How to ask for a Raise?

You always wanted to ask this. It is one of those questions that fall into that special category that makes your hand greasy and whose answers are always been sought for but none actually convince. Volumes have been written on these questions and more are sure to come. Hey! can you think of a few of them. Lemme guess

How to propose a girl?

How to ask for your money back that your friend borrowed?

How to ask your wife for a trip with your male friends?

How to tell your parents about your love?

How to confess to your manager that you have committed a blunder?

They are as many as you can think of. Such questions arise in situations when your negative emotions or the emotions that tend to make you the weakest are at zenith. We find ourselves feeling a real crave for an advise, a friend who can understand our situation and will support. This is the time when even the most nonsense advise seems, will work out and dumbest of our friend seems more intelligent than us. But somewhere inside we are not fully convinced and look for more and more possibilities. We are in a kind of dilemma on how things would turn up. It is the kind of a situation where there is a sweet cake of achievement ahead for us to move ahead and have it but there is also a trap door that may lead us to the bottom. 

Such situation also gives you another alternative option that most of us generally choose - The Grapes are Sour anyway. Here we assume that our sweet cake is not as sweet as we are anticipating so no point taking action. But life is cruel. It is a kind of cycle and situations build again and again and you will again find yourself with a similar kind of question in your mind. So my friends the best solution is to go ahead and have your sweet cake. Believe me it is sweeter than you have anticipated.

I am trying to get under your skin to get aligned with your point of view, your feeling on the situation and then look out for a solution within yourself.

People feel so hesitant in such a situation that instead of asking the question directly, it comes in form of following statements:-

• My salary is below par
• I am thinking of a switch/change
• Now, I desperately need a change
• I don't see a growth out here
• Now, it is too much in this company
• I am finding it difficult to adjust now
• I am not able to save a penny
• etc. etc. 

They even expect others to understand the underlying question and provide a perfect solution. This shows how difficult it would be to actually ask for a raise when we find it difficult to ask for How to ask. I will give you the solution but first you need to understand your mental block and overcome it. If your mental block is not taken care of, it may happen that at the end of my post you may comment "You have talked about everything, but you never told actually how to ask for a raise?"

It is not like going down on your knees and ask your manager that "I have worked so hard all these days and I am getting pennies in return, can you please oblige  me with a handsome raise............plzzzzzz"

First let us understand the situation where you come to feel like that you are underpaid and should ask for a raise only if you have not always felt like that from day one in the company. If you feel like asking for a raise when:-

• You came to know the salary/raise of peers.
• Suddenly one day of your college mate calls you and announces about his new offer letter.
• You are planning to buy something expensive and its not falling in your budget.
• The project in question is in a critical stage and you are critically placed to deliver it.
• Your manager asks you to take back your decision of resignation.

If above stated situations make you feel like asking for a raise then they are no reasons and even if you insist  I would quote it as unethical. Such weak reasons actually makes us hesitant in asking for a raise or even asking for the solution. Because, even if we strongly feel that we want the raise, somewhere inside us we know that this is wrong. 

So, if these are not the valid reasons or situation that should lead you to ask for a raise then what are they?

They are when:-

• You had been promised for a raise after a certain point but there is no word about it thereafter.
• You think that you have contributed considerably to the company and your effort has not been ideally recognized.
• You are not convinced with your Appraisal Meeting and your rating.
• You accepted a cut or no raise in troubled times and now the company is doing good.
• You learn that you are actually under paid as compared to the people of same skill in the market.

I think these are the valid reasons for you to rightly feel the urge and necessity to ask for a raise. The above stated situations are general and you can add your own colors to it. I can bet these reasons will never make you hesitant in asking for a fair raise and here there is no trap door on the way to the sweet cake. 

Now coming to the main task. Actually asking for the raise. Following are the things you need to follow:-

1.     Ask: You need to ask. Literally ask, in words, in sentences and face to face for your raise. You should not at all be hesitant with any feeling of obligation or fear to ask for your raise, if you have genuine reasons for the same. You need to understand it right through is your right and neither you nor the company is doing any charity. Both are bound under a business contract. You sell your services and they pay you for your services and there can always be communication from either side for any change in the contract as one feels. Your asking for a raise is very professional and you shouldn't be hesitant about it.

2.     Do your homework: This is important for your mission's success. You should be clear in your mind about the situation that has forced you to take this step and its genuineness. This will add confidence in your stance, reasoning and conversation that will follow. If possible you should also anticipate all possible excuses or arguments that may be given against your query.

3.     Assess the Situation: This is equally important because your success also depends on correctly assessing the current situation. You need to find out what can be reasons for this situation to arise. They can be like:-  

• Is the company financially not doing good?  
• Is it general practice of the company to give uniform raise to all irrespective of the performance?     
• Is it the Manager doesn't like you?                                           
• Is it some very few faults committed by you have overshadowed your whole performance?               
• Is it that no new projects/ fresh work coming that needs your skill?

You know very well as to what will be the outcome of your exercise if any of the situations are true and you are not argumentatively prepared for the above conditions.    

4.     Timing: Your timing should certainly be important otherwise it may give a very wrong impression to the management about your total effort and all your arguments will fall on deaf ears. It should not look as if you are taking advantage of the situation or trying to blackmail. 

5.     Awareness about your market value: You need to be continuously aware of your market value like what is that the other companies are willing to pay for your skill set. You can take help of few of your recruiter friends or directly update your resume on any Job Portal site and wait for any opportunity. You can have a few conversations in this regard to know where you stand and what pay packages they are offering. You should not go further than this if you have no intension to change and should inform the person that you are not further interested to pursue the opportunity. I don’t have to tell you how it will help you in this quest of yours.

6.     List out your achievements: This will be a part of your argument that you need to give in order to support your demand. List out all the achievements till date precisely, along with the appreciation remarks and mails to make it further strong. Be polite enough to mention a few drawbacks of your and how you have been working on them and improved. I am sure such precise arguments can make any manager look for escape.

7.     Don’t Discuss with Peers: I will strictly advice you to refrain yourself from discussing it with any of your peers with the organization. Look at it in this way. They are all your competitors in this aspect and the leak will grim your chances. You can very well discuss it with your friends outside the organization, take care while implying any kind advice.

8.     Give special attention to your conduct lately: You should be smart enough to be in the good books for your general conduct lately as recency effect (effect of your recent deeds are more fresh) may work against you. You should not have been involved in any kind of arguments or late coming etc.

9.     Be Polite: Even when you are fighting for your own right, my advice is to be always polite. It will keep your mind in the most efficiently running condition which will be very vital when you are involved in such kind of a conversation. Your politeness will win half the battle.

10. Talk to the Right Person: Always keep that in mind. You need to talk to the right person regarding this. By right person I don’t mean talking to the CEO/President/Chairman of the company but you should keep in mind that you are not offending any of your superiors by surpassing them. If they are not the authority regarding this they should at least be officially aware of your concern. This may even strengthen your point before your final meeting.

I can’t think of any more points to throw some more light. Above this I think you all are educated men and women and have a certain level of intelligentsias and reasoning and I think I have done my job to give you a direction to act upon and be successful.

I always vow to keep my posts short but I can’t help it. A point came into my mind while I was writing the last sentence that how it would be like quoting the amount you actually have in mind. Don’t lie to me; I know everybody has an amount in their mind. Again, I would ask you this question.

Is it wise to quote the exact amount or anything near about when you ask for a raise?

I don’t know, it’s you who has to find the answer. I can only help you out. How? Consider yourself in your managers’ position and picture any of your peer or friend taking the same stance. What will be your reaction?

I will further pinch you. What goes in your mind or say how do you quote your expectation during an interview? It seems quite easy there as compared to the current situation.

Many a times this makes us look to out for change because we expect people to come and ask “What do you want?” and this is asked only in interviews. It is easy to answer then because it gives you a feeling that the other party is concerned about you and knows your importance. This is not the solution friends. You need to tell what you want. You need to get your voice heard.

The so called menace of attrition that the Industry faces is all rooted in their own policies and practices but ironically all the blame goes to the employee and is ridiculously asked while joining or interview that “How can you ensure your stability with the company?”

The people who have proven their worth through hard work, performance and deliverables are given a raise of 10 – 15% or less and those who create some beautiful picture of expectation by their communication in a few meetings called interview are given a raise of 20 – 30%.

How fair is this? If your practices are not fair then you are bound to face the consequences.