How to negotiate a pay rise

It’s that time of year. The frenzied summer spending is over and Christmas is in sight – and, in January, you made a resolution that you’ll never have to penny-pinch again. But that means plucking up significant courage, marching into your boss’s office and having one of the most nerve-wracking conversations in the workplace.

But the pay rise pow-wow doesn’t have to be drenched in flop sweat and doomed to failure. Instead, if you follow our foolproof guide, you’ll be skipping out of the office with both your financial security and dignity in tact.

A surprising number of us aren’t even 100 per cent sure what our job actually requires. Sure, we clock in and clock out, and sometimes fill the hours with mindless drudgery, but if you can name every single responsibility your specific position demands, we’ll eat our employment contracts.

So, before you argue that you deserve more money, it makes sense to undertake a full review of your job description. This way, you’ll be able to show how you’ve hit every marker demanded of you and prove that you’re going above and beyond in the workplace.

There are plenty of salary calculators out there. And, with a quick search, you can explore all the factors that may contribute to the amount you’re paid. It’s not all about the position, after all. Everything from experience to location can impact your pay packet. For example, a marketing director in London may bring home around £84,000 – but, if he were working in San Francisco, he would be looking at $130,000.

So, these online calculators can help you work out just how much money you should be on, and will give you extra ammunition in the conversation.

This is an important one. If you’re looking for more money, more responsibilities will likely follow hot on its heels. And you need to be prepared to pitch ideas as to how you can earn your keep.

Approach your line manager and if you can both agree on realistic and measurable goals for you, then you’ll have yourself a nice metric against which your boss can track your growth and worth in the company.

There is nothing wrong with looking outside your immediate role to see how you can take on extra skills. There are online courses for everything these days, from learning a new language to mastering Excel – although, that may as well be a different language as far as many are concerned…

Spreadsheets aside, we’d recommend taking a look around your office and identifying some of the higher-flyers. What do they do to go the extra mile? Find that out and follow suit.

Most managers will probably be reluctant to offer any increase in pay until they can see evidence that you are more than worth it. The best way to demonstrate this is going above and beyond in the workplace, before you ask for a rise.

This doesn’t necessarily mean staying late every day – but make sure you’re doing more than what you’re currently paid to do for a couple of months and you’ll soon be indispensable.

While your main motivation for the extra cash might be for a new watch or two weeks in the Bahamas, it pays not to tell your boss that this is your incentive. Instead, focus on your aspirations and ambitions within the company – and how you want to help better your workplace.

Think progression, responsibility and adding value to the business. Your boss is far more likely to care about this than your desire to top up your tan.

Don’t be too stubborn when it comes to negotiation. If you’ve actually got your boss to a place where they’re keen to discuss an increase, that’s half the battle won – and you don’t want to shoot down that progress by being bull-headed.

So, perhaps start by looking outside your company and seeing what other businesses offer for a similar role. That way, you’ll have some bargaining power, and the chance to leverage your existing position.

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