Asking for a raise is one of the most daunting tasks an employee can face. If the boss gives the employee the raise, they are often held to higher expectations which may make work more stressful. If the boss does not give the raise, the employee may feel cheated and may be uncomfortable at work.
Below are six items to keep in mind before you walk into your boss' office and ask for a raise.
Justify The Raise
The best way to justify a raise is to do excellent work and impress your boss. If you have periodic performance reviews, point to these if they have been exceptional. Also, make sure you mention any projects you have taken on that are outside of your normal job requirements, including any roles you have assumed that are not outlined in the job description.
Research Salaries
Educate yourself on the average salary for someone in your position, but be forewarned: depending on your geographic location this may actually hurt your argument! A civil engineer in Boise is going to make less money than one in New York City due to cost of living differentials. It's better to find salary statistics that are targeted to your job title
and geographic location. Not only will the information be more relevant, it will show your boss that you did your homework.
Get Other Job Offers
An extension to doing salary research is to go out and
get some job offers. If you can find one or two companies that are willing to pay you more money for similar work, you now have more than broad statistics to back up what you are trying to prove. Keep in mind that many companies, particularly large ones, have retention rates that they need to keep. If you leave for another company, this will negatively effect this metric. Chances are they want (or need) to keep you!
Prepare To Argue
Don't put on boxing gloves before you walk into your boss' office, but you should be prepared for any questions that they may pose. For instance, they may point to a time that you missed an important deadline or any time you spend goofing off. It's important to have a response to these. A simple, "I learned from that, and I won't let it happen again," is a good fallback, but if you have a better excuse you'll want to have it ready when the time comes.
Don't Mention Personal Issues
Avoid using personal problems, issues, or changes to justify the raise. Your boss probably won't care how much credit card debt you have or that your mortgage rate just went up. Your boss' job is to make money for the company and giving you a raise makes his job more difficult. Instead, focus on how you are going to make his job easier or how you have made his job easier in the past.
Don't Threaten To Quit
One of the worst mistakes you can make when asking for a raise is to threaten to leave if you don't want to (or can't!). This is especially true if you don't have any other job offers and no money in the bank. Threatening to leave may make your boss feel defensive and they may rather see you walk than give in to your threats. Although, walking in with job offers is a way of threatening to quit, at least you'll have somewhere to go if your boss decides not to give you the raise!
Conclusion
There is no easy way to ask for a raise, but if you follow these tips your boss will be more inclined to increase your salary.
