So you're sitting at your desk wondering how you're going to ask your manager for a pay raise. You're working up the nerve to ask after researching about the average salary for someone in your position; after considering you've lead the company to financial success; after summing up all the positives that led the team to reach or exceed your service level goals.
It's a good thing the bestselling author of "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" explains exactly what you need to say to get the raise you want. According to Business Insider, Ramit Sethi, the 2009 author of the best-selling book, role-played with Justin Wilson, a former management consultant. The two worked on a conversation on how to negotiate modes of compensation and increase requests. The two played hiring manager (Sethi) and job candidate (Wilson).
For some background, Sethi had offered Wilson $50,000 a year and Wilson had asked for $65,000. Sethi countered with $57,000, citing the tough economic times. Wilson responded with, "One of the things we didn't talk about is some of the other modes of compensation - so stock options, bonus. Would it be appropriate to talk about some of those?"
Maybe the company cannot budget in the different modes of compensation right now. However, zoning in on stock options or a bonus can be opened for further conversation. Look at this conversation closely,
Sethi points out that Wilson gave the hiring manager a little bit of power by asking whether it would be "appropriate" to discuss other forms of compensation. Plus, Wilson wasn't selfish. He expressed sympathy by understanding that the company may be going through financial limitations.
Their conversation played out nicely with Sethi agreeing to stock options. But Wilson wanted to go through some increase alternatives. "I think that goes a long way to closing the gap... The one other thing that I would love to talk about is what would the review cycle be for my performance in terms of evaluating my candidacy for a promotion or a raise?"
When Wilson asked for an accelerated review process in terms of his performance, Sethi cited that it was reasonable. In fact, Sethi explains that if the company doesn't agree to it, you might be right to get slightly suspicious and probe a little more.
The takeaway here is that you can almost always find some common ground between you and the hiring manager, even if it requires getting a little creative.
The key is not to get discouraged. Remain open and flexible until there is a mutually beneficial agreement.
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