Get that salary raise

Living cost increasing? Salary remaining stagnant? If you are in this scenario, take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. With the cost cutting environment that prevails in most companies over recent times, most employees are getting a low, if any, salary increase in recent times. As recruiters and HR consultants point out, the disconcerting trend is evident everywhere - across positions, industries and geographies.

The ready availability of people with good skills has resulted in the stagnation of salaries. Moreover, the Middle East has faced a tough period over the last year and a half, especially with oil prices being at their lowest, affecting government budgets and spending plans. In the UAE, the rise in the cost of visas, infrastructure, government fees, among others, has not helped in timely appraisals of employees. Recent policies like the mandatory health cover for all employees have also added pressure on company budgets.

Though industries such as food and hospitality have reported growth in turnover, the bottom line remains flat. Managing expenses has turned into a firefighting effort for companies. At this point, businesses evaluate employees based on their performance and the value they add to the company.

All of this may leave you feeling quite uncomfortable in discussing a salary increase with your employer, but below are a few tips to help you out

When is the best time to bring up the issue of a pay rise?

There’s a right time, place and way to go about asking for a pay rise. Make sure you know the standard procedure within your organisation – for example, if your company has an annual budgeting system, be sure to negotiate your raise before that date — otherwise your boss will use the budget as an excuse to give you less. Sometimes this may be six months before the budgets are decided (to give your boss time to build your case internally). If your company is undergoing a recruitment freeze or facing financial problems, you may want to start building your case earlier than six months before your next review.

Discussing a salary increase for the first time at the appraisal will leave you and your employer disappointed.

The best time to negotiate is when you’ve just delivered a project or hit a major milestone. Then you’ll have a good answer to the “what have you done lately that’s worthy of a raise?” question.

Handy Tip!
Never ask for a salary increase via email or SMS or WhatsApp or over the phone. 
Do it face-to-face. Do it repeatedly. Let it build up. 
Don’t expect results in the first discussion.

What do I need to get the pay rise?

Maybe you’ve been at your job for a while, and your salary hasn’t kept pace with your city’s cost of living. Or maybe they hired you at a below-market salary because you were new to the field. Whatever the reason, it’s high time you earned an at-market salary. But being a competent professional isn’t enough to get that raise you deserve. You’ll need leverage. And you’ll need to be prepared to use it. Talking about your salary may feel awkward. Or greedy. Or disloyal. It needn’t be so – even the airlines tell you to look after yourself, before assisting others.

So, here are some points to make note of to prepare you for such a discussion.

Another offer. It could be to work as a freelancer or return to academia or a new career. But ensure that this is what you want before you use it as leverage. Employers here such ultimatums all the time. They could call your bluff. Before you use this, you need to understand the market salary for your talents.

Homework. Homework. Homework. This cannot be stressed enough. Understand what other people are paid, for similar roles, both within and outside your organisation. Ask around. Look at newspaper ads. Check online. Call recruitment agents. And make a list of your key achievements over the past year or so; this is not a time to hide your light under a bushel. Not an endless list; the highlights. If you can tangibly identify how you’ve helped generate profits for the organisation, share that. You may want to look into other forms of compensation, too: insurance providers and their premiums, paid time off, stock options, even perks like free lunch and parking spaces.

Most employees fail to prepare for their raise discussion. They’ll argue for a raise based on things like their seniority, their recent performance, or rising housing costs. These are terrible negotiating positions with no leverage. Is it any surprise that bosses become accustom to handing out small token raises to these people?

Leverage. Imagine your boss’s surprise when you come along with real leverage. You’ve done your homework. Your boss may be caught off-guard by such a well-equipped adversary at the negotiation table. This can quickly become a terrifying conversation for them. So be polite throughout the process. If they agree to pay you what you’re worth, you will still have to work with this person. And you don’t want your boss to resent having to grovel before their bosses to approve an abnormally large raise for you. You want to come across as savvy and serious—not mercenary.

Be sure to follow up all of your salary discussions with an email describing what you talked about. This will not only document your conversation — it will give your boss a script for arguing your case to all the other managers who will need to sign off on your raise.

Maintain that poker face. If they come back with more than or at par with what you were expecting, it will be very tempting to give them a beaming smile and shout YES! But this might be seen as over-keen and slightly off-putting, especially to your peers who you have to continue working with. Instead, remain calm and professional and save the celebrations until you get home.

What should I not do?

Don’t offer to do more work for more money. This may simply be undeliverable and come back and bite you. This is about a reward for the work you do now. And if there’s no cash on the table, perhaps there are other benefits/ incentives that can be negotiated: medical cover, share options, whatever. But at the same time, it can be helpful to work out exactly how your employer and the organisation is going to benefit from your salary rise, in terms of what you hope to deliver in the next year. Is it just more money for same-old-same-old? Yes! It is they who short-changed you by not raising your pay at market levels.

Don’t make it personal. What you do with your money is your affair, but it’s not your boss’s problem that you’d like money to buy a bigger flat or are feeling hard-done-by compared to higher-rolling friends with faster cars, more comfortable homes, flashier clothes. This isn’t about what you want. It’s about what you deserve.

Don’t sulk if you don’t get it. Unless your boss is a tyrant or an ogre, there may be very good reasons why your approach didn’t work. (Like: the company’s doing badly. Like: he or she things you really could try harder – which hopefully will be communicated.) And if they are the aforementioned tyrant/ ogre? It’s not time for a rise. It’s time to look around for another job.

You don’t need to be a superstar performer to get a salary raise. If you could genuinely be getting a higher pay somewhere else, then your current employer should be paying you more in any case. It takes a lot of courage to tell your boss you deserve a raise. Most people will not be able to drum up the courage. Which is why they will continue to be underpaid. But you are the one who’s done their homework and has an alternative plan in place. You’re smart. If they don’t pay you what you are worth, someone else will.