Think you deserve to get paid more? Want a title change? Cool – let’s make it happen.
First, let’s accept a few cold, hard truths:
- Most people around you want more – more pay, more importance, more title.
- Assuming you work for a fair organization, you likely make the right amount based on your time with the company and your position.
- The company doesn’t have a stockpile of money sitting there just waiting for the gutsiest employee to ask for it.
- Raises and promotions take time and planning. They almost never happen quickly.
Now that we’ve covered that,, there’s still a right way to ask for more. There’s also countless wrong ways, and they can all hurt you right out of the gate.
Accept that any promotion will almost always come with more responsibility, so you better have an idea of what that elevated role should look like. You also better be able to prove that you’re a valuable member of the team who can produce results, so you’ve got some homework.
- Homework
- Come up with the reasons why you bring value. Put numbers to it if you can. For example, “I created savings of $10,000 in the operations budget by researching and implementing process change.”
- Be able to describe the elevated role you envision that will allow you to help the company even more. Think through where that role will fit, how it will affect other teammates, transition timing and plans, and where you’ll move responsibilities that won’t fall to you anymore.
- Ask for the meeting. Tell your boss that you’d like to have a conversation about your future with the organization. Know that they’ll assume you’re going to ask for a promotion, so go ahead and frame the conversation by saying something like, “I have some ideas about how to grow my role.” That shows that you understand the concept of added responsibility, and it shows that you’re ready to lean into the company.
- The Meeting
- Do not say anything close to “I deserve a raise.”
- Once you get the meeting, start by putting your cards on the table. You can bluntly say that you’d like to work toward more responsibility and a promotion.
- Next, explain your vision for your desired new role and support it with things you’ve already done that have brought value.
- Your boss will likely need to think through it, so don’t expect an immediate answer.
- Read your boss’ reaction and listen to everything. He’ll likely indicate how to move forward.
- Once you get the commitment to grow your role, start to talk through specifics like:
- Skill and knowledge gaps
- How to get the necessary experience
- Rough timelines
- Potential obstacles and how to overcome them
- How any changes will affect your teammates
- Other things to keep in mind
- You don’t have to come out and ask for more money. If you say you want to work toward a promotion, most people assume that implies more pay, too.
- Expect that it may not work out. There’s a lot of reasons why it might not be an option. If this happens, weigh your options and figure out what’s best for you.
- It’s probably going to happen slower than you want.
- Every smart company wants to grow the right people and put them in positions to better help the company. So if you can make the case that you’re one of those right people, you’ve got a shot.
Now get go it!
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Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
