It’s been quite a busy work year, and you’ve changed teams, taken on new projects, supervised several junior employees, and written helpful material. You have completed several other tasks that required your total commitment, entire focus, and professionalism.
Now it’s time for your performance review. You’re waiting for better feedback on your performance and an independent, positive evaluation, which is reinforced by a pay raise for the work you’ve done for the company.
But this is where you encounter disappointment. After your seasonal evaluation, you get a good grade. Still, your pay raise stands at 2 percent, the same process as last year. Of course, this is discouraging.
Can the situation be remedied? How can you competently ask for a more significant pay raise than you have been given? Let’s look at this issue in more detail in our article with practical, effective tips.
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Your frustration and instincts are pushing you to immediately burst into your boss’s office to demand the raise you deserve.
Most likely, such an action will not lead to the desired result. So it is worth turning your emotions off and, with a sober head, making a practical step-by-step plan of action.
At first, it is worth soberly assessing the situation: maybe now you cannot definitely agree on a raise. When your manager told you that your salary had increased by 2%, the company budget had been prepared and approved by higher management. Moreover, all the expense items had already been scheduled, and the order had been signed. The company budget had already been drawn up, after which the money was divided among the departments, and they distributed the funding among the departments, the latter dividing the money among the employees.
Your manager tried to treat each employee reasonably, so he counted only a 2% increase in salary.
To change this situation, which you are not happy with, you will have to try hard. But you probably won’t get anywhere in this case.
You don’t have to beg for it at all to get a decent raise. Chances are pretty high that you’ll hear from your manager that there isn’t any money available now. Still, maybe he’ll contribute in the future to do something for you.
Before demanding a raise, you should do some homework for your manager. In particular, there are several nuances to be determined:
This is mandatory homework that must be done before asking for a raise. Remember: all bosses are very busy people! The more work assignments they have, the less likely they will have time to consider your request.
Once you’ve identified the above 3 points for yourself: the desired salary, quality of work, and accomplishments, you can boldly go to your boss to ask them for a pay raise.
Here’s a practical example of how to begin this conversation:
“I’m grateful for the raise, and I see that you care about me. But I had hoped that the raise would be more substantial because I’ve done an excellent job this year, I’ve taken on a lot of responsibilities. Maybe it would be possible to adjust my salary somehow, given the actual workload? I researched the current job market and hoped my salary would go up to (target salary amount).”
Hopefully, your manager is ready for a productive discussion, and maybe you’ll get the pay raise you deserve right away. But most likely, your supervisor will tell you that a budget has already been made and distributed. So you need to wait a little while until there is some available cash so you can get a raise.
If your supervisor offers to hold off on a raise, be sure to determine the 2 most important things with them:
Suppose you’ve identified with your supervisor what needs to be done for the promotion and stipulated a timeline. In that case, you must keep that fact in your manager’s mind. To do this, you have no choice but to constantly meet with your supervisor and discuss your progress, get feedback, and reassure them that you’re doing everything right.
It’s worth being prepared that you may encounter various problems on the way to your goal that hinder your promotion. This can happen in a large company with clear and strict rules about pay raises and promotions. The question is, “Do I need to quit my job to get the pay I deserve?” That way, you can determine if your company has retained flexibility in giving you decent raises. Or if you will still have to change jobs to increase your pay.
In general, negotiating bonuses in addition to annual merit increases becomes quite a challenge. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up. You can try your luck and talk to your supervisor. You stand a good chance of getting a raise right away.
To negotiate a raise, you should follow five basic steps:
Suppose you’ve done everything exactly as described in the manual, but you still realize that you won’t get a raise in a reasonable amount. In that case, you should probably start looking for more and better employment opportunities where you’ll be paid perfect money.
