This simplest option, asking for a raise, might feel the scariest of all, but have no fear—I’m about to reveal the best strategies you need to get the raise, promotion, or bonus you deserve.
We’ve discussed how your job is not all about the money, that it’s important to feel good about what you’re doing. But sometimes it is about the money. After all, you have to make money to give money away—to fulfill your Generosity Purpose.
In order to start earning more, saving more, and giving more, you may have to make some changes in your job situation. But before you do, ask yourself:
- In your job, are you communicating your value?
- How confident do you feel asking for a raise?
- What about a promotion?
- Have you considered additional training to better position yourself for success?
- Are you worthy of making more money? (Yes!)
Many people are hurting right now. I know that for many Americans, it’s hard to put food on the table, and I understand where they’re coming from. But I believe people should not be handed the crumbs off the table by the government; I want them to have a seat at the table. It’s your job to add so much value to people that you’re worth more than the minimum wage—far more. If you live a minimum wage life, you’re going to have minimum opportunities. You’re going to make minimum money and have minimum relationships. It doesn’t have to be that way.
There’s a gap between you wanting to earn more money and the person in charge of the decision to pay you more. I’m going to help you close that gap. While it’s been made to be a deeply complex issue, it’s actually quite simple. Two words are battling each other: value and fairness. Take the example of high-producing athletes who are paid a boatload of cash because of the value society places on what they do. They put fans in seats, sell concessions and sports memorabilia, and help the team win the coveted championship. Let’s say they get paid $4 million per year. Now let’s take you. You work hard at your job, but you don’t feel like you’re paid what you’re worth.
At the risk of you slamming this book closed in disgust, I know you don’t want me to sugarcoat this. Based on what you’re currently getting paid, you’re not adding as much value to your company as the athlete is to their team. That’s not fair, is it? You and the athlete both work hard, but they’re earning fifty or one hundred times what you’re receiving. Now the point I’m making is not for you to suit up and pursue an athletic career. You won’t hear me holding you back, but I hope I’m not the first to tell you, that ship has likely already sailed. What I am telling you is this: you must add more value to your company and your company’s clients or customers. Otherwise, the salary you earn now will likely not change unless you decide to change jobs. Money chases value. Add value to an enterprise, and its money will chase you.
Your first option may well be to consider negotiating for a higher salary, but there’s a right way to do that. Ramit Sethi, author of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, told me that he learned about negotiating on his visits to the markets in India, where both his parents were born. “We learned that you can ask for something, when appropriate, and the other person is under no obligation to give it to you,” he explains. “But sometimes just asking, and doing it correctly, can give you major advantages.”
Ramit believes this applies to almost every area of life, including salary negotiations. When looking for additional compensation, he says that the first key is to understand whether you are underpaid; a lot of people in his I Will Teach You to Be Rich community are underpaid by $5,000, $10,000, even $20,000 per year. “You can go to sites like Payscale.com or Salary.com, and you can plug in your information and see how you are paid [compared to similar jobs in your field],” he suggests. “That’s a big revelation to people when they realize, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve been dramatically underpaid.’”
Ramit’s second piece of advice is to think strategy. “So the typical approach for salary negotiation is, people think they’re gonna kick down their boss’s door and just put their hand out and say, ‘Give me some money.’ And then they go, ‘My boss will never go for it!’ Yeah, of course not. Who would go for someone going, ‘Give me money’? That’s not how it works.”
If you feel like you are underpaid, the first thing to do is to look inward, rather than outward. Inquire how to help your boss achieve his or her goals and show your willingness to be a valuable and profitable team member. Few people ask their superiors how they can help, and those who do automatically stand out. Become indispensable. Develop the ability to handle multiple tasks. Volunteer for projects, especially those that are stimulating and in your areas of strength. Talk to your boss; make sure your boss appreciates you and feels like you’re doing a good job. Create income opportunities for your company. Identify what you’re good at and look for opportunities to take advantage of those strengths. Add value to your work. When you add value, you make yourself worth more to your employer. And finally, ask to be paid what you believe you are worth. When you add value or create revenue for your employer, you deserve to be compensated accordingly.
Ramit suggests setting up a meeting with your boss to ask what it would take to become a top performer. Then once you’re crystal clear on the answer, have it in your mind to exceed those goals in the coming months. Say to your boss, “Assuming I hit all these [objectives], I’d like to discuss a compensation adjustment, but first let me work on these things.” Then you spend the next four to six months working on these objectives, so when you walk in for your review, you’ve already nailed it.
“You’ve already been communicating [with your boss] for the last six months,” Ramit explains. “You have your data from the websites, and you can have an informed discussion about your salary. This is how many, many, many of my readers negotiate ten- or fifteen-thousand-dollar raises. And so, you can do it, but you need to approach it in the right way.”
In other words, first add value, then ask for the raise you obviously deserve. “When it comes to negotiating, it’s a dance,” Ramit explained. He added, “Your boss is under no obligation to pay you more [just because you ask]; similarly, you are under no obligation to stay. If you find that the market tells you you are worth more, you could leave.”
But be careful about treating this as a short-term strategy. Ramit reminds us that compensation can be about other factors in addition to money. “You might be getting compensated with other things, like you love your coworkers or you’re learning a lot of skills. There are lots of reasons to stay or to leave, but simply saying, ‘I’m underpaid, please pay me more’—that’s not persuasive.” Yes, you could threaten your boss with leaving unless you get a raise, and if your leaving puts your boss in a bind, she may agree to your demands.
But that’s like putting a Band-Aid on a compound fracture. It doesn’t solve your long-term problem.
(To be continued...)
This excerpt is taken from “Good Money Revolution: How to Make More Money to Do More Good” by Derrick Kinney. To read other articles of this book, click here. To buy this book, click here.
The Epoch Times Copyright © 2023 The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.
