By Today’s post is a true story about my negotiation for a raise…and the ripple effect from that request. I’m hopeful it will help those of you who might struggle to stand up and say “I’m worth more than that!”.
The abridged backstory is I accepted a position with a lower title than I thought acknowledged my level of experience along with a pay increase lower that I thought reflected my work in the prior year. I accepted the company’s valuation of me (via title and $) because I personally think titles are meaningless…and if I’m honest, I lacked confidence. I accepted their valuation because (see Brag post from yesterday) I assumed I would be appropriately rewarded based on my hard work…so if they thought $N was appropriate, it must be. That was in February, effective April 1 (yes I know April Fool’s Day). For months I stewed about not being valued, pushing myself harder than ever to deliver while at the same time feeling my soul get crushed. Every day I woke up feeling undervalued and unappreciated.
Finally in October I had had enough. I stood up for myself. I wrote a letter outlining all I had accomplished in the prior year along with what I had done from April to October. The BEST thing I did was send it off to a neutral party (my sister Sarah) for review. She wordsmithed what I wrote…and removed the underlying tone of anger and frustration, so that my message wasn’t lost.
As an example…what I initially wrote “I never thought title mattered, but the organization has evolved so that it does matter…”
became “Thank you for the opportunity to clarify what I want from [redacted] and why. First, I need a title better suited to what I can do for this company. Specifically, I think my role in the company should be that of:”
My first recommendation therefore is to engage a neutral party to review your email (and potentially to prepare for the conversation by role playing). This step will help keep the emotions at bay and improve your ability to deliver your message.
Second…have your the salary negotiations played out already. In an ideal world you say I want $Y and that’s it. I knew there would be some back and forth (having negotiated with clients and as a team leader before). My letter contained a much higher number (if $Y is my salary number and $N my bonus then $Y + 25% plus $N +15%) so that we would ultimately land at a palatable number.
Third recommendation, end on a positive note (in the first opening dialogue and at the conclusion of the negotiation). There is no need for an ‘or else’ or any evil laughter. My ending to my email was something like ‘I appreciate this opportunity and look forward to discussing this with you in person.’. In my in person discussion when we agreed to a magical number, I thanked my manager again and spoke positively of the working relationship and working for the company.
Fourth recommendation, before you hit send or have that initial conversation, walk through all the scenarios so you’re prepared with a response. If they had said no, was I prepared to quit that day? If they offered $X was I willing to accept it?
Interestingly enough..they agreed to the higher salary number but a smaller bonus number.
I realized as I walked away from the table that I would NEVER have received that level of increase had I not stood up for myself and demanded it, which frankly upset me. While the negotiation was in my favor, this company actually lost a bit of my loyalty. Why? Because prior to this moment I believed I had been compensated appropriately for my hard work. The reality was I was compensated to the lowest degree that the company thought they could get away with while retaining me an employee. This negotiation proved to me they weren’t paying me what they should have. The title battle was just some icing on the cake.
Great job cuz 👏👏👏👏