Get that Raise how to Anticipate Objections
A lot of companies ask you to evaluate yourself when it is time for possible raises. This gives you a specific but limiting framework in which to make your case. When you ask for a raise on your own, you need to be prepared on two fronts. The first front is having a very good grasp on what it is that your company expects of you in your position and a very good grasp on how well you have fulfilled those expectations. It is also very good to be able to talk about innovations you have made, things you have done without being asked, things above and beyond your job description. You want to present yourself as someone who not only does her job very well but also one who thinks outside the box and is able to make improvements in her own position or improvements that affect the entire company. In other words, you need to make a very good case for your value to the company.
The second front is what you might expect the boss to come back with. In other words, what might the boss say in order to make a case against giving you a raise?
1. She might question some of your assertions about the job you have done or are doing. In this case, you'd better have plenty of documentation to support your claims of doing a good job and being an innovative worker. (By the way, in anticipation of this meeting, it is a good idea to note the things you have done throughout the year to improve your work or improve some aspect of the company.)
2. A truly evil boss might suggest that anyone could do your job and possibly do it better and for less pay. If this is true, you're in trouble, but it is usually a ploy to try to shake your confidence and make you feel you're lucky to have the job. It is here when your self-image and self-confidence come in. You need to reaffirm to your boss the job you have done and the ways in which you have gone above and beyond.
3. You might be told that the company isn't giving raises right now because things are tough. In this situation what you need is factual information. The salaries of the head of the company and others near the top may be public information. You may not need it, but it would be interesting to see if you can find out who has gotten raises and how much they are. An interesting phenomenon in large companies today is that while workers are being laid off because the company is not doing well financially, CEOs are getting obscene raises. Ford laid off some 10,000 workers and then the new CEO got about an $18 million package.
No matter what objections your boss might raise to giving YOU a raise, your best ammunition is your confidence about the work you do and your ability to express that confidence to your boss. If you really are a valuable employee, you are worth the raise because good employees are worth a lot and it costs a lot to have to train someone new who may end up not being anywhere as good as you are.
