into their salary negotiations completely blind and hoping for the best. That’s still better than not asking at all, but it doesn’t grant us the best results. I suggest to plan it well and prepare a list of your most significant achievements so far and with the most important upcoming projects.
- Plan your biggest achievements
Write down the list of all the most impactful projects you have completed throughout the year. Don’t forget to write down what the impact was on the whole company. Be data-driven as much as possible. Especially focus on those that were not necessarily part of the job description at the time when you were hired. Remember, the higher salary goes to those who go above and beyond.
Example: I successfully implemented our new recruitment system that decreased our time to hire by 20 %. (Let’s say that implementing such a system was never part of your responsibilities, but you had proactively identified the problem and led the solution. That sounds pretty cool, right?)
- Plan your most important upcoming projects
Also, mention any important projects you are planning to lead and what the impact on the company will be. Make sure that you will again highlight the projects that were not originally part of your responsibilities, but you proactively picked them up.
People might object that their managers know what they have worked on and what the impact has been. Here I want to challenge you. Are you really sure? Managers are usually very busy with their projects and managing multiple team members. A lot of times, they don’t have a complete picture of all your contributions. So make sure you’ll remind yourself!
3. Know your worth
How to know how much to ask for? A tricky question, I know. But this part is essential. We want to avoid shooting numbers that are unrealistic and make us sound silly.
- Check the market range for a similar role and seniority of yours on such sites as www.glassdoor.com, www.payscale.com or www.indeed.com/career/salaries
- Talk to your friends or ex-colleagues who are in a similar profession and learn more about the market. You don’t need to ask them directly: „Hey Joe, how much do you earn?“, not everybody will be open to talk about their salaries. But what you can do is this: “Hey Joe, you’ve been in the field for a while. How much is a position X with Y years of experience worth in the market these days? I’m really curious“ They might give you a range you can sync your expectations with.
- Find out what kind of salary raises are usually applicable at your company. In most cases, it’s usually between 1–5 %, but it differs for some companies. Do your homework, so you know your limits better.
- Once you have a number in mind, make it very specific. Instead of saying -I would like to earn 3500 euros — you will tell the more concrete number — 3550 euros. That shows that you did research.
In case you find out that you are already at the top of the market and there is not much the manager can do, try to exchange the monetary increase for a non-monetary one, such as asking for a training budget, more holidays, or flexible working hours. Be creative!
So that’s it. All what it takes is to:
- know your worth
- choose the right timing and conditions
- build a plan
…and of course a little courage. After that, you should be good to go and be ready to have your salary negotiation. In case it doesn’t work out and you don’t get a raise don’t hesitate to ask your manager what you need to do or change to get it next time. And then repeat the whole process :)
Good luck with your salary negotiations!
