Money isn’t the most important factor for most people when it comes to their career. I’ve learnt over the years that challenge, growth potential and work environment are more important in choosing where you work. However, this doesn’t mean that money isn’t important and getting compensated for the value you bring an organization is critical to you staying in that role long term.
This is especially true in the IT world where demand for talent is only increasing and other organizations are willing to compensate you for what you do. The challenge can sometimes be that your current role and organization satisfy almost every other aspect of your must have list. This is where asking for a raise comes into play but with it being a very taboo topic it can be tough to engage in a conversation about increasing your compensation without feeling sleezy.
The best way to approach this situation is how we do most things in life with a concrete plan that you can execute. In order to prepare this plan we need to evaluate what is happening on the other end of this. Your manager is likely not giving out large raises for a few reasons such as no change in your role or responsibilities, a lack of awareness on the market or their own internal budget. Understanding where your organization is at is key to the success of your plan.
Having this knowledge in hand, the way to prepare is to have counters to these arguments before they ever come up. Build out a list of responsibilities you’ve taken on since you started your role or even some that you are willing to take on. Help educated them on the state of the current market using online resources to highlight the increase in pay rates for your skill set. Finally, show them the impact you’re having on the business and link it to actual dollars based off the projects or assignments you’ve done.
This isn’t a fool proof plan and there will be push back from your manager. The last option is to understand from them directly what would warrant a raise. Opening up the conversation with your manager as to what you can do to earn it and building out a plan with measurable goals and timelines will help get you to where you want to be.
If all this fails and your company can’t see your value check out our career matrix and we can help match you with an organization that does.
Jason Levy
Co-Founder @ Avansai
