Most people feel some anxiety about asking
for a raise during the best of times, let alone during a recession.
However, if you feel you deserve more money, be direct and make an appointment
to speak to your boss about a salary increase. Good employees are the
key to keeping the company afloat during tough times.
Write down and rehearse what you want
to say. This will help you to be succinct. You don’t want to ramble.
Knowing what you want to say will increase your confidence.
Include all the areas in which you are
an asset to the company. Support your claims with examples of new business
you’ve brought in, projects you’ve worked on and ideas that you’ve
contributed to increase revenue or save the company money.
Bring substantiated evidence of current
market value for your position. You may be able to get this information
from the Chamber of Commerce or Ministry of Labour.
Talk about the intangibles that you bring
to the table, like your willingness to go above and beyond, your knowledge
of the company and the industry, the fact that you are trust worthy
and reliable. Believe me, your boss knows the inconvenience of finding
and training a new hire and the uncertainty that brings.
Practice; make sure your tone is conversational.
Use positive words and phrases like,
can and
it would be great
if; avoid negative words like
can’t, no and
don’t.
Do not make demands, give ultimatums,
be confrontational, assume your boss will say no, or bring up your personal
financial hardships.
Expect a
yes. If the answer is
no, try to negotiate more vacation time or some other benefit that
would be of value to you. Before you end the conversation, ask what
you can do to increase your chances next time. Let him know you would
like to revisit the topic in six months. Be brilliant!
Kim Welcome is CEO of Influential
Voice, a Communication Trainer, Coach and Voice Actor; she assists businesses
and individuals to achieve their goals through helping them to develop
deliberate, skillful, polished communication skills.
For more info email
info@influentialvoice.com
.
