Let’s be honest with ourselves. Very few of us go to work every day simply because we love what we do. Those who do are fortunate. For many of us, though, money is the incentive that keeps us coming back day after day.
There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. In fact, that’s the bargain all employees make with their employers: “I give you my time and effort. You pay me money.”
As we gain experience and responsibility and, hopefully, contribute more and more to the companies we work for, the time and effort we invest presumably become more valuable—hence, the provision of pay raises.
So what are some good ways to convince your boss that you deserve a raise? In this post, we’ll be focusing on the extent to which you can demonstrate why you deserve a pay raise and craft key messages to make your case, which can put you in a good position to demonstrate the tangible value you provide to your employer. That value can translate into a pay increase!
Impact of Your Work and Relative Supply
If the work you are doing is central to your company’s ability to compete, and very few people out in the job market are able to do what you do—or, at least, do it as well as you do it—this is a strong reason to ask for a raise.
Bottom-Line Impact
If your work has demonstrably and concretely impacted the company’s bottom line over the last year and that trend is likely to continue, it makes sense for the company to give you a raise. You are a sound financial investment.
Cost to Replace
Replacing employees in any role can be a costly endeavor. But some employees are clearly more costly to replace than others. If you’re one of them, making the case based on replacement cost (and lost opportunity) can be a good way to prove your worth.
Importance to Future Plans
Your position is obviously important to the organization you work for or it wouldn’t have created it. But, what about you, specifically? What additional value do you bring because of your competencies, or key attributes, that others aren’t likely to be able to contribute?
Risk of Loss
Would losing you cause big disruptions for the organization? Would there be impacts on productivity, sales, or innovation? How might you quantify the financial impact of those potential losses?
Here we’ve reviewed five strong arguments that—if they apply to you—can support your request for a bigger paycheck. In a follow-up post, we’ll continue this discussion by looking at five weak arguments for requesting a pay raise.