How to get a salary raise (and no to die trying)

Most probably, they are right.

It wouldn’t be a strange thing that a worker who has already served several years in a company needs to switch to another company to get a significative raise, even if doing the same job.

Many of them, have been growing and upgrading their capabilities and skills, but it seems nothing they could do will be taken into consideration as much as to get a raise or to get a better job at the company. It uses to happen that a new worker has more options to get this “desired” higher position.

Let us try to see it from the company’s owner point of view for a moment.

If a worker along some time has increased its capabilities and skills, well, this is what it was supposed to do. In fact, the owner has been paying the salary from the beginning, even if the productivity was not as expected right from the start.

In my opinion, asking for a raise because you believe you have disserved it is the wrong thing to do, even if you are completely right. If your boss allowed you to think like you do, and did nothing yet, is because for him everything is in “its place”, no changes needed. If you force him to see the fairness of you becoming a raise, automatically you are telling him he is wrong. What are you doing if the answer is “no”? Quit the job? Work less? Both are threats no boss will allow, and you are putting yourself in a risky position.

Again, let us see it from the owner’s perspective.

What if we first think about how could we make an important increase in the company’s profit or turnover?

Maybe using the skills you have acquired, put in another task, would make this happen.

Or, if you see the company has a need, and you don’t have the perfect skills to cover this need, how about letting the owner know that you are concerned about helping the company to grow, and you are open to making an extra effort to acquire the needed skills to cover this need?

For the owner, the company is a priority and will do anything to keep it growing. So should be for you too, and the owner has to clearly see it.

In any case, if you are willing to have a raise, the first thing you need to find is an “excuse” for your boss to make it happen. To pay more for the same result is rarely going to happen.