Negotiating Your RaiseFrom: Jack Chapman For your review, make sure you have undisturbed time to go over your memo with the boss. Bring your own copy. Begin the discussion by going over your contributions. Either you’ll hear the boss acknowledge your effectiveness or you’ll have to ask for it. One way or another, get the boss to agree that you are effective! Otherwise you’ll have earned a raise in deeds, but not in the place that counts: the boss’s mind. Then get the boss in line with your goals, to see if the ideas you’ve hatched fit into his or her plans. Such a discussion will happen pretty naturally, but at the end request some clarity about whether the boss wants you to do these things. Be direct. Ask, “Are these goals important to you, and should I work on the them?” Or: “How would you rank these in order of importance? Should I start on number one first?” At this point, as in salary negotiating, you’ve coaxed your employer as close to the judgit stage as possible. Therefore, as in salary negotiating, let the boss name the figure first. You may, if you wish, first educate the boss on the difference between a raise and a COLA. You still won’t be naming a figure first, but you’ll be indirectly stating that you expect your increase to do more than just keep pace with inflation. You could say, “The cost-of-living adjustment this year is X percent; I’d like to discuss what my raise will be.” As in salary negotiating you absolutely must know the market value for comparable positions. Your ability to strike a bargain at the top of the range depends on it. In a salary negotiation, the question of disclosing your present or past salary is important. In a raise negotiation, that point is moot; obviously, your boss already knows your present salary. Therefore, the most important thing is knowing your market value. You acquire that knowledge by researching two types of sources: external and internal. Use the other resources described in Chapter 5 to come up with a market value externally. By using a hard copy of your Pay-Comparison Analysis Report or other printed sources, or both, you can gain leverage with your boss in this discussion. Internally, make sure you nose around and find out whatever you can about compensation policies and practices and the current profitability and operating budget of your division, company, or organization. That will be useful for comparing your salary with others outside the company. It’s tempting to use your market knowledge and documentation of your value to come up with a figure and go first. Don’t. You may think that declaring a value 20 percent above your present compensation will prompt the company to budge from its 2-percent plans, and it probably would. But if the company intended to double your salary, do you think it’d go that high knowing you’d be tickled with less? Let your boss sweat. If you’ve made the best case for your value, quote Elwood P. Dowd and say, “What did you have in mind?” When you hear 2 percent, repeat it, look glum for thirty seconds, and respond by reporting your research. “I’ve spent some time looking into the current market value of this type of position,” you say, “and my research indicates a range from X dollars to Y dollars. I’m not sure if you were aware of that. Considering my contributions that we’ve just discussed, I think a fair salary would be in the Y-dollar vicinity.” If the boss seems skeptical, you could present documentation of your research in a manila folder for him/her to look at then, or later. Remember, too, that fringe bennies and perks can easily compensate if your employer can’t move the base. An extra week of vacation, for example, is a 2-percent raise. From that point, you’re on your own. Come up with a salary that is fair and will keep you committed and productive. Jack Chapman is a nationally know job coach and seminar speaker specializing for the last 20 years in salary negotiations and job interviews. For more information on Salary Negotiations, please visit: http://www.breakthrough-salaries.com/ |