get yourself a raise

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Getting Yourself a Pay Raise! Oct 11 2014 Comments made by Microsoft’s Satya Nadella about how women in the workplace should deal with their pay raise exploded into the media world and the blogosphere  because of their sheer fatuousness! His thoughtless comments, though, spoke the truth as Satya himself saw it. Interstingly, Satya in Sanskrit means truth! Mr. Nadella’s truth is that he himself probably never had to ask his bosses at Microsoft for a rais e, since his rise there was quite meteoric. When you are on that path you are too intoxicated to think about raises and titles, but are taken by how well you have done for yourse lf and expect that the “high er powers” and the “system” will take care of your needs, as he himself professed that day. He was probably right about that assessment at every step of his career. Unfor tunate ly, not all of us are that lucky or trus ting of the system and the higher power s. Our needs are more existential and urgent. So, this blog is NOT about Mr. Nadell’a fatuou s comments, his mindset, or of those of his ilk, but it is about how does one go about seeking the raise that they deserve; us everyday folks! There are three issues that shed a sharp er focus on the real problems everyone faces at work. This problem is further exacerbated for women because of the structural issues facin g that gender and becaus e of how they approach their own careers compar ed to men. Resear ch shows that men apply for jobs for which they have 60% of the stated qualif icati ons, while women demur unless they have 100% (I call it “the 60% challe nge.”) . The same dynamic is probabl y also at play when it comes to making your case during a performance review. So, the three issues that need addressing here are: 1.  The most relev ant issue to each employ ee i s how do you bring parit y b etween the value you create at work and how it is compen sated; 2.  The secon d on e is how do you level the play ing field that is histo rical ly lop sided (the pay gap); 3.  How do you bring parit y to the two gender s’ mindsets (the “60% challenge” for women, mentioned above).

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8/10/2019 Get Yourself a Raise

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In this blog I plan to provide my recommendations (that have created successes for my

clients) on how to address each of these issues:

Although it is more difficult to structurally change the lop-sided, gender-biased playing

field each person affected by that inequity can take a personal charge and focus on how

their own case fits into their company’s current compensation framework  (“Be the

change you wish to see in the world.”). My view is that if each person facing such

inequity takes care of themselves (I did not purposely use the pronoun “herself,” because

I think it is a much broader problem) then the structural inequities will sort themselves

out over period of time.

So, how does one do this so that they have a fighting chance of being treated equitably?

As a senior executive in the corporate world myself in one of my past avatars, I found

that the iniquitous pay raises in companies occur because they often go unchallenged and

they are also handled reactively. What I always exhort to my clients, especially when they

are paid below their price point, is that waiting for the annual performance review (APR)

is too late to get the right consideration. The right time is now. Here are

my recommendations to get the raise you want:

1.   Well ahead of the APR cycle have a serious discussion about your “roadmap of 

value creation” with the boss. This roadmap includes both what the boss lays out as your assigned tasks, the initiatives that you  propose, and the ones the boss agrees on for you to

create even greater and new value in your current role. These initiatives can be selected

from your knowledge of the key issues the work unit, organization, and the company are

facing to make itself a stronger player in the market.

2.   Always remember that you do NOT get what you deserve, but what you negotiate.

This negotiation has much more authority and meaning if you do it ahead of the value

delivery. Somehow, the perceived power and value of what you deliver diminishes

exponentially with time after you deliver it. So, having an agreement of what that value

means to your boss, the organization, and the company must be cemented before you

 begin to work on creating that value.

3.   The other problem you will inevitably face when you start negotiating after the

value of your work is realized is that someone will poach your claim to your 

contributions and hijack it away from you when they realize that what you are doing is

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valuable. You can stake your claim to your own initiative only if you protect it by having

the agreement with your boss first, before even you begin that work.

4.   Learn how to monetize the value of your work by using the same benchmark that

your boss and organization uses. For example, if your boss says that moving the NPS

(Net Promoter Scores) from 60 to 85 translates into $4M in extra profits and if he

acknowledges that you helped achieve the lions share of that jump in NPS, then see how

you can get the lions share of that $4M (a 1-2% of the proceeds would be a good win for 

you).

5.   Do not let your boss squelch your argument for the right raise (or bonus) by his

 pointing to their budget and how it needs to be allocated across the team. You must be

selfish enough and farseeing enough to protect your interest by having this discussion

AHEAD of time and holding your boss accountable to the original agreement.

 Now, coming to the second issue of  leveling the playing field, here is what has worked

for my clients:

1.   First know where you stack in the scheme of team ranking and have an open

discussion with your boss about your own view of it. If you can find relative rankings (a

difficult task) then you can assess for yourself if these rankings are objective. Remind

your boss of your initial discussion about your own value-creation roadmap and his

agreement with you.

2.   Find out the salary range for your grade and see where in that range you are

 placed. If you are an above-average player and your salary point is still to the left of the

mid point, then ask your boss to explain that to your satisfaction.

3.   HR and bosses keep these salary ranges secret to protect themselves for a reason.

Ask a lawyer if they need to be that way. You’d be surprised by what the law provides.

4.   If you are convinced that you’re being shortchanged because of your gender, race,

or other attributes bring it up with your boss and ask if your observations have any merit.

Make sure that you do not do this in an adversarial tone, at least in the beginning.

5.   If you cannot get what is fair and equitable after coming this far. Find yourself 

another job and leave that employer.

Finally, dealing with your  “60% challenge” and feeling diffident because of it, prop

yourself up by reaching further than your grasp and finding out how far you can really go

 before you go too far. Women will surprise themselves by how far they can go by merely

trying.

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Each of my recommendations has proven successful for my clients and many have gone

further than they thought possible. So, go out there and get what you are truly worth and

surprise yourself. Then send a note to Mr. Nadella that even the higher powers are now

within your reach and that you can create your own karma right in front of you!

Good luck!

Photo: Courtesy Shutterstock