How to prepare
You should never ask for a salary increase without preparing yourself well. Setting a good foundation for any conversations about pay will be vital to your long-term success.
No matter how good your relationship is with your manager, they will be expecting you to prove or justify that you deserve the salary increase you are asking for. They won’t respond favorably if it seems like you did not plan or be ready for the discussion.
When this occurs, it can backfire on you. This is not something you want.
Assist your manager to help you
If you know that your manager will need to get your proposal for a salary increase approved by someone above them like their manager or HR, you can make it easier for them to do that by leaving them with a short, bulleted list of key points in your favour.
Keep this short, though — no more than one page, with some quick bullets that highlight your most significant new responsibilities or accomplishments.
If you have compelling data about competitive salaries, you could include that too.
Ultimately, it is a business decision
Remember that the decision to award a pay increase is ultimately a business decision. This decision may be controlled by people who don’t directly work with you daily.
Your manager can only recommend an increase based on the evidence you have provided to them to justify an increase to key decision-makers.
Support your manager to make a strong business case on your behalf for a salary increase.
Reiterate that you are an asset to the organisation
The reality is that the ‘negotiation’ was already 90% decided even before you talk to your manager.
If you have a strong relationship with your manager, they already know that you are a great asset.
If you are on rocky terms with your manager, they know too.
In most cases, a long list and 20-minute recap of your contributions wouldn’t really help.
Instead, you should be prepared with a few high-level points about how you have added value to the organisation.
Customise your approach to fit your manager’s personality
But this depends on the personality of your manager and their management styles.
Remember to use customised fit-for-purpose approaches that will maximise the likelihood of your manager saying ‘yes’ to you.
Know your manager’s personality
The way you initially bring up the subject of a pay increase depends on your manager’s personality.
You are the only person who has a sense of how they like to be approached in matters relating to salary.
If your manager is the type who doesn’t beat around the bush, it is best to make an appointment with a clear objective for a pay increase. Send a meeting invite or an email saying something like: “I’m hoping we can sit down. I like to discuss my performance with a view of revisiting my salary.”
But if your manager prefers a more nuanced or subtle approach, then you must introduce the salary question in the context of another conversation like a weekly status meeting or a coffee catch-up. Say something like, “I have been thinking. It is possible for us to meet to talk about my performance.”
If the discussion or meeting goes well, it introduces the possibility of a salary increase in the future.
Make yourself an attractive candidate for a pay increase
No one is probably going to give you a pay increase simply for showing up and fulfilling your job brief. That’s what you got paid for.
To justify a pay increase, you must go above and beyond what is expected of you now. It’s all about how much additional value you can create for the employer.
Delete your entitlement mentality
Unfortunately, many workers or employees tend to have an ‘entitlement’ mentality. They expect automatic salary increases just for showing up for work.
In their minds, employers should consider themselves lucky when they show up for work. Whether they are productive or not is another matter.
It’s all about adding more value
Flip this ‘entitlement’ mindset into a ‘value-creation’ mindset.
When you hire a gardener to work in your garden, you would expect a great outcome. If your gardener comes to you asking for an increase, you would want to know what additional work they would do to justify an increase, leaving aside the cost of living adjustments. If they couldn’t justify the increase, you will find another person to do the job.
Likewise, your employer will also expect a greater outcome from you if you are asking for a salary increase.
Practice good communication early and often
Great communication skills are critical in every aspect of your work including communicating the value you bring and asking for a salary increase.
Effective and efficient communication will help ensure that you are a valuable asset, always going beyond your limited job description.
Make a good impression on those who’ll be determining the fate of your promotion or salary increase.
Always self-promote
Constantly ‘advertise’ the value you are creating for the organisation. Don’t be afraid to ‘self-promote’ when there are opportune times.
No one is going to promote the good work you are doing but yourself.
Mind your own business.
Show your ability to motivate and inspire those you work with
Great leaders don’t tell people what to do. They inspire them to do their best. Therefore, be a great team motivator to get things done.
Proactively show that you are a valuable asset to the team.