Know How to ask for a Raise in 2024
Know these key points at each step of the process—before, during, and after you ask for a raise—to improve your chances of a favorable outcome.
If you know how to prepare to ask for a raise—and especially know what to say and avoid conversations—you might increase your earnings to get the pay you deserve. The following key steps will show you how to prepare for this critical workplace conversation.
Let’s Know How to ask for a Raise
Before you ask
Step 1: Determine how much to ask for a raise
Ready to ask your boss for a raise? It’s not enough to ensure that you provide a solid reason why you should earn more.
As a first step, before you get to the negotiating table, you need to arm yourself with reliable salary data about your industry, job title, location, and experience level to help justify why your company should pay you more than your current salary.
Start your process by mining market data on the average salary of professionals with your title residing in your country to arm yourself with evidence.
Step 2: Compile performance evidence
Figuring out the average salary of an employee in your field doing the same job is an important starting point. Still, if you are a standout employee with impressive or unique accomplishments and attributes, you may be able to beat the market average.
The best way to demonstrate this is to spend some time before your salary meeting gathering quantitative evidence about your performance to date and identifying any tangible outcomes that increase your value to employers. Share this insight with your boss when you apply for a salary.
Step 3: Determine the best time to ask questions
Timing can determine your request for salary adjustments, so be sure to take this into account when asking for a raise.
Part of distinguishing between the best times and the bad times in your organization involves understanding what’s happening in your department and on a larger scale in your company.
If the management team has just announced layoffs, now is not the right time to discuss salary increases.
Likewise, suppose your department’s budget has just been finalized quarterly or annually. In that case, your supervisor may not have given you the latitude to give you a raise as you did when you finalized your request before the budget was finalized.
Also, if you know you’ll only get a raise during your annual performance review, consider scheduling a conversation with your boss a few months in advance.
During this initial chat, you can together outline any performance benchmarks that must be met before your next review to receive a raise.
Step 4: Prepare notes and practice key talking points
Once you’ve done your due diligence to determine what you’re worth and why, and you’ve determined the right time to have a salary conversation, it’s time to solidify the points you want to make and practice what you’ll say. You don’t want to enter this critical discussion without a plan.
To avoid this, it’s wise to write down salary data based on your research and any performance details that help demonstrate your value to the organization.
Then, using these talking points, practice what you would say with a trusted friend or family member until you feel confident and your key messages are well-polished.
Step 5: Schedule a time to speak with your manager
Once you’ve done your due diligence by compiling the above bullet points and practicing your delivery, you’re ready to start the conversation.
Don’t ask questions on a whim or unexpectedly when this happens. Instead, choose a time when you think your manager will be least distracted and most likely to accept your offer—for example, after your department has completed a large project or entered a new budget cycle—and into your boss’s schedule.
In your conversation
Step 6: Have Confidence
Your preparations are done, and you know exactly what you want to say when you ask for a raise. It’s time to present your case to your boss confidently.
Now that you’ve reviewed the steps above to be prepared to explain why you need a raise clearly, you can leave your nerves at the door and focus on your request.
Step 7: Show why you deserve it
When discussing raises with your boss, your goal should be to reveal exactly why the skills and talents you bring to the table are more valuable than the income of the average person in your field.
In your presentation, use the information gathered from your research in steps 1 and 2 above as evidence as to why it makes sense to receive the specific raise you requested.
Share salary data based on your research and any performance highlights that help demonstrate your value to the organization.
Demonstrate any tangible results in detail to help demonstrate why you are worthy of the extra money you are asking for.
For example, if you manage a 30% more productive department under your supervision, be sure to state that.
Step 8: Know what not to say
In addition to capturing the points that will help increase your value in the eyes of employers, it’s also important to know which words and phrases to avoid in the raised conversation. E.g.:
Don’t give the impression of being insecure about your language choices. Avoid phrases like “I’m not sure you agree with this, but…” or “This may not be accurate.”
Instead, be confident and straightforward in expressing your beliefs about your worth when sharing why you should get a raise.
Avoid making your question too broad or general. While you may be concerned that your goals are too high to get an answer, requesting a specific amount for your raise rather than hedging the numbers is a better strategy.
If you’ve done your research in step 1 above and identified how you’re more valuable in step 2, you should feel justified in sharing a salary request that makes you happy instead of Avoiding saying what it is.
Don’t give up too soon. Some negotiators put their hands together at the first sign of fighting back, signaling that the conversation is over, saying, “I see – thanks for thinking about it!” Don’t do this prematurely.
Understand that negotiation often goes through twists and turns in solving a problem. If you follow through and keep the conversation going, you might get at least some raises, not nothing.
After asking
Step 9: Be patient
Once you ask for a raise, don’t worry if you don’t get an immediate answer. Your boss may need to discuss the request with Human Resources to determine if the additional budget can be approved. Give the processing time to unfold, and don’t think that no news is bad news.
Step 10: Prepare to Negotiate
When you receive your request, your manager may offer you less than you asked for but more than you are offering now – and may even deny the request.
As mentioned above, it is best not to give up too soon but to be ready to negotiate further. Even if you initially hear no answer, that doesn’t necessarily mean the conversation is over.
If you’re willing to negotiate after hearing a different answer to what you want, your supervisor may be willing to consider a few things in the middle.
Step 11: Decide what to do next
If you end up with a final offer that’s lower than what you asked for, it’s up to you to decide what to do next: take the money you’re offering and see if you can negotiate a middle figure or think if other employers will value it more your skills.
In the end, even if you’re not the decision maker of how much money you make in your current position, you can take charge of your career and where to go next to earn what you deserve.
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