Professionals tend to get paid more, but they also get stuck in a cycle of self-sabotage, making it almost impossible to be as successful as they wish. In our recent post “Treating the ‘Why Me?’ Problem”, I talked about how to ask for a raise, and today I want to talk about some different ways to deal with other kinds of self-sabotage. Ask for a pay rise, and you’ll be told you’re greedy, or too demanding, or you’ve been around too long. But is it such a bad thing to ask for a pay rise? If you’re doing your job well, and if you’re behind your team, who’s to say you don’t deserve one? Just because you haven’t asked doesn’t mean you don’t deserve one. That’s the crux of the problem, and that’s the problem many find themselves in.
How much should you ask for in salary? Should you start by asking for a pay rise, and if so, when? When you ask for a pay rise, you have to be prepared to negotiate an acceptable amount, but is it possible to ask for more without getting a negative response? Is it wise to ask for a pay rise at the same time as asking for a pay review, or should you wait until after that has taken place?
Know the worth of your work
Imagine you’re working hard for your boss all week long, and you finally get a chance to ask for a pay rise. How do you know if you’re even worth what you earn in your job? The challenge is definitely not an easy one. Do you need to have a lot of experience to earn the promotion? Are the other employees in your department as productive as you? If so, are they paid more? Who decides what prices you, or your colleagues, should be paid?
Be considerate about your timing
Depending on your industry, the deadline for submitting your pay details may be up to several months before the official start of a pay period. If you’re an hourly worker, you could be waiting until the end of a pay period to ask your employer for a better wage. But if you’re a salaried worker, some employers may ask for a salary increase during the same period. The subject of a pay raise is a tricky one, especially if you’re asking for it. Not everyone is in a position to ask for a raise, so you may need to be creative. So, how can you beat the system? The most useful approach is to ask for a raise at the right time. If you ask for a raise too early in your career, your boss may not be willing to give you one. If you wait too long, you may have become a liability to the company and may only receive a much lower salary.
Do some investigations in your company’s salary structure
By now, most people have probably heard of the term ‘glass cliff.’ More commonly known as the ‘women’s salary. The term was coined to describe the phenomenon where female executives are more likely to be promoted to a position of leadership when the economy is struggling, and their company is facing hardship than their male counterparts, regardless of actual skills and qualifications. When it comes to negotiating pay raises, the advice you will get is ‘you ask, you negotiate.’ This is misleading. Most people don’t ask for more money. They should, but they don’t. Ask for what you deserve, and be prepared to negotiate.
Do you want to ask for a raise but are afraid you’ll be turned down? You’re not alone, according to a survey by Salary.com. 56% of us will ask for a pay rise in the next year to get more money in the next year, but only 39% are satisfied with their salaries. Another study by PayScale found that more than a quarter of us feel pressured to ask for a raise, but only 2% will ask for more money. Many people are unemployed or in positions that are underemployed. For some people, this means a full-time job that pays well, but for many others, it means that they are working just enough to get by, but they’re not working enough to live a decent lifestyle. For the underemployed, the path to earning more money can be tricky.
