Prepare Now to Ask for a Raise and Drive Your Own Career     

If you have worked for a while, you know how intimidating it can be to talk to your manager about your role, career path, and overall compensation. Going through years of less than 2% overall GDP growth has compelled companies to respond with a knee-jerk “not now” when asked about salary increases.

That’s because most businesses have or are going through a reset stage, which entails reorganization, downsizing, investments in information technologies, and cost-cutting initiatives to streamline efficiencies. While change can be unsettling, it can also present an opportunity. Companies have to evolve in order to stay relevant; they need to elevate talent or reassess skill sets to ensure that they are positioned for longer term successes. Your goal as an employee is to understand your company’s vision and ensure that your abilities stay current so you are able to contribute to that vision. Too often, companies can be lethargic in keeping pace with their industry and consumer demands. They recognize the voids in their business and address the state of their economy with more drastic shifts, eliminating roles and talent that they have neglected to nurture and scale. But you don’t have to be a victim to this situation; instead, you can leverage the circumstance to facilitate your own career growth, and perhaps even ask for a promotion or raise.

Preparing to Make the Ask

The key to career growth and increased compensation is to drive your own career. This sounds obvious, but many employees rely on human resources, their managers, or even the executive leadership team to recognize their hard work. They assume that taking on more responsibility, working longer hours, and achieving their annual goals will yield them the results they seek. These are the same people who then question how other people keep moving ahead at their expense.

This is not to minimize the importance of hard work, but to drive your own career path, there are several steps you can take.

• Make your boss look good, but network above and around him or her to make sure that your contributions are valued, as well. Don’t shy from high-visibility projects, and look for cross-functional assignments that can provide you with exposure to other divisions and executives.
• Read your company’s annual report (especially the letter from the CEO) and listen to the earnings calls; these will help you understand the key initiatives, focus, and goals for the organization—even if they are not regularly communicated.
• If your company is privately held, review your closest publicly-held competitor’s street materials. Knowing what your competition is doing will give you crucial knowledge about how the overall industry is faring and the direction in which it is heading. This information will be valuable to share with your manager when asking for resources or investments that will keep your skill set relevant and up-to-date and enable you to better serve the company. If you are fortunate enough to have your company invest in your ongoing career training, make sure to thank your manager and send recap notes to your organization upon your return from the conference, seminar, or class.
• Validate your contributions to the company by putting the necessary time into your current role, growing your skills, and scaling your job appropriately. Every job has a standard description that outlines roles and responsibilities, but the best way to grow is to identify additional functions you can absorb that will expand your position and provide you with experience in the areas in which you have an interest. Don’t wait until your annual review; take the initiative to ask your manager for ongoing feedback and have open and regular conversations about what you can do better or what skills you can develop that will scale you to the next level—then acquire and develop those skills. Your efforts will give you a rationale to discuss your career path within the company.

Having the Conversation

Once you have enhanced your knowledge of the industry, proven your service in your current role, and hosted regular dialogues on your career development with your manager, you can start a discussion about compensation. It is best to have this meeting prior to your review period so you can prepare for a more detailed conversation about a promotion or heightened role/salary at that time. Bring in your original job description and contrast it with the role you are currently performing. If you have improved your skills and expanded your functions proactively, you will be able to showcase how you have successfully scaled beyond your position. Approaching a raise in this fashion will be far more constructive than simply going in and asking for more money.

Taking the Next Steps

When you ask for your raise, be prepared for a few different responses from your manager. He/she might say that your company reviews compensation only during review time, or that the conversation needs to be taken to their boss or HR partner. Or, he or she could just say no. Any of these responses is beneficial; your goal in having the dialogue is to be clear with your boss that your intention is to scale and grow within the organization. Having this type of meeting prior to your review period sets the stage and expectation for your actual review. Be sure to ask your manager what, specifically, you need to address or achieve in order to be considered for a salary or title adjustment. Reiterate what he or she recommends and work toward that, giving your manager regular updates on your progress to demonstrate that you are following his or her advice. This will position you to continue the discussion at review time, after you have let your manager know your goals, asked for direction in meeting them, and been able to show tangible results toward achieving your objectives.

Many companies have reviews at the end of January, early April, or the end of June—depending on fiscal year and process timing. Having your career conversation now will set you up for success in 2017. So use any free time you have over the next few weeks to assess your current role, acknowledge what you have done above and beyond that role, and outline a job description that you think the company needs and that will add value based on its objectives and overall vision. Set up a lunch with your boss to initiate this conversation and accept any feedback that comes your way. Asking for a raise nowadays requires you to parallel your path with that of your company’s and to engage your manager as a coach/mentor and partner to get you to the next level.