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Getting a bigger pay rise is an ordeal that most people hate going through. I share 8 ways of getting a salary raise that will make the preparation and conversations with your manager much easier.
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Getting a bigger pay rise is an ordeal that most people hate going through. Yet
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if you don't ask for a salary increase at least in line with what other companies are paying, chances are you'll get paid less than you deserve. And
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unfortunately if you are good at your job and create a lot of value, chances
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are you're being paid way below what you could be. Learn how to negotiate a
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salary increase and you'll be a lot better off. I'm sharing eight ways of
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getting a bigger pay rise and when asking to get a bigger salary you have
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to overcome the reluctance of companies to increase their costs. The eight steps
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take you through a logical and tested approach to build a compelling case for
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a pay rise. Taking these steps will build your confidence and massively increase
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your chances of success. My name is Jess Coles and if you're new here, Enhanced.Training shares
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people management expertise, resources and courses to speed up your journey to
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become a great manager. I've included links to additional videos in the
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description below as well as a video timestamp so do take a look at these. And
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if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and subscribe. The first way
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for getting a bigger pay rise is to work out why you deserve a pay rise. This is a
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really important step that many people actually don't do properly. You can't
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think in terms of yourself. For instance, I've been working another year
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therefore I deserve a pay rise. Or inflation is at X percent and therefore
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am I getting paid X percent less than last year and therefore I should get
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paid more. These thoughts may all be true and yet these arguments don't
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really work. You have to think in terms of the value you have created for the
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company. For instance, firstly where have you saved the company time and
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costs and pretty much everyone can achieve cost or time savings in their
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job. Secondly, where have you increased revenues either directly or indirectly. Third, where have you beaten targets that you've been set. Fourth, how have you
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increased visibility and understanding which has led to lower costs or higher
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revenues. And fifth, how have you specifically helped the company be successful. These are all framed in terms of how you've helped the company. Get
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specific and include numbers in how you frame the value you've created. Really
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think about your role and how you create value for your company. And as soon as
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you are clearly creating more value than your salary you're in a great
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negotiating position to get a bigger pay rise. The second way to get a bigger pay
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rise is to know your worth. Having worked out all the internal measures
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of your worth, i.e. your achievements for the company, work out how the jobs market
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values your role. Go to read.co.uk or a similar jobs website and find
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job adverts for what you do. Be as specific as you can. Look past the job
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title at, firstly things like the responsibilities and accountabilities of the role. Secondly, the tasks, activities, problems and projects the
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role needs to deliver against. Third, who the role reports to. And fourth, the
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dynamics of the company and where exactly the role is based. Match up your
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role as closely as possible to a range of jobs being offered by other companies
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Compare the salaries and take note of the average and the range of salaries
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Keep copies of all the job adverts you use so you can provide these to your
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manager later. A complementary option is to speak to a friendly recruitment
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consultant that you already have a relationship with and then ask them to
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provide you with their views on what salary you're worth on an email. Use
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third-party market data to demonstrate your worth. The third way for getting a
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bigger pay rise is to be realistic. Keeping realistic adds to your
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credibility when asking for a pay rise. Your request is hard to ignore or
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dismiss. The company situation, the economic situation and the state of the
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jobs market all impact pay rises and I think it is sensible to consider each. If
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the company is doing very well the company can afford to make larger pay
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rises. If the company has little profit or cash then pay rises full stop may be
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in doubt. And externally if there are many jobs being offered and few people
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to fill them getting a bigger salary is a lot easier than if there are many
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people looking for jobs and few job opportunities. Your ability to go
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elsewhere to get a bigger salary is a key factor from the company's point of
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view when considering pay. Show that you're being realistic and have considered these factors when asking for a pay rise and you should be taken more
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seriously. The fourth way of getting a bigger pay rise is to build your case
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Use the information that you've gathered so far to build your case for a
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pay rise and put it into writing in a document. Your boss will need this
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document to get sign off for your pay increase and we'll cover this more in
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detail later. Create a one or two page document setting out firstly all the
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reasons why you should get a pay rise. Secondly the actual figure that you're
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asking for. Don't provide a range and set it higher than your minimum. And third
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all the market evidence that you're worth the figure that you're asking for
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Get a friend outside of work to look at the documents to make sure it makes
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sense and it is well structured. Keep the document focused on how you've created
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value for the company and don't forget to think about all the elements of your
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pay. You know salary, bonuses, benefits, share options etc. The hardest area to
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get an increase in is your salary in my experience because from the company's
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point of view if you do a rubbish job you still get paid. Once you have your
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document finalized you are ready to speak to your manager. The fifth way for
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getting a bigger pay rise is picking the right time to ask. Don't ambush your
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manager with pay rise requests. Always signal that you want to talk about pay
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before actually asking. And a good way to do this is to send your pay rise
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document to your manager and ask for a one-on-one meeting so you can discuss
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your pay with them. Always ask your manager for a bigger salary in private
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Never do this in public. And don't send your request for a meeting over on
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Monday morning or a Friday afternoon. No manager likes to get additional
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problems to deal with during these times. And after you've requested to speak to
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your manager about your pay you should then follow up to arrange a specific
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meeting or bring up pay in your next regular one-on-one meeting. Always give
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your manager time to think through your pay rise and to do a bit of research for
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themselves. The sixth way to get a bigger pay rise is to be ready to negotiate. If
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your manager just says yes you probably have asked for too small a pay rise
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Expect to negotiate on things like the amount of the pay rise, in what form it
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takes, i.e. your annual salary or bonus or other things, and thirdly when it's
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effective from. Your minimum amount should be the figure that you'd be happy
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earning and feel is a fair exchange for the value that you've delivered for the
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business. Always ask more than your minimum so you have room to negotiate
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and come away happy with the outcome. Don't provide an excessively high figure
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to try and anchor the negotiations in unrealistic territory. For more advice
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on negotiating take a look at seven actions to negotiate effectively at work
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The seventh way of getting a bigger pay rise is to have a plan B. If you get a
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no after asking for a pay rise or a salary increase that you feel is below
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your worth you have three main options. Firstly accept the situation, secondly
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keep fighting for higher remuneration and third get a job offer paying more
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from another company. Consider switching your pay rise request to increases in
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your bonuses, holiday, health cover, pension or other benefits such as training and development. In my experience getting a salary increase is
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much harder than getting increases in performance related pay such as bonuses
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There can be many rational and irrational reasons why managers or HR block
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increases in salary. Focus on other elements of your pay and see what
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increases you can negotiate. Another option is that you get a job offer
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paying significantly more from another company. You can then use this to force a
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higher salary and stay with your company or you can move companies. The cost of
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recruiting, training and bedding in a new employee will nearly always be a lot
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higher than the salary increase that you're asking for. Just bear in mind that
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if you have to fight hard to get a salary increase that you deserve you may
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be at the wrong company. The eighth way of getting a bigger pay rise is to help
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your manager get sign off. A common situation is that your manager supports
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your pay rise request but struggles to get this signed off by their managers. By
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providing a document with the reasons you deserve a pay rise written in terms
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of how the company benefits you are arming your manager with hopefully a
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compelling case. Support your manager in getting the pay rise request through
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Find out what the objections are, blocking the sign off and who is doing
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the blocking. Work with your manager to address the objections and speak to the
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individuals that are blocking the rise. If you are a good performer there is
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nearly always an acceptable compromise to be reached. Negotiate and be flexible
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to a point. If building a compelling case and negotiating fails then get a job
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offer from another company paying more. The company's willingness to compromise and reach a solution is a very strong indicator for how much you're valued. If
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you're not valued enough find a company that values you a lot more. You and your
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career will be better off in the long run. We've gone through eight ways of
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getting a bigger salary at work. The better the job you're doing the more
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likely you'll be able to successfully ask for and get a bigger salary and or
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other benefits. And if you don't ask you don't get. Companies will usually try to
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get away with paying their staff as little as possible while still retaining
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their employees. Ask for what you deserve. To recap the eight ways of getting a
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bigger pay rise are firstly work out why you deserve a pay rise, secondly know
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your worth, third be realistic, fourth build your case, fifth picking the right
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time to ask, sixth be ready to negotiate, seventh have a plan B and eight help
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your boss get sign off. If you have any questions about how to negotiate a
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salary increase please leave them in the comment section below and I'll get back
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to you. Thanks very much for watching and I look forward to speaking to you again soon
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