Want More Money? Ask For A Pay Rise

If you’ve been stuck on the same pay for a while, it can be a little disheartening. You’ve worked long and hard, yet despite the fact that the cost of living isn’t going up, your wages have remained flat. What’s going on?

Usually, raises don’t come along automatically. Instead, you’ve got to negotiate them, pointing out how you’re creating value and why you deserve more money in your account and the end of the month. The problem is that many people don’t ever ask the question and so their finances never improve.

The average person got a raise of just 3 percent last year. That’s about a half a percent increase in real terms (when you take into account the effect of inflation), according to the Society for Human Resource Management. As a result, it really does pay to go to your boss and ask for more money.

But how should you do it?

Make A List Of Your Accomplishments

When asking for a raise, don’t just barge into your boss’s office and demand to be paid more. Instead, create a compelling case that highlights exactly why you’re so valuable to the company. The best way to do this is to build a list of all the things you’ve achieved, putting a monetary value to each if possible. You need to show your boss that you’re worth all the extra money that you want and that you can create more revenue for the company than you’re being paid.

Leverage Other Offers

Farzam Law points out that there are often disputes between companies and workers over the number of hours worked. Usually, salaries look good on paper, but they’re often based on hopelessly optimistic working weeks. A job description might say that a job should only take up around 35 hours a week, but if you’re regularly working 45 hours, then it’s not such a good deal.

Most of the time, bosses don’t want to lose their most productive staff. As such, it’s worth pointing out to them that you’ve had a better offer from another company. Though this might feel as if you're putting your boss in an awkward position, it helps give you a strong negotiating position - if they don’t raise your wages, then you can always go to another company for more money.

Emphasize Your Soft Skills

Another great way to get a pay rise is to take on a different role, higher up in the company. Rather than getting a 5 percent rise, bagging a senior management or supervisor job can increase pay by more than 30 percent. To get into the upper echelons of a business, it’s often necessary to show off your “soft skills” - skills like leadership ability, crisis management skills and the ability to work to a tight deadline.

View Yourself As A Professional Who Sells Their Services

Once you get stuck in an employee mindset, it is difficult to escape: what you’re paid is what you’re paid. But many professionals could benefit by seeing themselves in a new way - as professionals who sell their services to companies. Self-employed people wouldn’t sell themselves short, so why should you?