Are you asking for a raise in the right way?

By · Tuesday, June 24th, 2014

“If a thousand people do a foolish thing, it’s still a foolish thing.”   Jack CiesielskiIf a thousand people do something

Carol is an Operations Manager for a $50 million dollar manufacturing division of a Fortune 500 company. She received above cost of living raises of between 8 and 9 percent the last 3 years.

But, Carol felt that she deserved a more serious pay raise. She had confirmed savings of over $4 million dollars each year for the plant.  Yet she felt intimated, nervous, shy and even scared about the thought of asking her boss for a more significant raise.  Why did Carol feel this way?  After all she was asking for what she earned and deserved.  But, when Carol asked herself “Why am I so fearful of asking for what I deserve?” She self-analyzed that she was afraid she did not know how to ask, or how to answer, if she got push-back.

She lacked a viable plan. What if Carol’s boss, Julie, responded to her pay raise request by stating one or more of the following: “We don’t have the money.” Or “The economy is bad right now.” Or “That’s more than anyone else in the department is making?”

So going back to our quote above, the vast majority of people go about asking for a raise in the wrong way.  That wrong way means being ill-prepared.  So even though thousands of people ask for a raise in a similar unprepared fashion, it is still the wrong way.   Millions of people leave billions of dollars on the table because they don’t have a viable plan.  They lack a coach who can guide them through the entire process.  They feel their friends and family lending their support is enough.

Carol created huge savings for her firm each of the last 3 years. What would you say to your boss if you made huge measurable contributions, but were already getting above average raises?

 

 

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