When one starts working at a job, it takes them a while to understand and comprehend the functioning of the company properly but once that’s done, there are two kinds of employees in this world – one who gets a grip of the work at hand and starts to outshine among the rest of the employees and the other who is still trying to understand the company culture and the job description completely.
While the former still has some learning and understanding to do, it is time for the latter population to think of the question, “How to ask for a raise at work”, something they have been dreaming about all this while.
Putting forth this question of how to ask for a raise or even or even wondering about one leaves a person with two options – the first one is to simply ask for it and the second one is to leave the current position you are working at a better and a higher paying job.
While both of these choices ask for one to be confident in themselves and their work, they still come with a certain amount of stress and anxiety for one to actually gather the courage and ask for the same which must have brought the reader to our doorstep, confused as to “how to ask for a raise?”.
Leaving a job comes with certain risks and guts whereas working at the same place for a higher pay seems like a much more feasible and comfortable choice that is much easier to make.
This article will shed light on different ways in which one can pop the question of when is the correct time to pop this question and basics of how to ask for a raise to your employer and several extensions of the same question.
1. Make Sure to Set a Target Raise
In order to answer your question about how to ask for a raise in your salary, we would like to ask you to first focus on settling on a number that you would like to put forth to your manager. Every job in the market has some value that would give you an idea about how much you could potentially ask for.
From the national salary trends to your general knowledge through your social networking and work experience, you could make sure and get an idea of the number you should settle on and propose.
One fact that you must keep in mind to successfully find the answer to “How to ask for a raise” is while settling on a number for your salary is that it is not only your job title that affects the salary that you are getting, it is also your education, experience and other such factors that play quite a major role. This is also where your salary would differ from your counterparts as far as the figure of your salary is concerned.
In order to learn about the salary trend of your particular job title and the monetary value to understand the foundation of your work better, you should also compare the salary you are currently getting paid with the trend you have set for yourself. This comparison would help you get a better understanding of what you should be asking for and get you a better result of “How to ask for raise at work?”.
Make a list of all your accomplishments that helped you make your mark for yourself in the company, keep in mind your education, and include the points you think might come across as impressive in the same. Use statistics when talking about your achievements and then finally identify a salary range that you can give your employer to negotiate and truly achieve your motive behind googling “How to ask for a raise at work?”.
2. Schedule a Meeting For the Purpose of Asking for a Raise
In the best-case scenario and the most ideal situation to ask for a raise, you would meet your manager in person in which case you will have to work a little on your body language. You should be confident but not to an extent that it starts to come across as arrogance. In case this face-to-face is not possible due to any reason at all, you can always schedule a video call with your manager in order to discuss the same.
If you ask for a raise without setting the date for the same in the calendar first, there are chances of you coming across as a little unprofessional. Say no to asking for a raise over an email or in a common setting where you can be overheard, it’s best to talk about it in a closed-door setting so that it can stay private and it does make your manager uncomfortable and denies the purpose of searching, “how to ask for a raise in the salary?”
One of the best times to discuss your raise could be prior to your performance review, some of the questions you can put forth to your manager during that duration is, “While you review my performance, could you also make time to discuss my compensation?” Or maybe a more direct question like, “I would like to discuss my compensation with you, could you please make time in your schedule for the same?”.
It’s best if the manager has a slight inkling about your wish to discuss your Compensation or raise with them and is not startled by your request. Remember to ask for a raise with the same seriousness you had given the job interview in the very beginning of your job.
Dress more formally, as if you were to do an important presentation on that day even if your office is okay with slightly casual dressing. As sometimes your clothes can also portray the seriousness with which you are looking forward to the conversation along with your words.
3. Start With Your Compensation Request
At the very beginning of the conversation, you should set the purpose of it clear by stating it in a professional manner instead of beating around the bush and wasting both your and your manager’s time.
This also portrays how serious you really are about this conversation and there are more chances of the manager not taking it lightly either and actually considering your request according to the market value.
You can open up with a statement like, “I would like to extend my gratitude to you for meeting with me. Working with this company has been a great experience for me and I am most definitely looking forward to achieving more goals for the company and growing along with it.
Owing to the same, can we discuss my salary?” Or something more general like, “I am thrilled to share some of my recent accomplishments with you and also discuss the pay increase that I am going to get alongside, does right now feel like a good time?”.
How your manager responds to these questions would show if he/she is into the conversation or not. Either way, you shouldn’t lose hope and keep control over the conversation. If they seem open to having this conversation, you can follow up with the specifics and let him or them know your expectations according to the research we were talking about before.
A pro tip that would most certainly help you out throughout your pitch is to avoid using words like- believe, think, feel, and more. These would undercut your current position and make you sound a little underconfident also.
You should make it a point to confidently put your point across with utmost certainty as the same would eventually reflect on to your manager. While having this conversation make sure you truly believe that you deserve this request that you are putting forward and asking for a raise in your salary and put your point across with strong words.
4. How to Ask for a Raise- Expectations and Negotiations
To answer your question about “How to ask for a raise in your salary at work” we would like to drift your focus on the aspect that if you have put forth your request to the manager at a good enough time and followed it with impressive accomplishments, you can expect your manager to give it thoughtful consideration. With good evidence of how you deserve to be paid more, your manager would most definitely think about the same and reward you accordingly.
They could also ask you a few follow-up questions to know in detail about all the accomplishments that you must have mentioned to them to do their part of the research for before asking for a raise in salary.
As a result of the same, you can expect there to be some negotiations from their side. You should listen very carefully to the response of your manager and if he/she starts to intimidate you at any point you always have your strengths and accomplishments to fall back on.
You should make it a point to ask your own questions to better understand where your manager is coming from, always ask the senior, “Can you further stress upon this point?” To understand better and don’t shy away from asking questions. Or to clear things out and to confirm that your thought process is going in the right direction start your questions with, “What I’m hearing is…” to create a more comprehensive workplace.
An example of the negotiation that you might have in order to accomplish the purpose of the google search of “how to ask for a raise?” with the manager is as follows;
Manager: I would like to begin by acknowledging your contribution to the company and by thanking you for the overview of the journey that you have had with us. However, it is not a good time for us to provide you with a raise of X percentage.
Employee: Thank you for taking out the time to discuss this with me. However, I would like to assure you that I have put forth this request to you after careful research according to which, X percent is a reasonable increase and it also aligns with my contribution to the company. Could you please brief me on why this raise is not possible at the moment?
Manager: I am not denying the hard work you have put into this company, however, the amount is not something we can afford right now. We could consider such a rise in the coming future, keeping your contribution towards the company in mind.
Employee: What I am hearing is that you are in agreement with my request for a raise, it is just not possible at the moment. That makes sense. Could you please let me know how and when I should put forward this request in the coming future?
This would assure you that your employer will keep your request in his/her mind and consider it as and when the time seems more feasible for the company. Your confidence and consideration towards the company would also put you in the good books of the manager, it could be an excellent way of leaving your mark.
5. Battling with Rejection
Whenever we are about to take any big step in our life, the possibility of it happening and the possibility of it not happening both seem equally probable in our heads. The first task is to search for the right way of “how to ask for a raise”, the second is truly to gather the courage to ask the same by keeping aside the negative thoughts and self criticism and if you go through these successfully, then you are already a winner.
In case your request for a pay raise gets denied don’t be disheartened, thank your manager for hearing you out and for at least considering your request. Ask them questions like, “Which skills or achievements should i focus more on accomplishing according to you?” , “Should we have this conversation at a better time in the future?” Or “Are you satisfied with my work ethic?” To get a better idea of where you and your request stands.
You shouldn’t stress about your request to ask for a raise getting rejected since it’s very normal to have this conversation with your employer. In a recent survey, it was claimed that only about 19% of the working population is satisfied with their salary, the rest of them find it hard to gather the courage and ask for it.
Give yourself a pat on the back for having the courage to have done it and ask your employer if not a pay raise, can they at least provide you with any other incentives or if they offer, you can consider settling for a lower percentage than you asking for a raise.
Things to Remember:
• One question that would most often than not pop up in your head when you are in two minds about actually going through the whole process of asking for that pay raise is, “Is this the right time?”.
As a considerate employee one needs to keep in mind the financial situation of the company you are working at and if there are any cutbacks and layoffs that they are keeping at the back of their mind, this can be achieved by taking a peak at the financial reports of the company.
You can check out the attached video for more ideas on the same topic-
• Apart from this, also focus on the workload and pressure that your manager is under, your journey as an employee and how successful you have been with the tasks you have been challenged with, and more such aspects before wondering about how to ask for a raise. As this is a situation that can go either way, you need to keep yourself prepared for both the best and the worst-case scenarios.
Final Note
After you have been asking for a raise, no matter how good, bad or in whichever direction the conversation went you should end it with a thank you, by showing gratitude to your manager/employer.
You can also follow up the conversation you had with him/her along with an email regarding the same conversation with mentioned reasons and facts that support your request for a raise in your salary.
This helps the manager in charge to put the same points forward if they are actually considering giving a raise to you and they can also check with the people they wish to about the same.
Worst case scenario, if your request is denied you can refer to the same email and get in touch with your employer and if it is again denied, then dear reader it might just be the time to take a risk and look for a better and a higher paying job that truly values the hard work of their employee.
Don’t forget to keep a lookout for a number of jobs and also apply to them but maintain your focus on your particular area of interest as well as expertise, something you can see yourself doing a few years down the line, as that would eventually reflect in your performance.