It’s nearly year end. It’s time for self-evaluation and year end reviews. It may also be a good time to ask for a salary increase from your manager. However should you do it? The best way to determine if you should do it is ask yourself 3 questions
Which 3 Questions?
Question 1 – Do you have a good way to describe what you do today and how you contribute to your team or the company’s bottom line?
Question 2 – Do you believe you should get a raise? yes or no? and how much?
Question 3 – If yes, what rationale do you have to justify this ask? Would your manager believe or care about your rationale?
If the answer is yes to all 3 of these questions, then you should consider asking your manager for a raise as part of your self evaluation and year end review.
Why You Must Say Yes to These 3 Questions
Question 1 is to find out if you and those around you would agree that you have a role that have a large contribution to the company. If you don’t know how to PR your own role as an highly impactful one, then no one else can do it either.
Question 2 is to understand your level of conviction. If you have not even convinced yourself that you deserve this raise then you have very little chance of convincing others.
Question 3 is to make sure you have put yourself in your manager’s shoes. Will he or she care for the reasons you provide to justify this ask? The reason you want a raise cannot be high inflation or your expenses went up. Those are your issues and your manager is not your parent. Also remember they have to justify their support for a raise for you to their leaders. Your reasons must be related one or several of the following
- Your level of contribution or demonstrated results are above others your level
- You have data that your current pay is below market value for your type of role or contribution. This is where the answer to question 1 plays a role.
- You are somehow “overdue” for a raise perhaps your past raises haven’t been significant or recent.
How to Ask for a Raise and What to Expect
If your answer is yes to all 3 questions, then proactively set up an in person meeting with your manager. Set the topic to be about asking about your career progression and advice. Always start by asking for feedback on how you have been doing. During the conversation, state your desire for a raise for this coming review cycle and your rationale above. Then listen to your manager’s response.
Do not expect a positive answer. Just because you had the courage to ask, doesn’t mean the manager will say yes. The best answer you can expect may be one of the following.
- I understand your rationale. Let me check with HR on our policy and what latitude I have as your manager to give you the raise.
- I understand why you are asking. However, I am not at liberty to give you more than x% during this cycle. What I will do however is see how I can support your for a raise or a promotion or both in the next cycle.
No matter what happens
You will gain experience on how to ask for a raise and you will learn where you stand with your manager. For more on this topic of should you ask for a salary increase, listen to this 20 minute coaching call.
Your Comments: Have you asked for a salary increase before? If so, how did you do it and how did it go?
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