Last year you mentioned you’d love to see more career posts on Rock My Style. We have a very inspiring feature coming up next week but for the moment we’d like to launch a new monthly series focusing on work life. The first topic we’ll be tackling is…(drum roll please) negotiating a pay rise.
Dependent on the company you work for, you may find pay is reviewed on an annual basis as we approach the end of the financial year we hope this post is timely for you. In my own experience there have been times in the past when any pay discussions have been flatly refused because company policy was to review once a year.
Personally I’m not equipped to advise on pay rises, however I do have a lot of opinions on the subject so you will find me chiming in with my own thoughts. One thing I would suggest is NOT to take a novelty calculator in to your negotiation meeting. Though it’s a perfect illustration for the post it’s not the most professional piece of stationery.
To offer some gems of wisdom we’ve teamed up with Chris Moore, the Managing Director at leading recruiter Office Angels. Below Chris has provided his expert insight into the best tried and tested ways to approach and negotiate a pay rise.
Let’s be honest, it’s a daunting prospect to discuss a pay increase. If handled incorrectly you have the potential to damage your professional credibility. However, handle it right and you could be quids in. As Chris mentions “the success of a pay rise negotiation is not only monetary: it’s also about your ability to maintain the professional relationships which will boost your career in the long-term”.
{Before} Assess and Prepare
• Before asking for a pay rise, assess the situation. Ask yourself, is the organisation experiencing growth or are things a little rocky? Is your request being made at the appointed time, or is it an impromptu demand? You will need to assess the likelihood of a positive response. Choosing to spontaneously ask for more money at time of increased pressure on resources may not be well received by your seniors.
• If you think that the request is appropriate, ask yourself what strengths you bring to the firm and what do you need to improve on? Draw up one list of your key achievements and examples of where you exceed your job description, and another of activities you would like to get involved in. Being able to demonstrate your value is essential, and an awareness of how you see yourself progressing in the company shows commitment and resolve.
• As a final step, have a figure in mind. It can be useful to pitch above your desired sum, as a receptive employer will often seek to meet in the middle.
{During} Tone and Focus
• Try to keep the tone of the conversation positive and be prepared to listen. State your case politely and frame your evidence within your overarching, long-term commitment to the company. Negative or personal exchanges should be avoided: you are an asset to the firm and your personal ability to pay your rent for example is a far less persuasive line of argument than your excellent professional capabilities.
• If your request is not well received and your polite, persuasive tactics are failing, seek to end the conversation before you are drawn into anything negative in tone.
{After} Assess and Plan
• If your request is successful – congratulations!
• If your request has been declined, then hopefully the above process will mean that your professional dignity and relationships have remained intact. You have successfully registered both your value to the firm and your dissatisfaction concerning pay, which may be recognised in the near future. In accepting defeat, ask when the next opportunity for a pay review will arise, and work towards this objective.
• If you feel that a pay increase was due, and that your firm’s denial is truly unjustified, then it may be time for you to move on. However, before you do, consider your position as a whole – do enjoy your working environment? Do you have supportive colleagues? Or does your position offer the flexibility which you value in a job? All of these factors are valuable too, so do think through any moves carefully!
I think Chris makes an extremely valid point about assessing the situation. No matter how good a job you’re doing sometimes there just isn’t enough money in the budget to stretch to a pay increase particularly if the company isn’t doing well. I also think it’s important to mention a pay rise should be based on your own individual merits and should remain private. Your employer will not be impressed if they discover you’ve been discussing pay with other colleagues and attempt to get a raise based on their income!
What are you tips for increasing your salary? How have pay discussions gone in the past and do you have any advice to share?
I once read that one reason that men earn more than women is because they are more willing to ask for a pay rise. I thought that very interesting. I dont believe there is any harm in asking if you have valid points as to why you deserve an increase. If you don’t ask you don’t get.
I agree – as a manager I find that men are far more forward in asking for what they feel they deserve, and I don’t really know why. Chris’ advice re assessing the company’s situation is good, but it doesn’t mean you can’t ask – you can approach it along the lines of “I know the company is going through a bad patch but this is what I’ve done to help (fill in as appropriate) so I wondered if I could be considered for a pay rise at the next opportunity?” Then, if things do improve, you are on the radar as maybe deserving a bit more pay.
Either way, be brave and have the courage of your convictions – every time I have done it I have shaken uncontrollably beforehand, but both times I was (eventually) successful.
Good luck!!
Ann-Marie, really good advice there, definitely good to be on the radar.
True Laura, sometimes you just have to take the bull by the horns!
Is it wrong that I want to know more about the calculator?
Ha ha Joanne, it’s from Amazon. There were a few different colours 😉
I remember being naive at 17 starting my first proper job and the girl who was training me asked how much my salary was. Being the newbie I told her. I was promptly called into my managers office and given a telling off as the other girl had immediately gone in and demanded a pay rise. That is definitely not the way to do it.
A good tip is to look at an ‘acting up allowance’. If you have been given extra responsibilities while someone is on maternity leave or long term sick leave etc you could approach your boss with a request for a temporary rise while you are covering these duties. It is not usually a large amount but it would probably be more cost effective for the company than paying agency fees. I am a firm believer of ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’.
Great point about negotiating over the cost of agency fees – they can be astronomical
I work for a large company and our pay rises are much more structured. Every April we all get matrix to show what pay rise we will get based on our end of year rating. It’s nice to have a set time when I know it will be reviewed, and everyone is subject to the same tools. So for me the most important this is when reviewing things with my boss, talk yourself up and make sure they know about all the extra things you do to push you into the next rating band ( worked for me as I got a much bigger pay rise than expected!) Love the idea of more regular career posts.
Thanks Emma, we’ve got lots of ideas in the pipe line so good to know you like the career posts.
I’m not sure I agree about not discussing your pay with colleagues. I think there is way too much secrecy about salaries and this is one reason why women have traditionally been paid less than men for the same job. An employer can rely on the fact that no-one discusses it, to get away with it.
I am personally open about my salary in my organisation because a) I’m proud of what I earn, I think its fair for the job I do and b) my employer cultivates obscurity in all regards relating to salaries (like no salary bands, no development structure for pay increases etc).
If someone chooses to act unprofessionally after finding out what my salary is, that’s their problem not mine!
This is really interesting Claire. It’s always been a definite no-no in companies I’ve worked in, sometimes even a disciplinary offence!
I totally agree Clare and also the sad fact is that the secrecy around pay means that equal pay between men and women is something that will never happen because companies don’t *have* to share this information (although there is currently legislation in the works that may change that – would be interesting!).
I’m sure I read somewhere that in some Scandinavian countries, there is an online database which you can use to look up anyone’s salary details. There is NO social etiquette issues with people knowing this info. That sort of total transparency just means that you pay people the same amount for the same job. End of!
I agree! I think some of the big organisations in the UK (like HMRC) have salary bands and grades and you always know what people are on depending on what band/grade they are. So much better than the secrecy!
Agree banding definitely removes this issue. It comes with it’s pitfalls though; a friend of mine entered a pay band high up due to experience and then hit threshold early on. Despite getting good appraisals etc, there were no jobs at the next level and therefore no pay rise which seemed a bit unfair!
This legislation would be very interesting Kate. There is so much secrecy around pay. It’s not even something I ever discuss with my friends.
That wouldn’t surprise me about Scandinavia – my mum is Swedish and she has a very un-British attitude about money! Even when it comes to splitting bills, you pay for what you had, not splitting it however many ways. It’s definately a cultural thing.
I couldn’t agree more! It’s ridiculous, you’ll never know your worth, you could get thousands less than someone who has years less experience than you and most importantly it promotes secrecy, back stabbing, taking credit for others work, etc, etc. I find it insane!
There was a show on Channel 4 a few years back about pay transparency. A company asked their employees to reveal their salaries – they did it by department and there were some major discrepancies between colleagues and departments. The business then asked them to fund pay rises for the low-paid staff by asking higher-paid staff to cut their own salaries. There was a major feeling of superiority of skills between departments I.e the mechanics were paid more than the call centre staff, but they felt justified because they had more skills. They made the mechanics spend a day with the call centre staff to show that different jobs require different skills but in the wider picture it all relates.
I’ve always hated this attitude – I had someone tell me that if they didn’t do their job, I wouldnt get paid so I should essentially so as they ask. My retaliation was that if I didn’t do my job, they wouldn’t have a product to sell and make money for the company! Teamwork was lost on him!
Got a bit off topic but essentially I find the pay secrecy very odd and would definitely like to see more public pay structure especially in private sector where it feels very secretive.
I can’t believe someone said you should do as they ask! Completely outrageous.
Bet they didn’t know there was no ‘I’ in ‘team’….
I’m not a fan of pay bands for the same reason Lauren mentioned. Just because people share a job title doesn’t mean they have identical skills and motivation so I don’t think it’s unfair to pay people in the same role different salaries. I know the salaries of a few of my colleagues and vice versa but I would never dream of going to my manager demanding a pay rise based on someone else’s pay. Being transparent about salaries could work both ways as I have found out a few times that my salary was quite respectable when compared to others in the team. On a slightly different topic I have failed with my pay rise request this year and my manager indirectly advised me to hand my notice in to get a better offer. I don’t think I’d have the nerve to do it without having another job lined up by which point would you want to stay?
Oh no Kat, that’s really demotivating. Do you think your boss thought they were doing you a favour? It’s so bad you have to threaten to leave before a pay rise is considered.