I remember my first full-time salaried job. I had just graduated college and before that had been working hourly part-time and internships and was thrilled moving onto a salaried full-time position calculated at basically the same rate as what I had been earning.
About a year into the job I accidentally came across a piece of private paperwork a less experienced co-worker left on the shared printer that had her salary on it. It was almost twice what I was making!
I started a campaign to fix this discrepancy. I started keeping track of every task I performed, even little one-off tasks, and also the impact that completion of that task had. I often found that the tiny half-hour one-off tasks I was taking care of without a second thought were generating huge returns on efficiency for my company. A simple script that turned a 40 hour a week copy-and-past data entry job that was eating into corporate overhead into a 30 second run-once-a-week thing was freeing up an employee to work on higher billable hour tasks. I was not only saving the company money, but making it money by pinpointing and automating problems in their business processes.
The next evaluation period I walked in with a 20 page print out of every task I had worked on in the last year, what it was, and how it had impact on the company's bottom-line. I asked for as big of a pay raise as company policy would allow.
It worked, and it continues to work everywhere I go. Having an irrefutable record of your value to the company makes it impossible for them to turn you down. And when they do, you now have an excellent archive to use for resume filler when you go looking for your next job.
Things I never do:
- threaten to go somewhere else if they don't give me the raise, this is implicit. If they don't give it to you, leave the company. Simple as that. No threats. Managers don't like it and it's just as likely to backfire on you. I guarantee they'll muddle along somehow without you.
- get upset, what employees are paid is a complex business that you can only ever really understand when you're in the position to be paying them. Sometimes you'll end up getting paid less than an employee in a similar position. It sucks, but sometimes there's reasons for it that you aren't privy to. Don't compare your pay to others too much, compare it to yourself and where you want to be.
- demand pay that exceeds what you should be making in that position in that industry. It sucks, but if you work phone tech support or are a receptionist, you're not going to be making $250k/yr. If you want to make that kind of money, ask what the requirements are for that job then pursue them. Hold the company to that claim. When you fulfill those requirements, if they don't pay-up, move on. Congratulations you are now qualified for a better job at a competitor.
- take a raise, then quit immediately. I feel this is a point of honor, if I make a big fuss and my manager goes through a lot of trouble to get a silver bullet for me, I feel like I've just made at least 12 month commitment to them. You'd be surprised at how important this has been for me career-wise many years later. I've had old managers who've hired me back at new companies (or give me open offers) just because I stuck around after they put their neck on the line for me, even when the work environment sucked. As a manager it can be difficult justifying huge percentage pay increases for your people (my 20 page list of completed tasks usually helped them significantly).
- ask for it based on need. "I need to make more money to make my rent". I did this once, and my manager responded with, "well you should live in a cheaper place". And that was the last time I tried that. Your company is not responsible for your personal spending habits, full stop.
> threaten to go somewhere else if they don't give me the raise, this is implicit.
Even in an in-demand industry like tech, this is definitely not implicit.
Edit:
To expand - I'm not saying you absolutely should threaten to leave if you don't get the raise you want, but you need to be able to discuss your market value with your manager in a meaningful way. The market value is your BATNA, and without one your bargaining position is diminished.
Companies, especially bigger ones, can do and do mess this stuff up occasionally, even when they/your manager really likes you. The "take it or leave it" response to a raise offer is an overly simplistic world view - you simply cannot ignore the market.
Personally, I think of it as giving your employer "first dibs."
"Hey, I've decided that I'm now worth $X. Since you've already hired me and it's less hassle to stay than to change jobs, I'm giving you the opportunity to meet my price before I look elsewhere."
Assuming that you didn't just pull $X out of your ass, the company can then make its decision accordingly. But if you really think you're worth $X, I find it strange that you would get declined by the company and then say, "...oh. Well, I guess I'm not worth $X, then. Never mind." At the very least, you'd be looking at other companies that are willing to meet your price. After all, you got your number from somewhere, right?
I think the "do this or I'm leaving" argument usually comes off poorly unless it's about something truly intolerable about the workplace. As a manager, whenever I hear that, the only thing I can think of is who I need to realign to temporarily fill in for this person when I tell them "okay, go ahead".
Once you give in to that kind of ultimatum, you set yourself up in a negotiating position where all any of your employees have to say is "...or I'm leaving" and you've basically agreed to give away the farm for sometime truly inconsequential stuff (employees talk between each other and a successful and simple tactic like this will spread like wildfire).
About a year into the job I accidentally came across a piece of private paperwork a less experienced co-worker left on the shared printer that had her salary on it. It was almost twice what I was making!
I started a campaign to fix this discrepancy. I started keeping track of every task I performed, even little one-off tasks, and also the impact that completion of that task had. I often found that the tiny half-hour one-off tasks I was taking care of without a second thought were generating huge returns on efficiency for my company. A simple script that turned a 40 hour a week copy-and-past data entry job that was eating into corporate overhead into a 30 second run-once-a-week thing was freeing up an employee to work on higher billable hour tasks. I was not only saving the company money, but making it money by pinpointing and automating problems in their business processes.
The next evaluation period I walked in with a 20 page print out of every task I had worked on in the last year, what it was, and how it had impact on the company's bottom-line. I asked for as big of a pay raise as company policy would allow.
It worked, and it continues to work everywhere I go. Having an irrefutable record of your value to the company makes it impossible for them to turn you down. And when they do, you now have an excellent archive to use for resume filler when you go looking for your next job.
Things I never do:
- threaten to go somewhere else if they don't give me the raise, this is implicit. If they don't give it to you, leave the company. Simple as that. No threats. Managers don't like it and it's just as likely to backfire on you. I guarantee they'll muddle along somehow without you.
- get upset, what employees are paid is a complex business that you can only ever really understand when you're in the position to be paying them. Sometimes you'll end up getting paid less than an employee in a similar position. It sucks, but sometimes there's reasons for it that you aren't privy to. Don't compare your pay to others too much, compare it to yourself and where you want to be.
- demand pay that exceeds what you should be making in that position in that industry. It sucks, but if you work phone tech support or are a receptionist, you're not going to be making $250k/yr. If you want to make that kind of money, ask what the requirements are for that job then pursue them. Hold the company to that claim. When you fulfill those requirements, if they don't pay-up, move on. Congratulations you are now qualified for a better job at a competitor.
- take a raise, then quit immediately. I feel this is a point of honor, if I make a big fuss and my manager goes through a lot of trouble to get a silver bullet for me, I feel like I've just made at least 12 month commitment to them. You'd be surprised at how important this has been for me career-wise many years later. I've had old managers who've hired me back at new companies (or give me open offers) just because I stuck around after they put their neck on the line for me, even when the work environment sucked. As a manager it can be difficult justifying huge percentage pay increases for your people (my 20 page list of completed tasks usually helped them significantly).
- ask for it based on need. "I need to make more money to make my rent". I did this once, and my manager responded with, "well you should live in a cheaper place". And that was the last time I tried that. Your company is not responsible for your personal spending habits, full stop.