How do I get a Pay Rise?
Sometimes when you’re working your butt off, you may feel undervalued in terms of your remuneration. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to send your CV out for a new job.
If you haven’t spoken to your boss about your salary in a career review or conversation in the last 6 months, it’s worthwhile bringing it to their attention that you’re not happy with salary. Chances are, they don’t want you to leave them, so if your expectations for a revised salary are reasonable they will probably give it to you. At the end of the day, having staff leave is a costly exercise for a number of reasons, so employers try to avoid employees leaving.
Know what you want.
Before approaching your manager about remuneration, make sure you get a fairly accurate idea of what the market is paying someone of your background. You can do this by speaking to friends in similar roles, looking at salary surveys online (though these are often outdated, vague or simply based on anecdote) or contact a recruitment consultant who specialises in your area.
How do I bring up the topic of salary?
Ask your boss to schedule a time to meet with them. Salaries can’t be discussed in an open work environment, so you need to schedule a confidential meeting with your manager. Be frank with them. Tell your manager that you feel undervalued in terms of your salary, whether it be because of your contribution to the company or your salary falling behind market trends.
Tell them what would keep you happy
There’s no point being coy with your salary. Tell your manager what you think is a fair salary for your role. If you’re on a completely different wavelength to your manager, you’ll soon find out.
If you don’t get the pay rise you were expecting, it’s for one of two reasons:
- It’s unreasonable as the increase doesn’t accurately reflect your role & contribution to the company or market trends
- The company can’t afford to give you a payrise or they feel you’re asking too much
What can you do?
If you’re happy with your new salary, great! If not, sit tight and stick with it, or perhaps it’s time to move on.
