How to ask for a salary increase

It often happens that during his time in the company, an employee improves, gains new responsibilities, but the salary remains unchanged. What to do in such a situation?

Determine what you want to get a raise for

It doesn’t make sense to start a conversation about a raise just like that. Your demands must be motivated, and it is advisable that they be supported by specific facts.

A strong argument in the conversation will be that the list of your competencies and responsibilities has expanded. For example, during your work you have mastered a new technology, or seriously upgraded your skills.

Alexey Kankov

Senior Backend Developer at Revizto

The list of arguments should start with what achievements you have had recently and what contribution you have made to the development of the company. We forget them over time, so get into the habit of writing them down—Google Docs or cloud-synced notes are great for this.

Ekaterina Lai

Lead areas of employee care at Outlines Tech

Let’s highlight seven criteria that indicate that it’s time to think about a promotion:

1. The quality and speed of your work have improved.
2. You take on new tasks and responsibilities, and invest in learning.
3. You exceed your work plan.
4. You become more autonomous and ask for help less.
5. The rhythm of your work matches the rhythm of colleagues who are one level higher.
6. Colleagues began to turn to you for professional advice.
7. You have been working in this position for at least a year.

Dmitry Zverev

Business psychologist in the field of education, expert in the “Programming” direction at Skillbox

Before the conversation with your superiors, you need to develop a clear understanding of what amounts you are counting on and how you justify it. Rising prices, increasing workload and responsibility, your professional development, high department results, offers from the market.

Anna Spiryna

Director of Marketing and Communications of the recruiting company Get Experts

The optimal increase in salary or tariff without career advancement is 20-30%. More global changes in income are usually associated with a change in the role and status of the employee in the company.

Make an appointment

With whom exactly to talk about a promotion depends on the processes built in the company. For example, HR may be responsible for salary increases. But it makes more sense to start with your immediate superior.

Dmitry Zverev

Business psychologist in the field of education, expert in the “Programming” direction at Skillbox

First of all, you need to inform your manager about your desire to talk one-on-one and outline your agenda: salary and receiving a raise. If at this stage you receive a refusal, it’s okay. Then involve another player – potential employers in the labor market.

In such a scenario, you will conduct market research, find out how much they earn and what functions similar specialists currently perform, and you can receive an offer, which can also play an important role in the negotiation process with the current employer. Here everything will depend on how great the risk of your loss is: whether you are a rare specialist, how much of the company rests on you.

The main thing is not to lead the conversation to conflict: “yes-yes”, “no-no”.

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It’s not worth communicating “on the fly” or in passing: if your boss is busy or overloaded with tasks, he won’t be able to give you enough attention.

Ekaterina Lai

Lead areas of employee care at Outlines Tech

It is important to agree on a date and time and explain why communication is needed. This will help your colleague prepare and shows your interest in the job.

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Act confident and professional – if you deserve a promotion, your behavior should reflect this. Be prepared for objections. Perhaps your manager sees the situation completely differently, so be prepared to back up your requests with facts.

Svetlana Kovyneva (Lenkova)

Specialist in career guidance for adults and adolescents. Career consultant.

A purely psychological fact: it is better to plan such a conversation after lunch. Start with weak arguments, gradually moving to stronger ones. All sentences must be constructed in the affirmative form.

Nikita Kurakin

Founder of the IT platform AntiNorma

From my own experience I will say that I recognize and highlight active employees myself, but in order for me to make a decision on a promotion, I need a compelling reason, supported by arguments, so I will give the following advice.

Collect the facts about your achievements by analyzing their impact on the business. It is better to do this in writing, where everything will be supported by specific numbers and your comments.

What to tell your boss

It is best to have a written list of your merits on hand. This will help you evaluate whether your arguments are truly convincing. If there is a conversation about confirmation, offer to send the collected analytics to your boss by email. But you shouldn’t prescribe a conversation and go according to a script. Don’t push or shove prepared statistics at your boss, don’t resort to blackmail.

Konstantin Mitin

Head of the company “IT-Coordinate”

If you decide to ask for a raise, then you definitely shouldn’t start the conversation with the fact that you want to find a new job where you will be paid more. This is immediately perceived as manipulation and does not characterize you from the best side. If you announce that you are leaving without any discussion or questions, the first thing you want to say is: “Okay, leave.”

Firstly, a good leader already knows about your merits; secondly, such training is similar to military training: “I’ll say this, the director will answer this and that.” And the manager, on the other hand, will have to “report” why he, knowing about your achievements, did not raise your salary. It turns out to be some kind of butting, resistance. Therefore, I would not prepare any abstracts.

Besides, a live conversation is always better than a pre-orchestrated one.

What to do if you are refused

It is highly likely that your boss will ask you to give him time to “think” in order to check the budget and analyze your words. Occasionally, he can immediately make a “verdict”: agree or refuse.

Svetlana Kovyneva (Lenkova)

Specialist in career guidance for adults and adolescents. Career consultant.

Make a plan in advance for how you will react if you are rejected. There are three options: accept it and continue working, ask to reconsider your work schedule (fewer hours or add a day off), or start looking for a new job. If you plan to stay at the company, it makes sense to ask what new responsibilities you can take on so that your boss will agree to increase your salary.

Keep in mind that bosses behave differently when discussing promotions. Some may begin to manipulate: “we’ve been working for a long time, we’ve known each other for a long time, times are not the easiest in the company.” Continue to insist on your point, offer to find a compromise. For example, agree not on 20%, but on 10%.

Alexey Kankov

Senior Backend Developer at Revizto

If a salary increase is not possible, consider alternative options, such as company-sponsored professional development opportunities or additional vacation time. Whatever the answer, treat it with understanding. If the answer is negative, clarify when and under what conditions it will be possible to return to this conversation.

Nikita Kurakin

Founder of the IT platform AntiNorma

If you refuse, do not lose your composure and do not get emotional. Ask for feedback, find out what specific steps could lead to a promotion in the future. Perhaps your manager will offer alternative bonuses or career prospects.

I had several real cases when I initially refused a promotion, arguing that I lacked the contribution of this employee to the company, and then, after a couple of months, when they adjusted their actions, I promoted them. So never give up and you will succeed!