What does it take to get a pay rise? How should I ask for it?
Many individuals have sought and been granted pay rises in the course of their careers. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Regardless of your context, there are questions you need to ponder as you seek a pay rise.
How has your performance and contribution been rated by the organisation in the recent past?
How would your line manager describe your appetite for extra work including seemingly dull projects?
How much does your behaviour personify the values of your organisation?
Q: Is there someone who has ever come to you for a pay rise and actually got it? Please tell me what it takes. I have been knocking on HR’s door for the past three years and nothing has happened.
Many individuals have sought and been granted pay rises in the course of their careers. A pay rise ought not to be a rare cosmic event that is only prompted by a mysterious signal in the universe. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula, certain factors can increase the likelihood of being successful during the negotiation process.
Some organisations normally grant pay rises periodically to employees who meet certain performance expectations. In such environments, and where an organisation is facing financial strain, individuals who seek pay rises need to demonstrate compelling reasons to support their cases. Other organisations may practise adhocracy and grant pay rises without a structured approach thereby running the risk of anchoring merit on fleeting impressions inspired by factors that are not related to employee contribution such as fawning behaviour.
Regardless of your context, there are questions you need to ponder as you seek a pay rise. How has your performance and contribution been rated by the organisation in the recent past? How would your line manager describe your appetite for extra work including seemingly dull projects? How much does your behaviour personify the values of your organisation?
What is different about those who have received pay rises in the past? To what extent have you sought feedback and become more aware of how others truly experience you at work?
It is not the Human Resources function but your line management that would ideally consider whether you deserve a pay rise, as the latter shares greater intimacy with your performance and conduct.
The HR function would play an advisory role, primarily supporting line management with the engineering and hygiene of the pay review processes. HR should however intervene if deserving cases do not receive due attention. Are you knocking on the right door?
Consider that you will quickly forget a pay rise, once granted, and instead obsess about self-awareness, personal growth and diligence because these are the attributes that will inevitably attract sustained career dividends.
Fred Gituku, Human Resources Practitioner
