Scott Adam’s hugely popular comic strip character Dilbert and his colleagues thought they were getting an increase. But their boss said, “We’re flattening the organization to eliminate levels and put everybody on a wide salary band.” On the second panel, he continued, “Now instead of not getting a promotion, you’ll only not get a raise.”
An office drone asked “So, what job title do we use?” The boss replied, “You’ll all be named Beverly.”
Why are you working? Your salary is not a charity dole-out from your company; it is the monetary quid-pro-quo for the work – including the time, effort, skills, resourcefulness, sacrifice and talents that you invest in your professional life.
So…do you deserve a raise? “To win a raise you must be a top-notch performer –and you have to make your case known,” says Adele Scheele, Ph.D., management consultant, labor negotiator, career strategist and author of Skill For Success: A Guide To The Top For Men and Women. Here are her suggestions to get (and deserve) that bigger paycheck.
Change your attitude. In school, you automatically get the grades that are directly proportional to your performance as a student, but the real world is a different culture.
“You can’t expect the system to take care of you,” says Scheele. “You must take care of it. Too many of us forget this.”
Walk the extra mile. If you’re a customer service representative in a call center, and you were able to charm a warfreak caller, you won’t get a raise because that’s part of the package you signed up for.
“To fatten your paycheck you need to do something extra,” says Scheele.
Plan your presentation. Pretend that you’re the district attorney and your boss is the jury. You have to build a convincing case with all the evidence you have.
“Outline your case on paper,” says Scheele. “List what you’ve accomplished that has particular value to you boss, your department and your company. Cite how you made or saved money or time, which new clients or services you have brought in, any new systems you have created or modified.”
Prepare to negotiate. The key to negotiation is give-and–take to find a win-win formula. “You should neither plead nor demand, but hold a discussion aimed at making both sides feel they’ve won something.”
Anticipate objections. If life hands you a lemon, maybe there’s still some loose ends to tie up before you get the apple you want.
“Let’s say you gave your pitch and the boss rejects it. Don’t despair! Stay calm and ask him to explain his reaction.”
There is a time – and a next time—for everything. Just in case you get turned down, get all the information you need. “Find out what you must do, and by what date, to earn a raise. Then restate your boss’ reply in memo of understanding, and keep a copy. Re-schedule an appointment as soon as you have met the requirements.”
Dilbert strip image courtesy of BlogHerald.com
5 comments:
To get raise we all must be precise and firm on our predefined steps :).
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Thank you so much I sometimes forget that its different in the real world and just expect too much from my job. Thanks for reminding me.
To you Zeeshan, I agree that we should focus on our goals, and this, in turn, will guide our actions to help us achieve them. At the same time, however, let's not lose our sense of wonder -- let's enjoy the moments of our journey to wherever we want to go in life. Thank you for your post.
To you EvilSquirrel, the credit belongs to Adele Scheele, author and management consultant, from whose article this feature was based. Equal credit belongs likewise to "Reader's Digest", the magazine that carried the article in the first place. Hey, you may want to check out the Career category of 2Rivers (The list is under the MyBlogLog widget). Thank you for your post.
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