1. To get a salary raise, it is not enough to be great at your job and working harder than others. Document your good performance: You also need to keep records of your good works, your achievements (going the extra mile, public recognitions of performance). But all that will not work if you didn’t know exactly what does the boss expect from you, and whether the boss/company can afford paying more to employees.
2. Know your value in the marketplace: Do the prep work. Go online and check latest salary trends for your job elsewhere in the industry. Keep in mind that location also matters. Salaries will be more in expensive New York than Topeka. Find out of others in the same job at your company are getting better salary than you? Why?
3. As already mentioned above, check with the boss about what the boss considers outstanding performance. Find out how you have been doing.
4. Find out how the company is doing. Even if you are doing very well at your job but the company is floundering, it is a weak time to negotiate despite your strong case.
5. Focus on the future: Explain to the boss your potential and how you can bring more value to the company in future. This is also called the 'briefcase' technique- where you move to open you real/metaphorical briefcase, taking out papers that explain the valuable things you will be doing for the company. This exercise also helps you improve your skills if they can add value to the company's future.
6. The 'Not only this...' formula: “Not only do I have [all the standard requirements that everyone else has] + but I also possess [the following unique traits that make me a better candidate and worth more money]. (Source: Jim Hopkinson)
7. Just ask. This is the simplest trick to getting arise. If you have done your prep work (see above) you can try by simply asking for a raise, see what happens.
8. Ask even if the company hasn't give out raises for a while: If you’ve done great job this past year, if you can point to concrete contributions (numbers, examples), you should ask. If they really value what you have done, they may look into their funds. Try you should.
9. Have a response ready if they say 'No': Often we tend to make off-the-cuff decisions when people say 'no'. Decide beforehand what our response will be when they say 'no'- Do we give notice? Or, do we say 'I understand'. Next, it is up to you if you want to look for other opportunities.
10. Things you should not do:
- Don't complain about your salary to colleagues. The boss makes the salary decision, not the colleagues.
- Don't ask other people in the job about their salaries. They might or might not share, but bosses do not like this, seeing this as over-reaching.
- Don't threaten to leave. If you wanted to leave, you would have left. And no one likes to yield to threats. Better stick with reasoning.
Thank you for reading.
This guide is from The Success Manual, which contains 200+ guides to succeeding in business, career and personal life. Get the pdf ebook for $12 only.