What to do when your boss won’t initiate a pay raise talk?
“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.” – Josiah Gilbert Holland
Janet is a successful Civil Engineering Manager who loves her job, her company and her boss. She is somewhat introverted and avoids confrontation and discord whenever possible. This is her tenth year at the firm. Her pay raises range from cost of living raises of about 3% in some years, and up to 5% for exceptional work in other years.
Janet has a great work attitude and often stays late, and comes in on many Saturdays. She digs right into any last minute assignment that the VP of Engineering gives her. Also, she solves frequent problems in her arena and often finds ways to cut expenses. Her salary is 10-15% lower than her contemporaries at similar firms. Her boss won’t broach the subject and take care of her during the annual review process, which aggravates Janet to no end.
This is a common occurrence for many professionals. Just like the quote above suggests, our food, or wages to buy food are there for the taking. But our boss is not going to just dole it out without the employee asking and making a case for it. There are many items competing for the boss’s budget and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
So Janet must take a position and make a cogent argument for securing more than 5% If your boss can still keep you at the lower pay and use the money that would be for your raise on other wish list items, then he/she will do it.
The bottom line is don’t blame your boss for what is your responsibility and that is to speak up and defend your own position. If you are afraid, intimidated, and don’t know how to get the raise that you deserve then you need expert coaching. A great pay raise coach has a system and can support you and help practice with you on how to execute the conversation.
The raise you get will more than offset the cost of a great coach. You’ll end up motivated, pumped up, filled with self-confidence and empowered. You’ll get the money at the current company or one down the street that appreciates your added value.
Have you or someone you know dealt with a similar situation? How did he work out?
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