Comments on: Discussing Money at Work - Part 2: Negotiating a Pay Raise

By: Ernest

Ernest — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 09:17:06 +0000

Hi,

Your articles are massively interesting!

Regarding the issue of negotiating pay raises, you suggest the ‘quarterly reviews technique’; this is not applicable in many cases where pay raises are often constrained to a very specific time-frame, which means that the managers are not free to give pay raises every quarter.
So, in the context of annual reviews only, what method would you suggest?

By: Yuppie Sherpa

Yuppie Sherpa — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:56:20 +0000

Raises can become addicting once you become good at getting them. Where I currently work, there are no scheduled reviews (annual or otherwise) so I had to go a little off the beaten path when I wrote my guide to getting a raise. Of course it feels better to be offered the money than it does to ask for it, but at the end of the day, ego doesn’t pay bills.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:58:20 +0000

Nimrat:Many thanks for pointing that out. Unfortunately, spell checkers miss such mistakes - and it had bypassed me completely when proof-reading.

Angleman:I am happy that you enjoy these articles, and will keep it up with such encouragement. While negotiating an increase in your salary, I agree that a percentage increase is psychologically less impacting than a concrete dollar amount. You have made a good point here. Also, if you take into account inflation (assuming an inflation rate of 4%), you could say:

“What I am asking for is only 6% beyond the current rate of inflation.”

This sounds perfectly reasonable. A final thought, if your employer will not pay you what you are worth, there are plenty of others who will. Unfortunately, many employers start throwing money at an employee when it is too late.

At a large consultancy I worked with, top management played “hard-ball” with technical staff in salary negotiations at the annual review. The market was in demand for quality technicians. The consultancy lost 20% of their finest consultants to other employers, and began throwing money at employees who had already signed contracts elsewhere.

For your sake, and for your employer, I hope he/she is willing to negotiate reasonably. The costs of training somebody new (if you decide to leave) will likely outweigh any amounts saved in playing “hard-ball” with you.

-Jay

By: angelman

angelman — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:32:39 +0000

I am in this situation currently and my employer is being extremely tough to negotiate with.
A question I wondered was whether psychologically it was better to ask for a % increase or an actual annual figure. I know companies often think of things as % increase/decrease. Maybe asking for a 10% increase is less immediately intimidating than asking for an extra $5K to one’s salary, or maybe its better to ask for the $5K rather than 10%.. what do you think?
Love your articles, I normally loathe these self help guide type things but yours is an exception. Great writing!

By: Nimrat

Nimrat — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:00:22 +0000

Great articles, Jay. I’ve just started reading your blog and have been digging through the archives (an on going process), especially the art of conversations category.

Just want to point out a typo real quick: “Then, wait for a queue from the employer.”