How to ask for promotion/raise???

neRForNothing

I want to know how I should go about asking for a raise and promotion from my manager in a way that won't make me look bad?

johndoee

neRForNothing wrote: »

I want to know how I should go about asking for a raise and promotion from my manager in a way that won't make me look bad?

You should never feel bad about asking for a promotion or raise, that is if:
1. You can show how/why you deserve it over your peers. This might be the hard part. Might.
2. It's documented in some way, such as Remedy or projects that you are producing (over your peers?).
3. You've been working in your organization for a good period of time. I personally would wait at least until the 1 year mark. That is me.
4. Your organization actually gives out promotions or raises.
5. It's in the "budget".
6. You haven't done or said any one thing to make him/her say no. If you have done 100 good things and 1 bad thing when it's time for a pay increase guess what will be on the mind..yes, you are correct the one bad thing. I took down a server at one point in my life. I knew from that point on I would never ask for a raise. That were going to remember that forever. I don't care what good I did after that point.
7. You get evaluations. If you get counseled or evaluated quarterly or yearly that's the best way to go by asking for a raise. It's documented! But, the evaluation would have to be over average in marks or it wouldn't exactly be raise worthy. Supervisors know this, so they try to refrain from giving all perfect marks.

LordQarlyn

Any advice is predicated on the assumption your company gives out raises.

Document what you have done that was above and beyond your current job responsibilities. Showing up for work and doing your job well isn't sufficient these days for a raise. Employees must demonstrate they bring additional value to the job, and do so on an ongoing basis. This is accomplished by either doing above and beyond your job description, or, by cost cutting, productivity increases, or, generating additional revenue. If you haven't begin documenting times you feel you went above and beyond or did cost cutting/productivity improvement/revenue increases. Bring that to your boss's attention. He or she may not agree, but by showing your results at the least you come across trying to make a rational justification rather than just another employee asking for more money.
Additionally, offer to take on more responsibility in return for a raise, it's only fair, if the company offers to pay you more you should be willing to do more.
If you feel and can show you are being paid below market rates, you can also bring that up in addition to the justifications. But tread carefully.
I would avoid bringing up personal reasons, unless you have a really strong rapport with your boss. Managers' first responsibilities are to the stakeholders.

Chitownjedi

Ask for it with an offer letter from another company.
Many people will give you details about what you can do to show value creation and all of that stuff to your internal organization. And lots of time you may deserve it. I have seen in many cases where employees who took on additional responsibilities told that "just because you took on more responsibilities doesn't mean you deserve a raise."

Find a better offer and give them an option to match.

EANx

Chitownjedi wrote: »

Ask for it with an offer letter from another company.

That should be his last option, not his first. The unstated assumption is that if you present your boss with an offer letter, either you get a raise or you walk. If he says "sorry, we don't have the money for a raise, you have to walk because you lose all future leverage if you don't.

As was stated, you should first document how your value to the organization has improved over time. If you can show the increased value in keeping you around and they still cry "no money", that's when you start looking for that offer letter. What counts as your value improving? Additional skills directly related to the firm, reliability, always being timely (show up on-time or a little early, stay a little late, show up on-time for meetings), good communication skills, any time where you have been your boss' "go-to" guy, etc.

LordQarlyn

EANx wrote: »

That should be his last option, not his first. The unstated assumption is that if you present your boss with an offer letter, either you get a raise or you walk. If he says "sorry, we don't have the money for a raise, you have to walk because you lose all future leverage if you don't.

I was thinking the same thing; anyone that important to the organization where the thought of them leaving for another company would concern them, would already have been as well compensated as policy and budget allows. Storming in with a job offer would more than likely get a "see ya" for most. The goal is to become and prove you are that MVP employee that would alarm leadership if you were to leave, alarm them into compensating you appropriately.

paul78

LordQarlyn wrote: »

Storming in with a job offer would more than likely get a "see ya" for most.

Yeah - I fall in the 'see ya' camp. I will never ever make a counter-offer.

@OP - you may also consider an approach which is less confrontational and more collaborative. I assume you have weekly 1:1 or similar with your manager. Ideally, you should already know what it takes to get a raise or promotion.

Start your next conversation with 2 questions.

1) What will it take for you to get a raise and a promotion?
2) Are you on track to get a promotion and raise?
It may take a bit longer but imo, it's the right way to go about it. And it shows that you are looking to add value with your contributions. But it sets the expectations for your manager that you think you deserve more and that you can meet the companies expectation to get a promotion.

UnixGuy

Find a way where you can take MORE responsibilities. Then take those responsibilities. Go above and beyond your role (help others). Then ask for a role within your company that pays better

matt333

I've worked my way through a few companies (eg promoted, raises etc) and the way I did it was always looking for ways to add value. Talk with your manager bluntly, " I want to be XYZ or i want XYZ position, how can I get there". They will at least point you in a direction that they think will add value if you are unsure. Based on his/her answer plan out what you are going to do to get there and go from there. If your manager doesn't know that could be a red flag IMO because that means the managers don't have a vision of how they want their team to be run. I'd look else where if that was the case.ff