How to Get a Raise, Avoiding Common Mistakes
Posted: Sunday, January 09, 2011
by David Levitt
In today's do you want a job, take what you can get world, it is very important to know what and what not to do to get the most out of the cat with the fat and not become canned tuna. How to get a raise and avoiding the common mistakes that get you out the door and looking to score are more important now than ever before.
Your managers job is to get what they can for as little as he/she can or they may be the next bird of prey. Profit is king, and no longer is an honest day's work for an honest day's pay good enough for those that simply need you to bleed to satisfy their greed. It's called the price you pay for the productivity that you get, and how business justifies it's personnel costs.
Companies have a certain amount of money for particular areas of their business. Employee pay and benefits, materials, shipping costs and handling of the products or services, etc. In this equation is what is known as profit margin, this is the percentage of the owners take of the total net profit, and this is what you essentially are going to be tapping into which often times is not negotiable.
So it is for this reason that you need to know how to get a raise and avoid common mistakes. It is very important when going to your manager with your hand out, that you are ready to explain to them in what particular ways you are saving and/or helping in assisting in savings or increased production in one of the above mentioned areas.
Go into this meeting with as many facts and figures as is possible. It is important that your manager has time to evaluate these assertions well before the regular pay raise intervals that they have been given to make these decisions. A few things to consider are how you have helped increase productivity, customer satisfaction, the number of orders, or helped reduce expenses and overhead.
Know what similar positions are paying at other companies, you can get this information online with the help of calculators designed for this purpose. Know what other employees at your company are receiving for similar work, and how your duties have either expanded or in some other way makes justifying your request more acceptable.
Your manager must often times justify these increases with his boss or other regulatory divisions, so give them as much ammunition as you can, and ask them if there is anything you can do to help aid them in making these requests more amenable to those that they must persuade.
Do not under any circumstances make the common mistake of trying to impress on them that you need this raise for personal matters such as paying the bills, or need a bigger home, or buy a new car. Their business and often times many other employees are what they have to concern themselves with not your personal matters, not to mention their job.
Do not become emotional or threaten to quit your job as often times you get what you ask for, and this is why you need to give your request as much time as possible to be considered as this will help you avoid this situation, and give you more time to evaluate what you have asked for and in what ways you can assist in this decision.
How to get a raise and avoid common mistakes that may leave you unemployed in today's job market is probably not a position you want to find yourself in. It is harder than ever before when companies have stacks of applications sitting at their ready. So follow these simple rules and hopefully you'll get to take a little more to the bank.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)The corporate world is a dog's world, isn't it, David? I think your suggestions are great, though.Thanks Jenn, I think your great too.:-)Thanks Jenn, I think your great too.:-)
Very nice suggestions given. Although I would never agree to take up a 9 to 8 or 9 to 16 job. :-)Thanks, wish I could say the same DM. Maybe someday!:-)
This article really provided me a lot of great insights on the proper way to ask for a raise. Thanks so much!You are more than welcome Chris. Nowadays more than ever, the more ammo you have, the better your chances of survival. Have a great day.
Hi Dave--nice article---enjoyed the positiveness associated with it as opposed to the many articles that are negative and complaining without moving forward. Also, I agree with all your points. Thanks for an enjoyable read.
Steve
Thanks Steve, just trying to do my part to help smooth some of the bumps in the road. You know kind of like a road grader, without all the rough metal edges.:-) Thanks for reading, and the comment.Very well put!
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