Table of Contents
It’s important to recognize that the way you present yourself is the primary factor that determines your value in the marketplace. If you want to be seen as a valuable asset who deserves significant compensation, you must position yourself accordingly. Make a firm decision today that you not only want but also deserve a raise. Take action and make it happen.
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ~ Thomas A. Edison
By following this four-week action plan, you can be certain that you will receive a raise.
WEEK ONE: Decide What You Want
The reason most people are “stuck” in life is that they don’t know what they want. This sounds simple because it is simple. You have to decide what you want, put it in writing, and then move forward toward it. Doing this doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to achieve your goal, but it will give you direction. And the direction is crucial. You will never get anywhere in life without it.
As a first step, write down EXACTLY what you want to achieve, how you’re going to do it, and when.
Since you’re going for a raise, list the following on a sheet of paper: your name, how much you’re currently earning, how much of a raise you’re looking for, what percentage it represents, what your new annual salary will total, when you’re going to start trying to make it happen, and what your deadline is for making it happen.
In addition, you should include the name of the supervisor you need to ask and when you intend to meet with him or her.
The sheet should look something like this:
Salary Increase Action Plan
My name is ______________________________ .
My current salary is $______________________ a year.
I want (and deserve) a $________________ raise, which amounts to an increase of ____%.
I am going to start trying to make it happen no later than ____________________ [insert date], and I intend to get it by ____________________ [insert date].
The supervisor whose approval I will need to get is ________________________, and I will meet with him or her to make my request no later than ___________________ [insert date].
Signed: ____________________________________
Don’t worry right now about whether this is doable. Simply write it out and get specific.
Why This Is Necessary
Some people are sceptical about the need to write down their intentions. But believe me—it works. Just talking and thinking about your goals isn’t enough. If you are serious about wanting to achieve them, you’ve got to be specific and concrete, complete with details and deadlines. In my experience, writing them down is the most effective method for achieving that goal.
But My Company Doesn’t Give Merit Raises
A lot of individuals work for employers who provide salary hikes solely based on their duration of service or have a rigid policy of conducting performance evaluations only once a year. If this resonates with you, you might feel discouraged and think that getting a raise is out of your control.
It is recommended not to give up hope. Many government workers, individuals with tightly regulated union jobs, and employees of large bureaucratic corporations have been convinced that they couldn’t receive a raise on their own schedule. However, after trying this approach, they were successful in receiving a raise.
Consider this story.
From $15 An Hour To $80,000 A Year
After waiting patiently for nearly an hour, a woman came up to David Bach at a book signing he was doing in Ottawa, Canada. Her name was Katrina, and by the time she reached David, she was almost in tears.
“David,” she said, “I know you hear this every day, but I have to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“Well, you’re welcome,” David replied. “But what for?”
“For telling me to go for it. I was earning around $15 an hour at a clothing store when I first read your book Smart Women Finish Rich. I hadn’t completed my education, and I didn’t really believe I had much of a future. Then I decided to try your step-by-step plan to get a raise.
At first, my boss said no—no one was getting raises that year. But I was relentless. I knew that if I added more value at work, they’d have to give me a raise. So I went out of my way to help the customers. Whatever they needed, I was there with a smile and a helping hand. I came to work early and I always stayed late, looking for ways to improve what we did.
Then one day a new customer saw me interacting with one of our regulars. She saw that I knew the customer’s name and that I had a real rapport with her. When I finished with that customer, she approached me and asked if I was happy at my job. I told her I was, but I added that I was also looking to do and be more—and that I wanted to make more. She told me she owned a clothing store downtown and asked if I’d be interested in visiting her store to discuss a job. I said, ‘Sure.’
I met with her later that day and got a job offer for $20 an hour plus commission! Within 90 days, I was the highest-paid person in the store. By the end of the year, I was the store manager—earning more than $35 an hour. Today I manage three stores, I earn more than $80,000 a year plus bonuses, I’ve got more than $20,000 in savings, and last year I bought a home!”
So just because your employer’s rules or policy don’t allow for merit raises, don’t throw in the towel. Once you start the ball rolling, you never can tell where it—and you—will end up.
WEEK TWO: Ask Yourself The Seven Magic Questions
What exactly do you do at work that makes you so valuable that people are actually willing to pay you for your time and effort? Sound appealing? You can go to work and be busy all day long “doing things.” But are these “things” really connected to the kind of productive, result-oriented work that makes you money?
Too many people spend their lifetimes essentially pushing paper and forwarding e-mails. Are you productive or do you spend most of your time doing what basically amounts to busy work?
An excellent way to find out is to put yourself in your boss’s shoes (or, if you’re self-employed, one of your customers’ shoes) and try to imagine how your boss would answer these Seven Magic Questions.
The Seven Magic Questions
- In what way am I most valuable to my boss?
- What does my boss perceive as my unique talents?
- Are there any aspects of my job performance that my boss is hesitant to disclose to me?
- How could I enhance my job performance and increase its value, according to my boss?
- What actions could I take to become an employee that my boss would consider to be part of their ideal team?
- Based on what my boss has observed of me throughout my time here, would they hire me if they had to make the decision today?
- According to my boss, what do I need to accomplish to earn a raise within the next six months?
Why do I think it’s a better idea to try to imagine your boss’s answers than to ask him the questions directly? Because they are incredibly searching questions that could open Pandora’s box. Look at question No. 6 again: Knowing what you know about me, would you hire me today? This question says it all. And the answer will be immediately obvious in your boss’s body language. If your boss feels awkward, can’t look you in the eye, or doesn’t quickly and strongly answer “Yes”—you’ve got a problem.
Do you really want to find this out? Actually, you do. The alternative is to wait to be fired—or worse, continue to work at a job, maybe for years, with no real potential for growth. But it’s better to acquire this knowledge on your own—so you can do something about it BEFORE you bring it to your boss’s (or customer’s) attention.
The Brutal Truth
If you are not prepared to be completely, painfully honest with yourself, you shouldn’t bother going through this exercise. Because chances are that if you did ask your boss these questions, a lot of his or her answers wouldn’t be entirely pleasant. In fact, some of them are likely to be downright awful. But don’t shy away from recognizing this. The sad, brutal truth is that we are all guilty of wasting valuable time putting energy into relationships and jobs that offer us no real potential for gain. And as unpleasant as it may be to hear the truth, the sooner you face up to it, the better off you will be.
Once you’ve answered all the questions, start thinking about what changes you’d have to make in your work habits to transform all the negative answers into positive ones. In other words, what specifically would you have to do to become not just a good but a great employee? On this basis, begin working up an action plan designed to maximize your value as an employee.
WEEK THREE: Learn The 20/60/20 Principle
If you are an employee, you can come to work and just do your job and get what you get. Alternatively, you can come to work with an action plan and create your future for yourself. It’s pretty much one or the other.
Throughout the years, a recurring observation has been made in almost every workplace. Employees always seem to break down into three basic groups: about 20% fall into the bottom group, about 60% fall into the middle group, and about 20% are in the top group. It’s called the 20/60/20 Rule.
Here’s how these groups have been defined.
Bottom 20%: Have No Clue
The people in this group barely manage to get to work on time. They manage to maintain employment or run a business despite their shortcomings. You run into these people every day. You work next to them. They are literally everywhere. You see them in restaurants and stores and at the airport. They are teaching your children, working for the phone company, and sorting the mail. Office buildings are filled with them.
Middle 60%: Want A Clue
Most workers are basically good people. They want to do well. They may be frustrated at times, but for the most part, they are honest, hardworking folks doing what they think they are supposed to do. And they went to school, got a job—and now they are working. They also work as teachers, letter carriers, waitresses, sales clerks—and in the cubicle next to you or the office down the hall. Although they try hard, for them life never seems easy.
Top 20%: Have A Clue
The top 20% get it. They know that you get only what you go for. They come to work with specific career and income goals. Basically, they manage their direction in life. They know how to make friends and influence people, as the saying goes. They are winners. You can see it in how they dress, talk, act, and live. Their lives have purpose and meaning. They are what are called “specifically intentioned” individuals.
You Know Where You Fit In
By now, you already know exactly which of these categories you belong to. Your friends and family also know. So do your co-workers, as well as your boss or customers. And if this makes you upset, it’s probably because you don’t like the person you happen to be right now.
If you don’t like the image of yourself that you see, then change. In this context, feeling uncomfortable is good. Your life starts to change the moment you feel uncomfortable. I can tell you for a fact that the air is better in the top 20%. The people in this category live more, do more, and are more. It’s a fun place to be. It’s not always easy, but neither is life in the bottom 20% or the middle 60%.
Now Write Your Action Plan
It should be clear by now that you don’t move into that top 20%—and certainly not into the “Chosen Few” category—simply by wishing and hoping. You’ve got to make a plan and then act on it. The same goes for getting a raise.
So where do you start? It’s simple, really. Back in Week Two, we raised the question of how much of what you do is productive and how much is busywork. What you need to do now is maximize the productive effort and minimize the rest.
WEEK FOUR: Ask For The Raise
By now, you should be feeling pretty confident. Why? Because you know exactly why you are entitled to be paid more for your time and effort. And as they say, knowledge is power.
You’ve already asked yourself the Seven Magic Questions—an exercise that showed you where you stand. You’ve also figured out how to maximize your value to the people who pay you by identifying your most productive activities and focusing on them, and you’ve written down your conclusions in a succinct action plan.
So now it’s time to approach your boss and ask for a raise. Or if you’re self-employed, it’s time to raise your prices.
Some friends or family members may try to discourage you from taking such a bold step. Ignore them. Believe me, there is no downside to what you are about to do. The worst thing that could happen is that your request is turned down—in which case you’ve learned something important (namely, that it may be time to start looking for a new job or perhaps a new career, or maybe that you need to focus harder on how to add more value).
If you have a boss, make an appointment with him or her. Know exactly how much you want to ask for, and consider putting it in percentage terms. A humble request for a 5% raise starting in the next 90 days may be easier for your boss to handle than a demand for a $2,500 raise—even if both amount to the same thing.
Similarly, ask for a raise in monthly or biweekly amounts. For instance, instead of saying, “I want an increase of $2,500 a year,” you might say, “I’m looking for you to increase my compensation by $50 a week”.
You Can Ask This Question
Another approach is simply to ask, “What would it take for me to get a raise in the next six months?” Pose the question and then be quiet—let your boss lay out what you’ll need to do to get that raise. Write down what he says, do it, and then follow up with your boss once you’ve done what he asked of you. You may even want to ask for a 90-day review meeting to see if you are progressing toward your six-month goal of getting a raise.
What if you’re self-employed? Again, if you are self-employed, you simply need to raise your rates. Though some businesses send out an explanatory letter or announcement when they raise prices, there is no law that says you have to say anything to anyone. (Excerpt is from “Start Late, Finish Rich” by David Bach).
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” ~ Colin Powell
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