How to Negotiate a Raise at Work
Preparation is the key to successfully negotiating a raise at work. Before you even request a meeting with your boss, spend time gathering evidence of your value to the company and assessing your employer's financial health. Then get prepared with some reasonable arguments that will counter the inevitable "No."
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Instructions
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Research salaries online, comparing yourself with others who have skills, duties and experience similar to yours.
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Investigate your company's workforce levels. Determine how many people have joined the company, and how many are in newly created positions. Compare the number with any layoffs that have occurred.
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List the ways you have helped the company to increase revenue or cut expenses since your last raise. Make note of increased job duties you have been given because of layoffs or other work force reductions.
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Make your pitch: "I deserve a raise because my work has made this company more profitable and more efficient." Show your manager the evidence of your increased value to the company, as well as your research on salaries and on your company's workforce. Ask to move into a new salary range rather than proposing a single number, to allow some "wiggle room" on both sides.
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Counter objections that the company can't afford a raise, by pointing out any new positions that have been created--or by noting others who have received raises after being promoted. Show that your increased job duties essentially mean you have been promoted as well. Suggest that a modest increase for one person still adds up to less than a second full salary---especially when your benefits would remain the same.
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Propose revisiting the issue in three months, if she still refuses.
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Tips & Warnings
Ask for a little more than you really want or expect. No matter what the economy is like, managers need to show their own bosses that they're negotiating for the lowest possible expenses.
Say that you deserve the raise, never that you need it.
Be careful about hinting that you're being sought by other companies that pay much better. Your manager could call your bluff, or may feel threatened and start viewing you negatively on the job.
Politely thank your manager for his time and consideration, whether you get the raise or not.
