Asking for a payrise

Are you thinking about asking for a pay rise? Have you been wondering whether you’re getting the pay you deserve?

Asking for more money is arguably one of the more daunting situations we face, and it may not come naturally to many of us women. Many of us may believe if we put our heads down and work hard, the commensurate pay rise will follow, however this isn’t necessarily the case. In fact, you need to ask for it, and you need to earn it.

This post will give you the tips and tricks you’ll need to achieve the pay rise you’re after through eight steps. Plus, there’s a troubleshooting section, so if you follow the method but still need more help, make sure you check those out.

But before we go through the eight steps let’s start with the fundamentals.

The fundamentals of salary negotiation

When it comes to remuneration negotiation you need to understand how your organisation benchmarks skills and performance against wage.

When you understand the abilities, outputs and responsibilities expected of someone earning your salary versus those earning the higher salary you’re after, you’re in the best place to start working towards your salary goals.

Complementary to this – how does your supervisor see your performance against these benchmarks?

Through this understanding you’ll be able to assess whether your salary is where it should currently be or whether you’re earning above or below the expected salary range.

Earning below market rate – This is the scenario where your output and performance is higher than others in your business or industry who are earning the same amount as you. We’ll call these people “underpaid”. If you’re in this category, your initial salary increase strategy should be to correct this situation as soon as possible. There are many factors that can lead to this situation. One sure way to avoid it is to be proactive when it comes to your salary through the methods described in this piece, so keep reading.

Earning at or above market rate – When your responsibilities, output and performance are similar to those on the same or lower salary as you, then you need to focus on professional growth and development, as well as increased output to be awarded your salary goal.

The following eight steps take you through the process of identifying where you’re at in relation to how your organisation benchmarks skills against salary. It will then guide you through the process of achieving the salary you aspire to.

Once you understand these steps, the key then to securing your raise is through strong work ethics, effective communication, courage, diplomacy, resilience, patience and persistence. These things need to be done whilst making your achievements and ambitions visible to the decision makers through open and ongoing communication with your supervisor and their seniors.

The 8 steps to a raise

Step 1 — Mindset and goal setting

Start with mindset and goal setting. You have to really want it and be willing to work for it. You need to set yourself a salary goal which you’re determined to achieve and be willing to match with the level of professional growth and responsibilities that go with the raise. You’ll need to go above and beyond, have the courage to communicate with your manager about your salary aspirations – likely on multiple occasions, and have the resilience to keep at it until the goods come through.

I eagerly encourage and urge women everywhere to aim for higher salaries, seek wealth and financial success. The reward at the end will make it worthwhile for you and your loved ones, and will bring women’s equality one step closer, as we collectively work towards closing the gender pay gap, and more importantly the Gender Wealth Gap.

When you’ve made up your mind that you’re up for the challenge, move onto step 2.

Step 2 — Do your homework

Spend time conducting market research to understand the salary range your role receives. Resources such as SEEK Career Advice and other online job search platforms can be useful. Make friends with recruiters and speak with colleagues or others in your industry sharing salary information if you’re comfortable.

Go as far as you can with this research to gain a high-level understanding of market rate, but keep in mind it’s general information, and doesn’t account for individual performance and experiences, nor how your workplace and manager perceives your performance or benchmarks salaries in your organisation. The point here is to gain a very broad appreciation.

Once you have researched all you can, move onto step 3.

Step 3 — Knowing the organsational policies

If there are remuneration policies in your organisation, it’s best to be aware and to follow them, so find out what they are.

Organisations will generally set employee salaries in one of three ways. Large private organisations subscribe to external data sources who help subscribers select salary ranges for their employees. Such organisations generally hold annual salary reviews, and most employees receive a CPI increase, plus or minus a couple of percentages depending on the supervisor’s perception of their performance. If this is your business, don’t wait for that time of year to arrive before addressing the matter. As you will see when you read on, the best time to start the conversation with your manager is 6-12 months ahead, but more on this later.

Public and unionised organisations set predefined salary categories, and all employees in a category earn the same amount. Raises are given when promoted to higher categories, so in this situation salary negotiations must focus on promotions through increased responsibility, higher performance, greater experience, further training and improved capability.

Other organisations have little to no salary processes and set salaries through direct negotiation with employees. In this case the best approach is to raise the matter directly with your manager.

Find out which method your organisation uses to help inform your salary negotiation strategy.

Step 4 — Excel in your role and build a rapport with your manager

A good relationship with your manager, combined with great performance will help your manager support your pay increase. The converse – if your manager sees you as difficult to deal with, and as someone who’s simply there to get the job done and walk out the door, then is the expectation of a pay increase reasonable?

So here are some tips if you want a raise:

• Do a great job, excel in your role and outperform
• Build a rapport with your manager, earn their trust and respect, be their ally, go the extra mile, over deliver, demonstrate your support
• Demonstrate your commitment to your organisation, and make it evident that you value your job
• Show your value through your actions everyday
• Genuinely enjoy your job, and wave the flag of your organisation.

When combined with asking, these are the foundations which will pave the way for that pay rise!

Step 5 — Set up a meeting to speak with your manager

Now is the time to let your manager know you would like to arrange a meeting to discuss your salary, via email or in person is fine. The best time to raise the request is during a time of business stability, when your relationship with your manager is going well, or when you’ve had a notable win. Avoid unusually hectic times for your manager and be sensitive during business downturns as it may not be received well.

Having said that, don’t wait too long for the “perfect” time as it may never arrive. Take this step when things are well enough rather than waiting forever for that absolutely perfect time.

Think of this step as the “icebreaker”, so well done if it’s now ticked off!

Step 6 — Prepare for the meeting

Note down and rehearse the key points that highlight your achievements, contributions, where you’ve exceeded expectations, achieved stretch goals, or outperformed. You can also demonstrate market value if you have this information, but keep this supplementary, not the focus. Also, prepare for responses to concerns that may be raised. Be mindful that your manager’s views may be different to yours.

A point to note – you may not feel you have noteworthy or specific achievements to highlight. If this is you, don’t give up just yet as there may be other reasons why a pay increase is due. For example, a consistent and reliable employee is a gem. Or a pay rise may still be warranted if you’re underpaid for the role you’re performing well. Or finally, you may want to focus the salary conversation on the growth you need to achieve over the next timeframe to attain your aspirational salary.

Finally, and importantly, note down a clear and specific salary value you're after. Aim as high as you like, but remember that to achieve it you need to match it with a proportionate level of professional growth, increased responsibility and demonstrated performance.

Step 7 — Meeting with your Manager

The next step is to meet with your manager. The objectives of this meeting are to express to her that you’re ambitious when it comes to your salary and then to understand how she perceives your performance against it. You also want to discuss the demonstrated professional growth she needs to see in you to earn your salary goal within the next 6-12 months or so.

If these objectives are met, then consider the meeting a success, so let’s go through these meeting objectives in more detail. A point to note – it may take more than just a single sitting to really achieve all of these meeting objectives, so you may need to reconvene a number of times.

Ambition – You want to communicate to your manager that you’re highly ambitious when it comes to your salary and that you want to always be earning the highest amount commensurate with your current skills and contributions.

Perception – You want to understand how she perceives your current performance with respect to your current salary. This is the time to ask the question and really listen to her feedback so you can understand your strengths and areas of next growth.

Through this conversation, you want to gauge whether your salary is at market rate. A potential question to pose is “what are the skills, performance outcomes and responsibilities required of someone on my salary, and how do you believe I am tracking against these skills?”. You could continue with “What are the set of skills, outputs and responsibilities of those earning higher?”.

Through this conversation, if you believe you may be getting underpaid, your initial salary negotiations should be to correct this. Otherwise, or in conjunction, read on and focus on the professional growth you need to realise in order to achieve your desired salary.

Growth – You want to understand the set of skills, outputs and responsibilities of those earning your target salary, and whether she believes this is achievable for you over the next 6-12 months or so, with the right professional growth, exposure to experiences, hard work and mentorship.

Seek an understanding of the growth and changes you’ll need to achieve in terms of your performance, skills, responsibility, accountability, knowledge, productivity, behaviour or achievements. Listen to your manager’s feedback objectively to understand how these factors are benchmarked against salary and where the gaps are in your current performance. Once you have this understanding, you’ll be able to work towards the right area of focus for professional development.

A point to note, your manager may not be able to fully answer these questions during the meeting and may need time to research the answer with other business stakeholders such as human resources or senior management. If this is the case, give her the time to seek answers and ask to reconvene in a few weeks.

Additionally, if she’s only been recently assigned as your supervisor, she may not be in a position to provide meaningful feedback, or an assessment on your performance as yet. Give her time to get to know you, keep her abreast of your outputs and achievements, work on building your relationship and revisit the discussion with her again in a few months.

During the meeting you can highlight your list of achievements and contributions which you prepared. This is particularly important if she’s a “hands off” manager who’s not fully across your day-to-day outputs and performance. Then actively listen to your manager’s feedback.

At the end of this step, you should have achieved each of the highlighted meeting objectives.

Step 8 — Regular Check-Ins

Once you understand the growth you need to achieve to receive your target salary, start working towards them. Schedule in at least quarterly check-ins to discuss your progress. Keep your supervisor accountable by seeking feedback on your performance directly against your salary goal so you're in agreement on how you’re tracking and when you’ll likely get to the end game.

The key here is persistence, resilience and moving in the right direction, and this may take time and plenty of hard work. Tenacity will get you closer and closer to your goal. If you give up before the goods come through you’ve lost.

If you haven’t achieved the professional growth required for your target salary within 12 months, request an interim pay increase whilst you keep working towards your goal in the next year.

Troubleshooting

What if the answer is ‘no’?

What if you follow all these steps, ask for a raise and the answer is no? You need to pivot your mindset and the conversation with your supervisor from ‘no’ to ‘not yet’. Applying the strategies in this piece will give you the best chance at getting the salary that you’re after. But unless you're in the "underpaid" category, you will only achieve it through hard work and professional growth, and this growth must be overseen and acknowledged by your manager through regular (preferably quarterly) check-ins and conversations.

You need to understand the gap in your current skills and performance versus the performance of staff earning the salary that you’re after, even if hypothetical. These could relate to your skills, the quality of your work, your level of responsibility, your level of accountability, your achievements, knowledge base, personal development, workplace behaviour, demonstrated consistency, or productivity amongst many other attributes. Once you have this knowledge, you can map out a plan with your manager identifying the improvements and changes which will lead you in the right direction. From this point, achieving that pay rise is in your hands.

What if the request is ignored?

Worse than being told no, what if your request is simply ignored, placed in the “too-hard” basket or at the bottom of your manager’s priority list? Then you need to be persistent. Be patient and respectful, but don’t allow your request to discuss your salary go unaddressed. If you make a request and are told by your manager that your request will be considered, but you hear nothing back, allow 2-3 weeks, then follow up, and continue to do so until you see progress. If you continue being ignored, consider escalation.

What if your manager agrees to a raise then changes her mind?

First, find out the cause of the change. It may have been due to a misunderstanding, or her decision was overridden by her seniors, or any other reason. Once you find out the reasons for the change, also find out from the decision maker what gaps they see between your current performance and the performance of staff earning the salary that you’re after. With this knowledge, you can map out a plan with your manager identifying the improvements and changes which will lead you in the right direction. From this point, achieving a salary increase is in your hands.

What if your manager agrees but doesn’t follow through?

If you and your manager agreed to a pay increase and amount during the meeting, yet you hear nothing back, wait a few weeks then send a follow up email. In your email confirm your agreement in writing including the meeting date, outcome and amount. Also request a status update from her. Continue to follow up regularly until success or escalate the matter as a last resort.

What if your manager is not the decision maker?

You may find out that your manager is not in a position to be able to give you a pay increase for reasons such as a lack of authority or budget limitations. If this is the case, then find out who the decision maker is, and whether it is the company’s policy for you to liaise directly or indirectly (through your manager) with the decision maker. In either case, make sure you have your direct manager’s blessings and buy-in as she is like to have the highest degree of influence over the final decision.

What if your employer wants to pay you more but can't afford it?

Perhaps your organisation simply cannot afford to give you a pay rise. If this is the case, you need to make a decision whether to stay or go – but just make sure they really cannot afford it. If you were to leave, would they hire someone new to replace you at a higher salary? Find out the answer and consider this when making your decision.

What if a pay rise is given but a lesser amount?

Then you need to decide on whether you will accept the amount offered or go through the process of seeking a salary increase again. You may choose to do both. Also take into consideration your organisation’s policy on whether accepting the offered increase will reduce your short-term likelihood of achieving the amount you desire (e.g. if pay increases are only permitted once per year).

What if meetings with your supervisor become emotional or heated?

If the conversation with your manager turns emotional or heated, it is best to take timeout and reconvene at a later date. Let your manager know you would like a follow up meeting so you can really listen and understand their perspective.

What if you find out you’re being underpaid?

You may find out you’re being underpaid compared with others in your organisation for doing the same work, whilst having similar or more experience and skills than them. Being in this position can be infuriating, disappointing, a blow to confidence and raise strong feelings of being undervalued.

It’s important for people in this situation to recognise that there are numerous reasons why unequal pay can sometimes occur in the workplace. Some of them can make one’s blood boil (e.g. gender bias), whilst others are more understandable (e.g. the organisation may have had to pay a premium to attract a skillset into the business during a short-term skills shortage).

Whatever the underlying reason, it is important to exercise diplomacy, professionalism, respect and patience and to remain focused on the end goal of achieving your salary increase. You will need to highlight the facts of the discrepancy objectively, without pointing the finger at any individual. If you approach the matter in this way, it will be easier for your organisation to correct the error.

You may find that despite the discrepancy being pointed out, your supervisor will not acknowledge the issue. Politely hold them to account by asking them to describe in concrete terms how others’ performance on the higher salary is superior to yours and what changes or achievements she needs to see in your performance for a commensurate raise.

If you find you’re getting nowhere, you may need to escalate the situation.

When you need to escalate

Escalation should only be used at times when all other diplomatic paths of communication with your manager have been exhausted. It will likely get your manager (who is possibly the biggest influencer over your salary) offside, so you want to explore all other avenues and work with, not against, your manager before going down the escalation path.

Perhaps you and your manager just cannot see eye to eye despite numerous discussions or cannot agree on a plan for you obtaining the pay increase. Perhaps your requests to meet and discuss the matter are repeatedly ignored, deferred or just not addressed. Perhaps there is unconscious bias. Under these situations, consider seeking confidential advice from your HR department or from others in the business first who are also in the position of granting pay increases to others. This may provide you with some confidence that your approach is considered fair by others in the business.

Once these options are exhausted, let your manager know that you feel your request isn’t been appropriately addressed, and that you feel your only option is escalation, so they have the chance to up their game.

When to call it quits

Ok, so you’ve tried all that? What next? Perhaps your manager just will not budge, no matter what, or you just cannot find a middle ground. Perhaps you’ve escalated and there are no other avenues for you. There will be times when you just need to call it quits. If you know you’re worth more, then it’s likely time for a new path.

A note on quitting – quitting should generally be a last resort, and should always be preceded by open communication with your manager and seeking to resolve disagreements diplomatically, respectfully and professionally, followed by the right paths of escalation. If you do go down the path of quitting before exhausting all other options first, you may face the same problems in your new workplace.