Don’t Use Your Personal Issues to Secure a Pay Raise
Avoid using personal issues to induce an employer to pay you more. I know you’re aware of someone who got a raise that way. Sure it can work, but there is a cost. No boss respects being approached on a personal basis for a raise. Why? It is not your boss’s responsibility to help you with your personal issues. Imagine if everyone did that. The boss wants to pay you for your job performance, your problem solving and pitching in over and above what is expected.
The fact that you are pregnant, bought a new motorcycle, live 50 miles from work, gas prices went up, your kid can’t go to summer camp, you’re getting divorced, you need dental work, Joe who does less than you but gets paid more… and the list is endless. All of them have, and should have, zero impact on you getting a raise.
Your raise should come because you can demonstrate that you’ve earned it. Anything other than that is making an emotional issue and not a rational argument for getting a raise. You should get paid on the value you bring to the table. If your boss can easily replace you with someone doing essentially the same thing, for about the same money as you receive, then you did not present a good case.
Can you get a token raise by crying the blues? Perhaps yes. But, your boss is doing you a favor instead of trading money for value added services. Many bosses resent being put in that position. Plus, that raise will be a token amount, and given because of guilt, or that they don’t want to hassle with replacing you at the present time.
We aren’t looking for token raises. We want 10-20-30-40% raises, and those come from demonstrating the problems you solve and the added value you bring to the table. The benefits that you contribute need to be unassailable. They, in total, should be so powerful that the boss will internalize that he/she has to take care of you. I’ll demonstrate more on this subject in the coming weeks.
Share a story of someone, perhaps yourself, that used a personal issue to secure a raise. How large was the raise? What are your views of that situation? Share here!
What should you never threaten your boss with doing? Stay tuned and find out in my next tip.
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