Find out more about salary negotiation, salary negotiation tips, negotiating a higher salary with your current employer, how to negotiate a higher salary with your boss, asking for a raise, asking for a raise with no experience, getting a raise, getting a pay raise, how to ask for money from my boss, negotiation tips on careerkeg.com.
People don’t realize how easy it is to use negotiation techniques to receive a better salary or pay package. I’m going to show of a simple process anyone can follow so they can negotiate a higher salary with their current employer.
If you’re looking to negotiate a higher salary with your current employer, it can be a nerve-wracking experience. You’re asking for something that might be perceived as a big ask—and one that may not even be in your power to deliver.
But if you’ve been working at your company for a while and feel like you’ve hit a plateau in terms of pay, this is the time to take action. Here’s our best advice for how to negotiate a higher salary with your current employer.
- Do Your Research
Before you sit down with your boss or manager, make sure you know exactly what the market rate is for someone with your job title and level of experience in your geographic area. If there aren’t any local benchmark statistics available, check out some national ones so that when you’re talking about numbers with your boss, you can use them as examples of what others are making at comparable companies.
- Approach the Conversation Thoughtfully
When it comes time to actually have this conversation with your boss or manager, make sure that they understand why YOU think it’s important—not just why THEY should do it because they “should” (which is not going
How to negotiate a higher salary with your current employer
Research the average salary for your position.
- Research the average salary for your position.
- Find out what the average salary is for your position in your city.
- Research salary ranges for your position in your city.
- Look at other job postings for your position, and see how they compare to yours.
Know how much you’re worth to your company.
- Know how much you’re worth to your company.
- Your value goes beyond your salary, but it’s a good place to start. In order to negotiate an increased salary, you must first determine what exactly it is about yourself that makes you valuable to the company—what are the tangible ways in which you contribute to the growth and profitability of your employer? If asked this question directly, give concrete examples of where and when you have made a difference for the organization in some way, even if it was just one time.
- What will happen if I leave?
If a higher paying job opportunity arises elsewhere, find out what would happen if they lost me as an employee (and remember: this could be anything from my competitors getting all of my clients because they know our trade secrets or even just not being able to fill my position). Determine whether a raise is actually necessary or whether there’s another way for me to make up for any potential losses incurred by leaving (i.e., “I want more money but also need more vacation days per year so let me work with HR on this one”).
Consider the benefits and perks your employer offers.
- Talk to your manager about the benefits and perks your employer offers. This can include things like health insurance, vacation time, flexible working hours, personal time off for sick days, travel allowances, pension plans or plans for retirement savings, training opportunities (both internal and external), bonuses and stock options as well as tuition reimbursement.
- Consider how these benefits will help you in your career path. Does the company offer professional development opportunities? If so consider this when negotiating salary because it shows that they’re invested in helping their employees grow professionally.
- Ask what other incentives are available if you take on more responsibilities or take on an important role within the company’s structure/hierarchy.
Pick the right time to make your case.
If you’re unsure of when to request more money, consider waiting until your company is doing well financially. This will help strengthen your case for receiving a raise: if they can afford to give you one, they must be doing well enough as a business. In addition, try not to ask for an increase right after getting a promotion or new responsibilities; this may make it seem as though you’re after the title change rather than the money.
Show them why you’re invaluable.
When it comes to showing a company why you’re valuable, you have to be specific. The more tangible and measurable your accomplishments are, the better. This doesn’t just mean highlighting how many hours you’ve worked or how many tasks you’ve completed—it also means giving examples of how those things have helped the company in tangible ways.
For example: From 2010–2014, I reduced our average order processing time by 25%. By reducing this particular metric by so much, I was able to save the company [insert amount] in labor costs annually. My efforts also resulted in an increase in customer satisfaction scores from 76% to 84%, which ultimately led to an increase of 10% in revenue over that same period of time.
You can also list any professional development or certifications that might make you more valuable as an employee—whether it’s a course on project management or another certification like Six Sigma Green Belt or PMP® Certification that shows off your hard work and commitment toward improving processes at work.
Consider how much room you have to negotiate.
- Know your company’s history. How much room do you have to negotiate? If a company has a history of giving out raises, it’s likely that they’re able to give out more than if they’re known for not being very generous when it comes to compensation.
- Make the case that you should get a raise: Before asking for one, consider why you deserve one (and make sure your reasons are based on facts). If you’ve done great work and received positive feedback, then clearly your boss should be aware of this fact and be open to discussing salary at this point!
- Get a sense of how much money is fair: You may need to do some research on pay grades in your industry or even just within your own company before making any sort of request; however, if no one has ever taken initiative before by asking about their salary (or even worse—if people have been discouraged from doing so), there might not be much information available about what is considered “fair market value” within these parameters . In cases like this where there isn’t much publicly available information about average salaries at different companies/organizations within similar markets
Be prepared if they say no.
- Be prepared if they say no. If your employer says they can’t offer you a higher salary but want to keep you, there are a few other things you could ask for in the meantime.
- Ask for a deadline to re-negotiate. After receiving the firm “no,” ask whether there’s any flexibility on this point—perhaps if you wait until after [important date]. Or maybe your negotiation partner might agree that it’s time to sit down and talk again when [other important thing] happens.
- Consider if it is time to look for a new job. This will only be true if your boss refuses to budge on salary, but it’s still worth considering because of how much more likely companies are willing to pay more money when hiring someone new than when retaining an existing employee who isn’t happy with their compensation package (and who may have already started looking elsewhere).
Give yourself confidence by doing research and preparing what you want to pitch before asking your employer to consider giving you a raise!
Before asking for a raise, it’s important to research the market rate for your position. This will help you know how much of a raise you can reasonably expect and avoid any surprises during negotiations.
To get started, ask yourself these questions:
- What is the average salary for people in my position? You can find this information by searching on sites like Glassdoor or Payscale.com (or both!). These sites offer estimates based on people who have shared their salaries with them and allow you to search by city or industry to find specific numbers related to your work experience and location.
- What do other employees in similar positions at my company make? Talk with anyone who works in your department about what they’ve heard about pay raises at your company over time and use that information when deciding what type of increase would be appropriate for yourself (keep in mind that some companies keep internal information about salaries secret).