If you know how to prepare to ask for a raise — and know specifically what to say and avoid saying during this conversation — you can potentially boost your income to make the salary you deserve. The following key steps will show you exactly what to do to prepare for this critical workplace conversation.
Before You Ask
Step 1: Determine How Much of a Raise to Ask For
Feel ready to ask your boss for a raise? That isn’t enough to ensure that you present a solid case for why you should earn more. As a first step, before you get to the negotiating table, you need to arm yourself with solid salary data about your industry, position, location and experience level to help justify why your company should be paying you more than what you’re currently receiving. Begin your process by digging into market data on average salaries for professionals with your job title who live in your part of the country to arm yourself with evidence.
Step 2: Compile Evidence of Your Performance
Figuring out what the average pay rate is for workers in your field who do the same job is an essential starting point, but you may be able to command above the market average if you’re a standout employee with impressive or unique accomplishments and attributes.
The best way to prove that is to spend some time before your salary meeting gathering quantitative evidence about your performance to date and identifying any tangible results that increase your value to employers. Share this insight with your boss during your salary request.
[See: 25 Best Jobs That Pay $100K.]
Step 3: Determine the Best Time to Ask
Timing can make or break your request for a salary adjustment, so be sure to factor this in when asking for a raise. Part of being able to distinguish between optimal and poor timing in an organization involves understanding what’s happening on a larger scale in your department and company. Clearly, if the management team has just announced cutbacks or layoffs, then it’s not the right time to broach the topic of a raise.
Similarly, if your department’s budget has just been set for the quarter or year, then your supervisor may not have as much leeway to offer you a raise as they would if you timed your request before budget finalization. Also, if you know that raises are only awarded during annual performance reviews, then consider scheduling the talk with your boss a few months prior. During this preliminary chat, you can outline together any performance benchmarks that must be met before your next review in order to receive a raise.
Step 4: Prep Notes and Practice Key Talking Points
Once you’ve done your due diligence in determining what you’re worth and why and identifying the right time to have the salary conversation, then it’s time to solidify the points you want to make and practice what you will say. You don’t want to go into this crucial discussion without a plan.
To avoid this, it’s smart to write down the salary data based on your research, as well as any details about your performance that will help showcase your value to the organization. Then, take these talking points and practice what you will say with a trusted friend or family member until you feel confident and your key messages are well polished.
Step 5: Set Up a Time to Talk With Your Manager
Once you’ve completed your due diligence by compiling the points above and practicing your delivery, then you’re ready to have the talk. Don’t wing the timing on when this will occur, popping the question on a whim or unexpectedly. Instead, choose a time when you think your manager will be the least distracted and most potentially receptive to your proposal — for example, after your department has completed a large project or entered a new budget cycle — and get on your boss’s calendar.
[READ: Should You Tell Your Co-Workers Your Salary?]
During Your Conversation
Step 6: Have Confidence
Your preparations are completed, and you know exactly what you want to say when you ask for a raise. It’s time to confidently present your case to your boss. Since you’ve checked off the steps above to prepare to clearly explain why a raise is warranted, you can leave nervousness at the door and focus on your ask.
Step 7: Showcase Why You’re Worth It
Your goal when discussing a salary bump with your boss should be to reveal exactly why the skills and talents that you bring to the table are worth more than what the average person in your field earns.
During your talk, use the collected information that you researched from Steps 1 and 2 above as evidence of why it makes sense for you to receive the specific raise that you’re requesting. Share the salary data based on your research, as well as any highlights of your performance that will help showcase your value to the organization.
Demonstrate in detail any tangible results that help prove why you’re worth the extra money that you’re requesting. For example, if the department you managed experienced a productivity increase of 30% under your watch, then be sure to make that point.
Step 8: Know What Not to Say
In addition to hitting on the points that will help increase your value in your employer’s eyes, it’s also important to know what words and phrases to avoid bringing into the raise conversation. For example:
— Don’t come across as underconfident with your language choices. Steer clear of phrases like “I’m not sure if you’ll agree with this but …” or “This may not be accurate.” Instead, be confident and straightforward in asserting your belief of your value when sharing why you deserve a raise.
— Avoid making your ask too broad or general. While you may be worried about aiming too high and hearing no for an answer, it’s a much better strategy to request a specific amount for your raise rather than to hedge about the number. If you’ve done your research in Step 1 above and have identified all the ways you’re worth more in Step 2, then you should feel justified in sharing a salary request that will make you happy rather than avoiding saying what it is.
— Don’t give up too soon. Some negotiators fold their hands at the first sign of pushback, indicating that the conversation is over by saying something like, “I understand — thanks for considering it!” Don’t do this prematurely. Understand that negotiations commonly undergo twists and turns on their way to resolution. If you stay the course and continue the conversation, you may end up getting at least some raise rather than none.
[See: The 25 Best Jobs of 2022.]
After You’ve Asked
Step 9: Be Patient
Once you’ve asked for a raise, don’t worry if you don’t get an immediate answer. Your boss may need to discuss the request with human resources to determine whether the additional budget can be approved. Give the process time to unfold, and don’t assume that no news is bad news.
Step 10: Be Prepared to Negotiate
When you do hear back on your request, your manager may offer you less than you asked for but more than you’re making now — or may even deny the request. As noted above, it’s best not to give up too soon, but to instead be prepared to negotiate further. Even if you hear no for an answer initially, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the conversation is over. Your supervisor may be open to considering something in the middle if you are willing to negotiate even after you hear a different answer than you wanted.
Step 11: Decide What to Do Next
If you do end up receiving a final offer that’s less than you’d requested, it’s then up to you to decide what to do next: Take the money that you’re offered, see if you can negotiate to a number in the middle or think about whether another employer might value your skills more. In the end, even if you aren’t the decision-maker about how much money you make in your current position, you are in charge of your career and where you go next to try to earn what you deserve.
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How to Ask for a Raise at Work originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/25/22: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
