Asking My Boss For More Money: The Power Of 3
As I mentioned earlier, the Power of 3 Pay Raise System is one major component of my 8 step pay raise process.
I’m very proud of coming up with this pay raise program. It is a simple system, yet powerful! The effect of using the Power of 3 System is that it adds fire power to your pay raise meeting with your boss, while setting the basis for the discussion with a home run.
This concept is very powerful and is meant to overwhelm your boss in a positive sense. It is intended to demonstrate how valuable you are to the department and firm.
Here is how it works. You’ll neatly print 3 lists on separate sheets of paper.
— The first list is called “[your name] Accomplishments over the past 12 months.” This is a bullet list of your metrically oriented achievements that added value and solved problems.
— The second list is called “[your name] Current Projects Being Resolved. “ This is a bullet list of problems and the processes being used to solve them. These are projects in which you are currently actively engaged. You should word them to reflect the issues, problems and challenges that you are currently up against and making headway on. Paint the picture in such a way that if you weren’t involved, there would be a large gap and cost to the department/firm.
—The last list is called “[your name] Projects expected over the next 3-6 months.” Again, list these in bullet fashion in order to clearly show the problem(s) and how you expect to engage and resolve those issues that will be coming up over the next 3-6 months.
When initiating discussing your pay raise, hand your boss the 3 lists (on paper) and state that these lists articulate and demonstrate why you deserve a great raise. After perusing the 3 lists your boss may not say it, but he/she is likely to feel overwhelmed (which is what we want) and reminded of how dependent he/she is upon you.
Your boss will be quickly and neatly reminded of the added value that you provide. S/he will then be less inclined to lose you and will therefore lean toward rewarding you with more compensation. Doing otherwise the pain would be too great. It is all implied, however it is implied in an indirect way that is powerful. The Power of 3 lists will do most of the heavy lifting for you. Just think of the combined power that your 3 lists have on your boss’s psyche! Your boss should be overwhelmed, in a positive way, with the condensed reminder of all the added value that you bring to the department and firm.
If your boss is not positively impressed, then s/he is either playing coy for negotiation sake, unappreciative, needs to think things through, your accomplishment descriptors were not truly impressive or, more likely, they were not expressed well. Those who work with me get my expert input and guidance on how to best construct those accomplishment lists.
Your pay raise argument is well documented and articulated on paper for you. All that is left is negotiating the amount. Will it be a token raise, moderate raise or a great one? Much of that decision has to do with the quality of your 3 lists and how you negotiate.
You won’t need to say much. Your boss will appreciate at a glance that you have accomplished a lot, are integrally involved in current projects and are ramped up for future projects. Your list reminds the boss that these bullet points all represent problems, or pressure, that your boss felt, feels now and or will be feeling soon. It also appears that you have everything under control. That is one less thing your boss has to worry about.
Also, your boss sees that over and over again, you release that pressure valve for him by resolving the problems that he wants and needs resolved. That should always be your goal, but now you are just reminding him of that relationship and how successful you are at taking care of your end of the relationship.
Additionally, the 3 lists become excellent focused talking points during your pay raise meeting, which basically creates a career track dialogue at the same time. You can bring up any of the projects on your lists to discuss with your boss. Typically a boss is not up to speed on all the details of your projects. It is your job to remind the boss that these bullet points are involved, important and influential to other areas of the department or firm.
The Power of 3 is incredible at helping you make your argument to your boss as to why you have more than earned a great raise. The power of 3 is like hitting a double in baseball at your first time up to bat. You are halfway home right from the start.
There are many nuances in today’s tip. Many people use my coaching services to help create the 3 lists just mentioned. Some people have a hard time converting what they’ve done to a bullet that address the original problem, the process used to solve the problem and the measured results.
The reason it is hard for many people to come up with their lists include 1) they don’t recall all that they did 2) they are too close to the subject to make the reader feel the pain of the problem from their boss’s perspective 3) they have a hard time attaching a metric to their results.
I am adept at helping pay raise seekers secure and pull that information out of their head.
One of the purposes for the 3 lists is for the boss to visually see and feel that he’ll be up to his neck in projects and may not be able to easily replace you with someone who could continue making valued contributions the way you have been doing. You should never mention that you may leave and you don’t need to mention it. Why? Because the 3 lists imply that if you left, then your boss will be in a bind. It is obvious.
How do you see my Power of 3 System helping you during a pay raise discussion? Share here:
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