Are You Scared To Ask For a Raise or Promotion?
The Guardian, a leading British daily newspaper, posted a statistic that only 1 in 6 Britons felt confident enough to ask those very questions.
Guardian Careers approached me to appear on an online panel focused on pay raises and promotions, and how to broach these topics with management. While addressing a primarily British audience, the information from all of the panelists is universally applicable. I would heartily recommend that you read through the entire panel discussion.
A Few Key Excerpts
There is much great advice within the panel, and I would like highlight a few of my statements here. But that does not mean that you can skip reading the whole thing…seriously go read the entire panel discussion!
In response to a question about whether men and women should ask for a raise differently:
“I see no reason why we should approach it differently as women versus men. I think the idea that we are different and have different needs can be one of the self-imposed mental obstacles for women.”
In response to a question about employees lacking confidence to ask for a raise:
“Your employer wants empowered, successful and confident people at the top or even higher in the ranks than where you are, so not only do you need confidence to get ahead, you need confidence to do the role when you are ahead.”
In response to a question about “close to burnout” employees asking for a raise:
“No employer finds a stressed-out ready-to-collapse employee as attractive. I know that as a president/CEO of my company, I would never want to hire someone like that or keep them on my staff so before you worry about your pay raise, get a hold of yourself…”
If You Could Just Do These 3 Things …
In summary to the discussion, I provided my top 3 pieces of advice:
- Ask yourself: Why should your boss or manager promote you? Would you promote you if you were in their shoes? Be crystal clear about your value (current and future) and your contribution.
- Lack of confidence and signs of burn-out can kill your career faster than missing deadlines and messing up at work. Be in charge, and act confident if you want to move up and make a lot of money.
- Never threaten your employer, never surprise your boss, always prepare them, always think you are on the SAME team not opposites, always focus on their needs first and then on how you are an indispensable part of the puzzle in getting them to their goals. Let the promotions conversation emerge organically from that.
Invest in Yourself to Learn How to Get That Promotion
Asking for a raise or promotion is the end of one part of your work journey, there is a lot of work that has to go into your job before you can do it. Not only does your ability on the job have to improve but your interactions with those around you need constant attention and improvement as well.
My Crack the Code to Get Promoted program is a step by step guide on learning the strategies to get that improvement in your business interactions. Learning how to deal with management, your coworkers and even yourself at work is just as crucial as improving your job skills. And for a FREE set of strategies to get you started, sign up for my mailing list below.
