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Relating to the Office: Raise Talk Isn't Easy For Anyone
On this week's episode of The Office corporate alerts Jim and Michael that there won't be funds to give everyone a raise and the co-managers are tasked with telling the team the crushing news.
Jim makes his first big call by announcing only the salespeople will receive raises. This immediately insights panic and questions from the ranks.
Pay Raises Are Barely There in 2009
Goldman Sachs employees might be poised to earn record bonuses this year, but the average employee is lucky if she receives a raise that covers the cost of living. According to The Wall Street Journal, human-resource consultants Watson Wyatt Worldwide Inc. and Hay Group estimate that median pay raises for 2009 ranged between two and three percent.
Your Two Cents: Are You Getting a Raise This Year?
It seems, this year, many Americans are getting coal in their salary stockings. It's not surprising given the rough year most employers have had, but it is eye-opening once we realize how 2008 differs from years past.
Hewitt Associates surveyed 640 companies that together employ nearly 13.5 million and discovered that 50 percent of these companies are cutting back on labor costs.
Three Things to Ask For If Your Raise Is Unremarkable
Performance reviews aren't all about the money, but for an employee's bottom line, they are. Companies have been making big decisions this quarter based on the poor performance of the past year and the uncertainty they face going in to 2009. With big companies laying off by the thousands (in the last week we saw Yahoo and Goldman Sachs cut ten percent of their massive workforces) and many smaller companies instilling temporary hiring freezes, we can be fairly certain that 2008 raises will be, at most, unremarkable.
Grind Tip: Ask for This, Not That
Asking for a raise right now might be out of the question as many companies are making personnel cutbacks, but that doesn't mean you can't do anything right now to make yourself more valuable to your employer. If you're in a position where you would normally be getting a raise but it's a no-way no-how situation this year because of budget reasons, consider asking for different responsibilities instead.
Ask your boss if there are any new responsibilities that you can take on that would give your job description more depth.
Money Tip: Ask For a Raise in These Terms
We've been through the big points in asking for a raise, including how to approach your boss, maintaining confidence and poise, and how to prepare for an effective negotiation. One fine-tuning point is the way that you should actually put your desired raise into numbers: Ask for a particular percentage raise, not a specific dollar amount.
Telling your boss this number is probably the thing that makes you most nervous about having the conversation in the first place.
Want a Raise? You'll Have to Work For It
Have you been feeling like you're in a seemingly endless salary funk? You're so not alone. A new Hewitt Associates study shows that base pay in 2009 will rise just enough to make it the seventh year in a row of flat salary growth.
How to Save More Without Earning More
Raises may be a rare occasion during these days of employer belt-tightening, and when they do come along they're likely to disappoint. Stagnant paychecks don't have to imply savings-as-usual — there's a tangible way to save money without earning more!
Scott Burns of MSN Money calls it the "Power of Attentive Spending," but I just call it a good idea.
I'm Asking: Have You Ever Asked For a Raise?
More than half of you indicated that you're not fairly compensated for your job, which means the majority of you are disappointed every time you look at your paycheck.
When we're not properly rewarded for our efforts it can be hard to keep giving our all at work, and sometimes it becomes obvious that our situations won't change unless we ask for more. Have you ever requested a raise?
Career Tip: Keep This in Mind When Asking For a Raise
Confidence is key when asking for a raise, and the strength in your argument and poise in presentation should come from your accomplishments and conviction that it's the right move. Listing your personal financial hardships should be left out of the equation when approaching your boss; if you really do need more money and are ready to take on more responsibility, find out what you can do to make yourself more valuable.
While I think the point is pretty clear, Michael Zwell author of Six-Figure Salary Negotiation said it best: "When we were young, our parents told us that if we wanted money, we had to earn it.
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