Bigger Raises & Better Promotions: Why Raises

This begins a series sharing how to get bigger raises and better promotions at work

Sue learned how her organization determined salary raises. She knew that she could not influence the amount of money they would give as raises. She recognized that she could influence how big the raise she received based on her work performance. So, she discovered exactly what management wanted and delivered it. Then, to get the highest raise she selected 1-3 areas in her work to significantly exceed. She communicated how she met and exceeded their expectations to her supervisors.

Sue received the biggest raises offered by her company for 12 years in a row.

Philosophy for Raises

Companies raise you pay for a variety of reasons:

• Reward good work
• Recognize contribution to the company’s mission and goals
• Keep good workers
• Maintain your buying power by keeping you close to the cost of living

Several factors affect your employer’s ability to give raises:

• Amount of money available to share with employees: less money = smaller raises
• Management’s priorities for rewarding and sharing with employees
• Reallocation of funds to other priorities or overhead demands
• Greed within the highest levels of the company or stockholders
• Greater perceived ROI of CEOs over rank and file employees

Two options for Determining Raises

Small companies typically do not structure programs for giving raises. They may offer an annual raise based on profits that year, the largesse of the owner, or perceived value you provide

Large companies may establish a system to determine raises. They

• Allocate how much they will give that year as a total dollar amount
• Establish salary ranges with a minimum and maximum salary
• Divide the salary range into four quartiles
• Assign a percentage increase for each quartile based on performance
  • Significantly exceeds expectations (highest percentage)
  • Exceeds expectations (higher percentage)
  • Meets expectations (base percentage)
  • Does not meet expectations (no percentage)
• Assign raises based on the perception of how well you meet expectations and which quartile your current salary lies within

You get bigger raises the more you return on investment.

Wednesday we explore discovering what job management wants done