A Brief Note:

If you've daydreamed about entering your boss's office, getting down on your knees, and begging for a raise - wipe that vision out of your mind. With mergers and downsizing so pervasive in today's economy, raises are becoming much more difficult to negotiate. Five strategies outlined below, may prove helpful to you in enhancing your chances of landing that well deserved raise.

  1. Talk to your boss. Without flattery establish a two-way conversation with your immediate supervisor, telling what you're doing, soliciting the boss's opinion, discovering what else you can do to help your department succeed.

  2. Give more than 100 percent. When you've caught up on your workload, don't wait for your boss to tell you what to do next. If you see a task in your department that needs doing, do it. If one of your fellow-workers leaves the company. try to take over some or all of his/her functions. Your boss will observe and approve of your extra efforts.

  3. Plan your presentation. Make a list of your accomplishments that have particular value for your company, your department, and your boss. Document ways you have made or saved money for the firm, any systems you have introduced or improved, and any new clients you have brought in.

  4. Be flexible. Don't etch your target raise in granite; be prepared to negotiate. Ask for more than you can reasonably expect, and let your boss haggle it down, thus feeling in complete control of the situation.

  5. Be prepared to counter objections. If the boss denies you the raise after hearing your presentation, don't despair and don't lose your cool. Calmly ask the reason(s) why. If the reasons are mistakes you've made, don't excuse them, but explain what you've learned from them that has enhanced your performance.

A couple of closing "don'ts" for you. Don't plead for your raise solely on the basis of needing more money; seek it because of your performance. And even if you don't get the raise on the first try you'll probably get valuable insights from the interview, which should prove helpful to you in preparing for your successful next round.

Martin L. Lebowitz
President
CIS