Azzarello Group

When I was in my early 20’s I learned an important lesson.

I was working in a start-up company and had gone 3 years without a raise.

The wrong way…

I went to the CEO and asked for a raise.

He said, Why?

Among other things,  I said that I had been working for 3 years without a raise, and that I had taken on more and more responsibility over that time, and that I always delivered and often exceeded expectations.  I told him it was becoming un-motivating to feel I was working so hard and not moving forward in pay, and peers in other companies were making more money than I was…

He said, I don’t’ care.  It’s not my problem. I only care about what the cost is to replace you, and I could replace you for your salary or less —  so no raise.

(In reality I was valued more than that conversation would lead you to believe, and ultimately got rewarded for it, but I was being taught an important lesson.)

Your job is a contract with your company

You don’t get a raise for good attendance, or because you feel like you deserve one.

You earn a raise by increasing the value of your contribution.

And if you want to get that raise, you need to re-negotiate your contract on terms that are relevant and valuable to your company, not based on what you want or need. And you have to ask.

1. YOU Drive the process

If you are uncomfortable having this conversation with your boss either get comfortable with it, do it anyway, or don’t be disappointed if you get overlooked.

Know that you are at a disadvantage by not having this conversation.

It is vitally important that you and your boss share a common view of your performance and your expectations for promotion and compensation, even if your boss does not drive this discussion.  Of the 20-something years I worked in a corporation for a boss, I did my own performance review 17 times, just to make sure that there were never any disconnects.

2. Understand how you and your role are perceived

It is important to know if you are perceived as a high, average or low performer.  Don’t ever guess about this. There should never be any surprises about this. Find out.

Even in an economy where there are not a lot of raises going around, you still need to be communicating with your boss about your performance and what it is worth, so when there is money, you have done all the groundwork.

Also make sure you know how much your ROLE is valued by the company. For example you don’t want to be the superstar performer leading the support team for an obsolete product.  You may be great, but need to move into a higher valued role to get a raise.

Once you confirm that you are a high performer then go on to build your case for what you want.  If you are not perceived as a high performer – fix that first.  Understand what it takes, and focus on adding value, before you start asking for things.

3. Discuss your raise as part of a business outcome

The basic premise here is:

If I do this, what is it worth to the company?

Here are some things you can say:

• Last year, this is what I accomplished and this is my current compensation.
• I would like to raise the bar for the upcoming year, and deliver more value to the company.
• And If I were to add these additional business outcomes, exceed these goals, etc, would that be worth more to the company?  How much more?
• What business outcome would I need to accomplish that would be worth this level of pay, or this promotion?
• Can we agree that if I deliver this, you will give me that?

4. Follow up on the specfics…

• 9 months ago, we agreed on performance objectives which if accomplished would
  result in increased compensation.
• I believe I have delivered on all of these and then some,  and I also took on this additional project which has benefited the company by increasing our margin on this product line.
• Do you agree? Can I get your feedback on my accomplishments? … (Assuming it’s very positive then…..)
• Will you be increasing my compensation for next year, per our agreement?

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If the answer is, No, for some reason outside performance, you need to get a next agreement.

As long as you keep focused on business outcomes, you are on the high ground.

• If your hands are tied right now, I would like to understand the timeline of what is possible, and if it’s not a raise, is there [stock, bonus, promotion, etc.] that could be possible?
• I’m very motivated, but I think you can understand that at some point this level of performance will be hard to keep delivering if it is not recognized by the company, what do you advise?
• You have my commitment to keep delivering for you, but I can you help me understand what I can expect over time in terms of the company being able to hold up our prior agreement about my performance and compensation?

And my personal favorite…

• If you were in my position, how long would YOU keep performing at this level with my current compensation?

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Note to high performers:

One of the hazards of being a high performer is that your career advances quickly, and you are always at the bottom of the pay curve.

Your company acts like it is doing you a favor by taking a chance on you in a bigger role (and in the beginning they are), but then you can get stuck. You end up performing at or above the level of your peers and getting paid far less.

It is up to you to show the value of your work and re-negotiate your contract based on the business outcomes you deliver, instead of the history of how you got into the role.

Focus on what you are delivering,  and mention the fact that you are not getting any slack for having less time in the job, or delivering any less value than your peers.  You should be paid what the job is worth.

Two things to never do

1.  I need a raise because my mortgage has adjusted, I had another child, I am supporting my extended family…  Your company does not, and should not care what you spend your money on.  They only care about the value you deliver.

2. Give me a raise or I’ll quit.  This can work… if you are serious.  But you better actually quit if you don’t get the raise.  If you don’t quit, you will have caused so much bad will, and lost so much credibility that your career at that company will never quite recover.  And that story will be part of your back-channel reference forever after too.