Most of us struggle to develop better financial plans (minimize expenses, put great budgets together, identify investment strategies, etc.) but forget the ONE THING that can make all those efforts pay off more - Ask for that effin raise!!!! Especially women - who are systemically paid less (see http://ift.tt/2AiztW1).
Remember too that despite all the assertions of companies paying fairly commensurate with performance, you "get what you ask for, not what you deserve" (mostly). This is esp. true with women (as outlined in the link above).
We all find asking for a raise difficult - "what if the boss says no?". My answer is two-fold "what if the boss says YES?" and second "So what if the boss says no?" In the latter case, he knows of your concerns around pay and it will help you down the future.
(By the way, the boss probably feels the same as you probably do - They too feels that they deserves a raise and will be thinking about or afraid of talking to their boss :-))
Key steps in successfully asking for a raise:
Step 1: Preparation - Get facts on how MUCH you deserve to be paid (internet, colleagues outside of work, etc.). If gung-ho enough go a job interview or two to see a) if you can get a job elsewhere and b) how much they offer you.
Step 2: Preparation - prepare for the actual meeting with your boss. Think of this as a dry run. Do a "mock" session or two with trusted friends/mentors. In this preparation, YOU MUST HAVE A DESIRED AMOUNT YOU WISH TO MAKE!!!! (All caps are intentional.) Do not go in with a mealy-mouthed "I hope you will be fair <blah blah>". There is an important psychological principle called "anchoring effect" - http://ift.tt/1ma8Toc - which you should exploit.
Use humor, if consistent with your personality. Do not threaten or box your boss into a corner. Plan for what you will do if the boss says flatly "No" or more likely says "We are tight on budgets and really constrained for what we can allocate for raises"...
Step 3: The actual meeting - now that you are prepared, ask for a meeting with your boss and execute your plan.
Good luck!!!!
EDIT: Consistent with good financial planning practices, save the bulk of any raise you get (after a nice one-time celebration, of course)!
Submitted November 04, 2017 at 08:36AM by arnexa http://ift.tt/2AiMQ8A
