How to negotiate a raise with the boss: this was the topic of a coaching conversation I had this week. The person asking my advice had been working with the company for a few years now and had been getting positive performance evaluations, but she believes that she deserves more of a merit raise than she has received over the past few years.
This year she decided to take the bull by the horns and do something about it. She emailed both her direct manager and the SVP of the business unit to ask if they would consider a 4% increase, given the positive performance review she had just received.
The response she received was chilling: the manager emailed her back saying that she would get what she would get; the SVP emailed the manager saying that the request had been totally inappropriate and that it should not happen again.
In an effort to always steer people I coach along the path of personal responsibility and to focus on the one thing they have the power to change — themselves, I did not comment directly on the behavior of her managers but kept my advice centered on what she could do to influence the outcome she desires.
My suggestion was twofold. First, I suggested that she had put herself at a disadvantage by using email to make the request. This is essentially a sales conversation and selling is all about communicating and influencing other people. Over half of our communication happens through body language. Another third comes from the tone of our voice when we speak. Less than 10% of what we communicate actually comes from the words we use. So when you email, you are limiting yourself to less than 10% of the tools you have at your disposal to get your message across. First lesson: have potentially difficult conversations with people in person if at all possible. It takes more courage, but it gets better outcomes every time.
Secondly, and more importantly, the problem here is not that she has asked for a specific merit raise percentage, it is that she asked at the wrong time. The evaluation period has come to an end. The performance evaluation has been delivered and the decision as to what percentage of merit increase to give if any has already been completed. At this stage of the game, when she sets an expectation of a specific raise increase, all she is accomplishing is making her managers defensive (or in the best case scenario, letting them know they can lower their original raise to whatever she requested if it indeed was less). There is no upside here.
But what if she took a different tack? What if she decided to accept whatever decision had already been made about this past 12 month performance period, and then asked to speak with her supervisor about the 12 month period that was about to begin? What if she asked her supervisor to help her understand the performance metrics he would have to see in order to merit the increase she was requesting?
What if she asked her supervisor to paint a perfectly clear picture of what success actually looked like in terms of improvement areas and measureable results? Then, she could establish in advance exactly what it would take in terms of performance to achieve the raise she wants. That way she could feel in control of her own destiny and measure her progress along those next 12 months together with her manager.
If you do not have a crystal clear picture of what success looks like in your job, it is important to go to your manager and ask for it. It is not a bad idea to write out your own job description and share it with your manager to see if there is any daylight between what you think success looks like and what your manager thinks. You might be surprised.
Having a clear, mutually agreed upon KRA or key results areas document you have agreed upon with your manager is crucial. This document can help team members stay engaged as well as encouraging leaders to hold themselves and their teams accountable for results.
For more help in developing effective KRA’s for your team, contact Matt at matt@mattpollock360com for a free consultation.
