101 Guide to Prepare for Your Next Meeting to Ask for A Pay Rise

Having had International Women’s Day last month, I’ve been writing a lot about positioning yourself as a leader, empowering yourself and other women around you and speaking up about your accomplishments.

With the gender pay gap also being a hot topic and while so many women are still not being paid as much as their male counterpart, I wanted to share a five-step guide to prepare and empower you with what you need to do before you go into the meeting to negotiate your next pay rise.

1. Know your value

First, knowing your value and worth is important. Some ways that you can compare your current salary is by

• Asking your HR department what the relevant pay bands are (but I would say don’t take that answer as gospel. There are always people who are getting higher than their pay band)
• Looking at similar roles on Seek
• Asking recruiters
• Find industry standards and salary surveys available online.

Being a leader in recruitment, Hays Australia regularly updates and monitors their salary guide here. This is also a great guide to use in communicating the business case.

2. Create and communicate the business case

• Money in your pocket is money out of hers/his.

Whilst having the pay raise conversation, it is crucial to take the time to show your manager why it is a good investment and how you will return more money to the business profits.

• How will you measure that business case to prove Return On Investment (ROI) 

If you don’t have any KPI’s or goals for your role and projects, then this is where you can show your manager how you will measure their increased investment in you.

• Don’t undermine yourself with your word choices

In her book, “Playing Big”, Tara Mohr talks about the words we use to undermine our speech habits. These words include

• Just
• Actually
• Sorry

To demonstrate credibility, show confidence and exude authority, communicate with power and eliminate these words at all costs.

3. If you are applying for a new role within the company, keep in mind how much they will save if you take on the new role

If you are aware of a new role opening or know that the company you work for are replacing an employee, who has left the business, and the role ticks all the boxes for you to achieve your success then this is a perfect opportunity to receive the pay rise you seek.

As part of your business case some things you can point out are:

• Saving of costs on recruitment and advertising for the role
• Saving of time to interview
• Training, and
• Paying one wage rather than two

4. If the answer is no, keep the conversation open

While you might feel like taking a deep breath, walking out of the meeting and giving up, keep the conversation flowing. Finding out what will help you to get over the line to the next pay scale is important to remember for the next time you catch up.

Some questions to ask include:

• What do I need to do in order for you to feel like that is a valuable investment?
• I would like to keep this conversation alive. When can we discuss this again?

Asking these questions will help to set KPI’s and a timeline to achieve them in. It will also help to keep you motivated should the meeting not go to plan.

5. Setting up your relationship for success

As tempting as it is if you don’t receive the amount you are asking for, don’t provide ultimatums. They don’t work.

If you don’t get the full amount you ask for or get knocked back completely, then ask your manager what is required for you to achieve it. If the required targets are unrealistic, ask for their guidance as to how your manager thinks you would achieve them. i.e.

• What do they expect from you going forward?
• Share how she/he as your leader can get the most out of you

At all times, it is important to show them that you value yourself, want, and deserve the pay rise you seek.

Be well informed. Value yourself. Be confident.

#BeBoldForChange

I’d love to hear how your next review goes. Good luck!