How to use your career journal to have a conversation about a pay rise

This year’s National Conversation Week is all about helping us talk more about our finances.

This year, National Conversation Week is encouraging everyone in the UK to be more open when it comes to their financials. As part of this, we thought we would talk about how to have a conversation about a pay rise (and using your Career Journal to help you prepare for that conversation).

How to have a conversation about a pay rise

There are a number of things that you can do to prepare for asking for a pay rise and having a conversation about why you deserve one. You can use your career journal to help you prepare.

01 Why do you deserve a payrise

Start by working out why you deserve a pay rise.

Start with your job description – what do you do that is above and beyond your job description/pay grade/job role. What extra work and responsibilities do you take on that help you justify a pay rise. What have you done to improve the business?

02 Quantify your contribution

As well as goign “above and beyond” you will usually want to show your boss that you are smashing it. So work out how to can quantify your contribution using figures/finances. Hopefully, you are already recording and quantifying your achievements on a regular basis in your career journal to make this job a bit easier. Include things like:

• exceeded target by X amount.
• brought in X new clients.
• brought in X amount of fees.

03 Know what you are worth

Do some research to work out what you should be getting paid. Your research should include checking job websites online and with recruiters to work out what you should be paid. If you work in a particular industry you should also check if there have been any recent salary surveys that you can use.

You need more of an argument than X is getting paid Y. Therefore I should be on Y. However, knowing the pay bracket/range and current market standard for comparable companies can help you put a figure together and understand how much you can push. If you want to be successful it needs to be pitched at the right level in the first instance.

04 Prepare a business case

Once you have worked out why you deserve a pay rise and have an idea of what you might ask for. You can then start putting together a business case. It can be helpful to write this out as it will help you finesse your arguments and provide clarity before you have the conversation. It also means that if you need a more formal business case you already have it written down.

05 Make your Boss aware of your intentions

Nobody likes being put on the spot. Book some time in with your boss and make it clear that you want to discuss performance and pay. If there is a formal timeframe, it may be that you need to prepare for a specific conversation with your boss (for example at an appraisal) or it may be appropriate to simply book in some time. Just make sure you try to schedule a meeting at a time when you know your boss will not be too busy and will have the time to have a proper discussion.

07 Negotiate

At your meeting with your boss present your business case in a clear and concise manner. Be confident, polite and reasonable in your negotiation. Be open. The worst they can do is say no.

08 Stay Positive

If you are not succesful in your negotation stay positve and accept any feedback gracefully. If they do not give you specific feedback ask for it so that you can start creating your plan to get your payrise in the future. .