Wondering if you’re worth more? Perhaps you’ve taken on a new course lately, or you’ve earned a new certification – maybe you’ve just taken on more responsibility. Whatever your situation, you might feel that your time at work is more valuable today than it has been.
Everyone would like to earn more money – but the difference for some is those who ask, and those who don’t. Unless it’s already agreed to have a review in your contract, if you’re not bringing up the conversation with your manager, it may not crop up at all.
So how do you go about asking for it? Below, we’ve highlighted a couple of ways that could help you:
Find the right time to ask
The phrase ‘There’s a time and a place’ has never been more true. If you’re planning on asking for a raise, timing couldn’t be more important. Consider the following:
- Financial health of the company: How is your company or airline performing? Depending on its success, this may or may not be the right time to ask – particularly if they are making cuts to jobs. Search the company’s financial reports online to give yourself an idea of its health.
- Consider your manager’s workload: Is your manager under a lot of pressure? Identify when they seem most approachable – this will make it a lot easier to discuss compensation with them.
- Time of year: In many businesses, there are set periods of time when it is natural to talk about pay – annual or six monthly reviews might be in place for a company, in which case asking for a raise outside of these periods may not be welcomed.
- Project/task completion: Been working on a long and stressful project that’s turned out successful for your airline? Reflect on your recent accomplishments to understand the impact you’ve had on the company, and discuss your compensation with this in mind.
Benchmark your salary
It’s very important to know your worth. Have you started looking for similar jobs only to find that they pay a better salary?
It’s perfectly appropriate to discuss this as a point with your manager – perhaps they didn’t benchmark the role when you started with them. Bringing this to their attention could spark a positive discussion.
Communicate your successes
If you feel you deserve a salary increase, be prepared to discuss why you feel you deserve it. In other words, take evidence to show that you have made a positive impact to your organisation.
Any major projects or tasks achieved over the last year, or six months for example, should be clearly highlighted, and preferably will be related to the growth/advancing of the company.
Take on more responsibility
A good trigger for approaching a salary discussion is if you’ve taken on more responsibility at work, and not already been compensated for it.
Proving you can manage an additional workload with added successes shows your value to an employer – just be sure you’re not taking on too much before salary has been discussed – you could be doing two people’s jobs for the price of one…
Focus on why you deserve it
The reasons why you feel you deserve a raise are much more important than why you need it. Never discuss your personal circumstances when discussing a raise – this isn’t the company’s concern, with regards to your salary.
Your focus should be set on explaining to them how you have impacted their business. By presenting the value you’ve added, you prove what you’re worth – don’t try to guilt them into a raise.
Be open and honest
If you feel you’ve made a difference to the company, be open about this. There’s no shame in highlighting how essential you are to the company.
You should be honest if you are not happy with your salary, particularly if it’s promoted negative feelings or thoughts about changing jobs. Communicating this subject with your employer will also strengthen your relationship, by helping them to understand your ambitions
