Katie Roberts Career Consulting

This process is ideally an ongoing process right throughout your career. The strategy for achieving a new title or pay rise relies largely on you building a strong case to demonstrate why you deserve it. This case needs proof – which means you need a strategy. The best time to raise the conversation is during a formal one-on-one performance review or during your annual appraisal. However, if your company doesn’t hold regular reviews/appraisals, you should ask for an opportunity to present your case.

Here some simple steps to follow: 

Step 1 – Record Your Successes – continually strive for excellence and the achievement of goals in your role; then maintain an ongoing and up to date file of your work achievements. This should include formal performance evaluations, customer thank you or commendation letters and awards, but could also include details of other minor wins along the way. Casual comments from colleagues, superiors and customers could be included, as well as details of new systems or processes you implemented or initiated, and tangible successes and achievements such as productivity improvements, new customer wins, revenue and/or profit gains.

Step 2 – Develop Your Strategy – review your success file before developing a proposal or business case to present to your manager. Your proposal should detail your achievements and showcase skills like leadership, company knowledge, teamwork, and innovation. Research current market trends in terms of salary so you know what a fair reward for your efforts is. It’s also a good idea to practice what you’re actually going to say – write a brief script and always try to quantify your achievements where possible. Don’t be afraid to bring notes to your meeting so you can reference specifics without getting flustered.

Step 3 – Maintain a Professional Approach – have the information on hand in order to answer questions and delve into more detail if you’re asked. Try to relax and present a confident, businesslike approach (preparation will help here). Respond to your manager’s questions and comments in as much detail as necessary. Acknowledge positive feedback and try not to disagree with any negative feedback – instead use this as an opportunity to gain input into what you could have done better. After presenting your facts, ask for your pay rise or promotion outright. State what you feel you deserve based on your achievements and successes.

Step 4 – Accept the Outcome – with a positive attitude regardless of result. If your request is rejected, take the opportunity to ask for feedback on areas that are lacking and specifics on how you can prepare for a possible future pay rise or promotion.

The subjects of promotions and/or pay rises can be difficult for many people to broach, however preparation and a professional approach will ensure the best possible outcome. This shouldn’t be a one off or irregular event though – review your career status and progress against goals on a regular basis and ideally take some time to assess where you’re at and where you’d like to be every 12-18 months.

Would you like help developing a career strategy that puts you on the right trajectory for success? If so, please click here to view our Career Guidance and Coaching Services.