Receive the latest Trees Full of Money articles FREE in your E-Mail or via RSS.
When I sat down to right this article I couldn’t help but think of the infamous Sally Struther’s commercial for ICS Learning Systems.
“Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do” Sally Struthers for ICS
The commercial must of run 1 Million times in the early 1990’s and I swear by the end of it’s run I could literally recite the whole thing from memory. Today, I have forgotten most of the script but I will never forget the open line from above. We all want to make more money. Some of us deserve to, while others may need to do a little more preparation. If you are prepared to take the next step and ask your boss for a raise, here are 5 question that I would ask myself first.
Are You Working to Your Full Potential?: It’s hard staying motivated at work if you don’t feel that you are being compensated justly. On the other hand, you are not being honest with yourself (or your boss) if you ask for a raise but are not willing to work for it. Making yourself and your work an integral part of your company’s success gives you an amazing amount of leverage when making your case for more money. Put yourself in your boss’s position for a minute. If you where your boss, would you give yourself a raise?
How Have You Improved Yourself Since Your Last Performance Review?: Everyone hates the dreaded quarterly or annual performance review. It’s a stressful time for both the supervisor and the employee. If you’ve followed my guide to effective performance evaluations you will know the importance of embracing your “improvement opportunities”. Taking a proactive approach to performance evaluation will help maximize how you “rate” within the company. A good performance review will often translate into an increased salary.
Is Your Employer Doing Well?: If your place of employment is thriving, and/or your work load has increased over the last few months, you have an advantage when it comes to renegotiating your salary.
What’s Your Experience Level?: You may not know what your co-workers are being paid, but you generally have an idea. Gauge your time in position, and your experience level and compare it with your salary. You may find that you are paid the industry average, you might find that you are severely underpaid based on your level of expertise. Don’t be afraid to “test the market” too. If you feel that you are not moving as “fast” as you should, it rarely hurts to send resumes’ to other companies just to see what they have to offer.
How Easy Would it Be to Replace You?: Does your current job require a special license, or skill that only a few people have? The more invaluable you can make yourself at work, the more difficult it will be for your supervisor to say no to a raise. Become an “expert” on as many things as you can at work. Maybe they’ll be afraid they’ll lose you if you’re the only employee that knows how to keep the computer network running.
If you are honest with yourself in answering these questions, you will have a better understanding of your situation. Also, if you decide to ask your boss for a raise, you’ll already have an answer prepared when he asks you “Why should I give you a raise?”!
Related Articles:
Creating an Eco-Friendly Culture at Work
FICO Scores Can Hurt Your Job Search
Tips and Strategies for After Your Job Interview
All I Ever Needed to Learn About Money I Learned Playing Golf
{ 1 trackback }
{ 0 comments… add one now }