How to Deal With Someone Who Keeps Asking for a Raise
As a supervisor, you want to keep your employees happy because an employee's job satisfaction can encourage him to excel on the job. Often, employees tie their happiness to their salary -- if they aren't making enough, they aren't happy. Fielding and addressing raise requests is a part of your supervisory responsibilities. If an employee regularly asks for a raise, handle the requests with respect and honesty, whether you can grant the raise or not.
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Instructions
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Ask the employee to justify his reasons for the raise. Employees need a legitimate reason to get a raise, and the most convincing reason is consistently excellent performance. While it would be nice to give an employee who needs more money a raise, it is not always possible. Connect raises to employee performance, and require the employee requesting the raise to prove his high level of performance at the company.
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Tie the raise to an annual performance review. Make sure that your raise-requesting employee understands that annual performance reviews are required to give raises. This policy can limit the number of raise requests you receive each year from any given employee. Stay true to your word and award performance-based raises after the review period every year.
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Meet with the employee's direct supervisor or team leader. If you do not have a handle on the employee's job performance, tell him that you will meet with his direct supervisor to assess his performance and the possibility of a raise. This initiative will show the employee that you are taking his request seriously, which might slow down his raise requests.
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Ask the employee to analyze comparable salaries in the same industry. If you find the employee's regular raise requests are unjustified, encourage him to research salaries at similar companies for his position. Ask him to report his findings to you. If you are confident that the employee is paid a competitive salary, this research might halt his raise requests.
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Work with human resources to establish clear raise-request policies. Employees might come to you asking for raises because the company does not have a clear policy in place. Draft a policy that explains when raises will be issued and how employees should request raises. Perhaps they should go through HR or wait for their annual performance review. A clear policy can limit the number of unjustified requests you receive.
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