Overcoming such resistance will require determination and patience. And it will be a many-step process. The idea will have to be planted in your manager's mind in installments over a period of time. Forget about winning her over in one dramatic confrontation where you do a brilliant selling job. Most really good raises are won through organized campaigns, not by brief displays of verbal dexterity at evaluation time.
While you plan your campaign, keep these two points in mind:
These cautions aside, there's no time like the present to start making your case for a better-than-average raise. Yes, there are some pitfalls to avoid, but the sooner you start toward them, the sooner you'll be able to step around them and go on down the road toward your goal.
Surveys confirm that the core issues for most people below the upper levels of management are advancement opportunities, pay, and respect. Yet these are precisely the issues that most people have trouble discussing with their employers. That's why employers so often have no idea that someone is dissatisfied until they're given two weeks' notice.
Of course, firing your boss sometimes works out the best for all concerned. But more often a little assertiveness in discussing job issues or money will produce a better result -- an appropriate resolution or increase, a rededicated employee, and an employer who doesn't have to worry about finding and training a replacement. Looked at in this way, communicating about money is actually a helpful act -- something that you can do for your employer, as well as yourself.
But let's be honest. Negotiating about money is at the very top of the discomfort zone on most assertiveness scales. Still, anyone who wants to live with relative satisfaction in the business world must learn to do it -- coolly, calmly, and with goodwill. And like anything else, negotiating for money becomes easier as you gain more experience doing it.
Here's how to proceed:
This may be as good a place as any to point out that your own judgment that you deserve a raise won't, by itself, get you one. And working hard doesn't necessarily earn raises either. If you have to work hard to accomplish what others do more easily, you may be admired for stretching, but you probably won't receive a raise right away. Consider yourself in a training program for easier, quicker performance -- and a future raise.
If you've never asked for a raise and aren't sure you have the self-confidence to just flat out do it, a simple (and usually disarming) way to approach the matter of money is to tell your manager, "I'm interested in asking for a raise. How would you do that if you were me?" More often than not this both breaks the ice and leads toward a friendly conversation about your compensation.
Still not sure you're ready to talk to your manager? Get out the tape recorder and practice speaking your piece. Say the words over and over again until you're satisfied with the way you sound on the tape. This is an effective, proven way to prepare for your meeting with your boss.
Incidentally, if you really believe your job should be reclassified within the pay plan, pursue that possibility with your HR department. But be ready for a tussle: that's typically a tough battle. Often it's easier to move into a position that already has a higher classification.
Whatever happens, keep your attitude and demeanor businesslike. Win, lose, or draw, stand up and smile, shake hands and express your appreciation when the discussion is over. "I appreciate the time you've taken to explain why the company can't give any 10% raises right now," or "I appreciate your willingness to take my request to the HR department. I'll prepare a written statement explaining why I think I deserve an eight percent raise this year."
Discussing career and salary with your manager is very important. It's really the best way to clarify what each of you expects of the other. And the subjects of money and career advancement that may seem threatening as one-time discussion topics can become reasonably comfortable if they are part of a continuing dialogue. But even so, you may have to be patient. Most organizations operate within established policies regarding when salaries can be raised and by how much. Managers are not always free to dispense raises when their staff members deserve them, and in these days of low inflation, even the biggest raises may be capped at five percent.
Nevertheless, the bottom-line advice has to be: don't give up. Keep working, patiently, to convince your manager that you do indeed deserve a better-than-average raise. Once you've done that, you'll have gained a powerful ally in persuading upper management to give it to you.
Have a comment on what we've said here? An addition to make? A tip to offer? An experience to share? A question to raise? Let us have it!
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