Asking for an appraisal is one of the most crucial things you will have to go through in bumping up your career. Every so often, you will feel the need to ask for a pay raise because you deserve it, and that’s normal. As long as you can defend in your “why I deserve a raise” proposal, you have a better chance of the appraisal.
However, not everyone is brave enough to ask their bosses for fear of being rejected. In a survey by PayScale, about two-thirds of its 160,000 employee respondents never asked for a pay raise. And 70% of those who took the leap successfully earned the pay raise. This demonstrates the likeliness of getting a pay raise when you go after what you desire.
To help you take the plunge, here are the reasons that can help you justify, “why I deserve a raise” question when asked by your boss.
1. You exceed expectations.
When you regularly hit your goals, you demonstrate excellence in your performance at work. What more if you exceed what is expected from you, right? Chances are, your boss notices your perseverance in ensuring you complete all your responsibilities in your job.
When your boss is aware of your hard work, it’s way easier to ask for a pay raise. You have to show you are worth the increment by highlighting your value to the company. And that is possible by going beyond what’s expected from you in your job.
2. You take the initiative to help.
Are you a team member who enjoys lending hands to those in need? If you are, you display the quality that most employers love—taking the initiative.
Whether it is big or small, your help means so much when the team can meet success. All these efforts will not go down the drain as there will be people vouching for your willingness to help and take action without needing instruction.
3. You are a proactive team member.
Aside from taking action before issues even arise, giving helpful insights shows proactiveness in your team. When you are eager to share useful suggestions, you show the team that you are invested in improving the processes for more efficient work.
Recommendations are well-appreciated in the work setting. Rather than keeping your mouth shut when you spot something wrong, giving prompt resolutions shows how much you care for the company’s welfare.
4. You ask for feedback.
Feedbacks are the backbone of learning what aspects you need to improve on. When you don’t ask for it, how will you know?
Although the higher-ups will have a pulse check on you every once in a while, you still carry the responsibility of asking. This way, you know the areas that you excel in and which need improvement.
5. You help in increasing revenues.
Your proposal is more likely to get accepted when you know that you are a valuable asset to the company. Knowing that you are a big contributor to increasing company revenues, an incentive, or any reward is bound to come your way.
Some instances that show your bankable assets include helping in the following:
- Acquisition of major clients
- Expansion of the company
- A massive increase in sales
- Assistance in developing new business ventures
6. You contribute to reducing company costs.
There is only so much you can do to help cut down costs while maintaining work efficiency. Your work will be much appreciated if you have provided inputs in saving an adequate amount of expenses.
In your own way, you can always help with saving a couple of bucks. You can do this by suggesting cost-efficient methods in performing processes while ensuring the organization hits or exceeds goals at a lesser cost.
7. You continue growing your expertise.
The eagerness to learn proves that you are more than invested in stepping up your game. If your responsibilities have been stagnant for a couple of years, which might seem you are stuck in a rut. When you take the initiative to expand your horizon, you are opening yourself up for more opportunities.
Your desire to enhance your given skills and acquire new knowledge shows that you want to make a big contribution to the company.
8. You prove loyalty to the company.
Although it’s not ideal to blatantly tell your boss that you need a raise because you’ve been with the company for quite some time, the fact that you have stayed there already means a lot. You can easily manage to ask for a salary bump when you are a team asset and have been with the organization for years.
In addition, there are other ways you can prove your loyalty to your company. These include sticking to the company’s core values, keeping the dignity of the team, and embodying the company vision.
9. You are the go-to person on the team.
When people go to you for assistance, this implies reliability. Not only are you approachable, but you also meet deadlines and requirements. This goes to show that people are aware of how reliable you are.
When coworkers trust you, you become the go-to person that everyone can rely on. And as someone who always delivers, you have the bragging right to get a pay hike. It’s easier to defend the question, “why I deserve a raise?”
10. You share your knowledge with others.
Ideal employees are more than happy to share what they know with the team. Being a mentor is one way to prove you have gained significant knowledge and to display your leadership abilities.
When you are capable of sharing with others what you know, your effort is bound to get noticed. This then results in recognition of your work as a mentor to others. This acknowledgment helps you in your proposal to support your answers in the reasons “why I deserve a raise?”
11. You know your market value.
Having worked for quite some time, you have gained tons of skills that imply bigger market value. Although the territory is a factor in helping you grow, you still create a valid point when you know how much your skills are worth.
Do your research on various career platforms like Glassdoor or Indeed to familiarize the current market value. It’s easy to ask for a raise from your boss when you can back it up with reliable data.
When asking for a raise
Once you have ticked every item on the list above, you can prepare your proposal to ask for that pay raise. Be ready on how you are going to defend your pitch and take some extra precautions to ensure you get that pay raise.
Here are some helpful guidelines on what you should and shouldn’t do to ask for a pay raise.
- Pick the right timing. When you think your boss is in a good mood, go for it.
- Dress the part on the big day. Put some effort into your attire, even if the job nature is casual. Wear a tie or iron out your clothes to look presentable.
- Prepare and practice your answers. The point of the meeting is to propose and defend your pitch. Ensure that you have prepared answers to possible questions to ace the inquisition.
- Focus on the company. Do not forget to acknowledge the company and what it will get out of you if you get the pay raise. Asking for a pay raise is a two-way street; the company must benefit from you as you do from them.
- Keep it about your accomplishments. Don’t ask because you feel like you are being underpaid. Instead, focus on the contributions you have made and your value as an asset to the company.
- Be prepared if you get rejected. The answer could only be a “yes” or “no.” If you get the latter, handle the result with grace and utter acceptance. You can ask for feedback on why you were rejected so that you know what to do next time.
- Continue being a team player. Whatever the result is, do not stop being an excellent employee. Keep the consistency going, and the company will eventually recognize your hard work.
How to negotiate your raise
So your boss accepted the proposal, but before you agree to an exact figure, a lot of negotiation is bound to happen. You can’t expect your employer to give in easily. You need that extra effort to negotiate your way to a more desirable increment. Here are some helpful tips in negotiating for a raise you deserve.
Back your desired rate with data.
In proposing your desired increase, you can’t just crunch numbers just because you think they are enough for your value. You need to defend it with data that you can get from researching current job market trends. Evaluating the data and leveraging this to your value will help you justify why you deserve that increment. Those figures didn’t come up from anywhere—they are actual data.
Put in mind how the business is doing.
It becomes tough to ask for a pay raise when you know the business is facing some financial woes. This makes you inclined to be more considerate of the current situation. If the business experiences a bumpy road, you might want to lower your proposed increase. But if the business is growing, this might be the best time to aim higher.
Don’t mention the target range; go for the highest rate you want.
Avoid mentioning a range, as this implies that you are willing to settle for the lowest number in the range. This gives the employer the chance to choose the lowest number in your target range. Instead, go for the highest justifiable bid. This gives both parties enough wiggle room to negotiate since your employer might offer lower than your desired rate.
Avoid comparing yourself to others.
In emphasizing your accomplishments, remember to focus on your own. Never bring up how you outrank or do better than your coworkers. Not only is this professional, but it lessens your chance of getting your proposal approved.
Don’t state an ultimatum.
Whether your pay raise gets approved or not, you shouldn’t be giving an ultimatum. Threatening to leave your job because you don’t get an increase is beyond unprofessional. No employer would want to hear that from their employee, which could even result in cutting you off.
Practice your negotiation skills.
Sometimes, you can’t trust it by negotiating spontaneously. You need to practice negotiation to get the best possible result. After all, this is for your salary. Use this one shot to good use and make it count by coming prepared. You can get some help from a friend who could practice with you. Along with that, you may also get powerful tips by taking up this online negotiation course.
Keep the optimistic spirit.
Regardless if you got your desired rate or had a lower offer, keep the positivity in you. Rejections are normal, and they shouldn’t cause your demotivation.
Keep these pointers close to heart when you are asking for a salary bump, and you will be an inch closer to securing that pay raise. Together with your burning desire, instill the value of acceptance that no matter what the result is, you’ll accept it willfully. Because at the end of the day, you will never know what you will get if you didn’t even try to ask.
Need that extra push to get you going? Here are top career development courses from Skill Success you can bring with you in acing your proposal:
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