How to Negotiate a Pay Rise

Have you got to a point in your career where you feel you deserve a higher salary, but don’t know how to go about approaching your manager to bring up the subject of a pay rise?

These types of conversations don’t come naturally to everyone, especially if you’re more shy and introverted and don’t like approaching topics that can become uncomfortable.

Don’t be afraid or shy away from asking for a pay rise, if anything it shows that you are confident in your abilities and you know your own self worth.

Here’s our advice on how to go about negotiating a pay rise with your employer…

1. Firstly, you need to prepare beforehand

Going into a meeting with your manager without any evidence to back up why you deserve a pay rise, is quite likely going to end in you coming away without one. You need to be prepared when approaching this subject, here’s what you need to do first…

Gather persuading evidence

What is the one thing that is going to persuade someone that you deserve a pay rise? Evidence of your contribution to the company of course!

There are a variety of factors you can assess to prove to your employer that you have added value to the business. Proof of adding value is the most vital part for the employer to be convinced to reward you with a pay rise, as you need to of earned it through your contribution to the company.

When assessing and gathering evidence, ask yourself these questions:

Have you gained any new skills while working at the company?
Have you gained any new qualifications that provide value to the company?
Compare the average salary of your job within your area, are you being paid less than the average worker working the same job as you?
Have you gained any new responsibilities in your role?
What achievements have you made? (If you can provide statistical evidence of where you have improved a particular area of the business this will be key in your negotiation)
Have you gained any key holder responsibilities?
Have you started managing or supervising a team or area within the business?
Are you delivering any training to other employees within your role?
Are you reliable? Do you have a low amount of absences?

If, in your opinion, you have strong concrete evidence to create a discussion for a pay rise, then here’s what you want to do next…

2. Assess how much of a pay rise you need

This is the part where you need to think rationally about it, if you start getting too greedy and proposing a salary that doesn’t reflect your performance at work, you’re going to get turned down. You need to be realistic in the proposed salary that you are putting forward, and it still needs to competitive within market.

3. Make yourself familiar with your proposal

To be confident in delivering your proposal for a pay rise, you want to be familiar with the details. Go over your record of evidence, so when you’re asked any questions about what you’ve presented you’ll be more prepared to answer them.

4. Set up a meeting with your manager

Remember to set a meeting up with your employer first, don’t just enter their office and start talking about a pay rise. This could cause the employer to feel quite overwhelmed and they aren’t prepared for that conversation. It could also be really bad timing! By setting up a meeting you have both made dedicated time to getting together to focus on the subject at hand.

5. Keep it professional

Don’t head straight in with talk of a pay rise either, chat first about your experience with the company and lead into the conversation of a pay rise.

If your manager is not being receptive and feels at this moment it’s not the right time to give you a pay rise that last thing you want to do if get frustrated, as this is likely to not help the situation. And do not use any threatening methods of persuasion either, this will not work in your favour!

Do not compare yourself to your other workmates, putting other people down or trash talking them is not acceptable. The only person you should be comparing yourself to is your past self and how your own professional journey has developed.

6. Stay strong and don’t give up

Your manager said no, now what do you do?

In these situations you can very easily become disheartened and feel undervalued, however, keeping a positive mindset is that best way to achieve that pay rise you are dreaming of. Remember, there’s no rules when it comes to asking for a pay rise, you are in your right to ask and ask again if you feel you have more persuasive evidence to contribute.

What steps should you take next?

Ask for feedback on what your employer would like to see from you, that would warrant you earning a pay rise
You can set up regular performance reviews to track your progress
If the employer is looking for more skills or qualifications from you, how can you now achieve getting those?
Keep your eye out for an opportunity – when the company is in need of extra support, this is the time to volunteer yourself to help
Keep motivated, proactive and striving for more – this will prove to your employer that you are serious about having the company’s best interests at heart as you are continuously striving to add value to the business

Good luck!