by - An increase or a promotion usually does not just happen in isolation.
- You should meet with your boss beforehand to discuss a plan and where improvement is needed.
- Share your wins with your boss and make sure the achievements highlight their impact on the company.
If you’re hoping to get a promotion or raise later this year, there are a few things you can do now to make the most of your chances.
“Showing your work, communicating effectively, building rapport with people,” said Amy Lentz, the founder of Hack Your HR and Chief People Officer of Footwear Company Toms. “It’s not just about doing good work. It’s about building good connections to ensure the work you do is visible and truly valuable, not just to you and your goals.”
Before you potentially land a raise or move up the career ladder, you would probably want to talk to your boss about a plan, talk to colleagues who have grown with the organization, take into account your performance and work on important projects.
Timing can also work to your advantage. Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said the career site’s latest annual employer survey will be available from the end of 2024 showed that a majority of companies expect to increase their employees’ wages this year.
Recent labor actions “show that workers still have a lot of leverage in many industries and that employers still have reason to be significantly cut and feel a substantial wage growth squeeze,” Pollak told BI.
Pollak said with several workplace efficiencies, employers can “afford to reward employees for their increased productivity.”
Here’s what to know about raises and promotions.
Timing is important
Jenny Wood, author of the career and advice newsletter Big Small Things, said not to ask for a promotion the week before the promotion cycle and not to quickly bring it up in your usual one-on-one meeting with your boss. Instead, she said she would have a 30- or 45-minute meeting where career development is the focus. That meeting should also be long before the promotion cycle at your company, so there is time to develop a strategy.
“The responsibility is on you to go in there and be an advocate for yourself and have career development conversations with your boss twice a year,” Wood said.
Lentz said to consider wisely when calling for a raise or promotion, such as after working on a major project or when budgets are being set at your organization.
You may also need to consider whether you still need to build more experience before asking for a promotion or a pay bump.
“Keep in mind that the idea is to look for meaning once you’ve done something important,” Wood said.
Prepare before meeting your manager
Wood suggested ranking yourself in a spreadsheet on a set of characteristics before the special career development meeting. That includes self-evaluating your teamwork, problem solving, or other areas important to your business and how you’ve grown over the past year.
You can ask your boss to add their input to the spreadsheet before the meeting or talk about it during the chat, Ask about which areas are important To make progress at the company, and you can provide examples that demonstrate improvement during your interview.
Wood also suggested sharing a document with your boss 24 hours before the special meeting with five questions already answered, which can help the meeting. Those questions can cover skills, people to talk to in the organization, or projects that can help you be more successful in your career.
What to do during the meeting
Wood said to make a plan with your boss during the career development meeting.
As the meeting happens, you can also look for warning signs that the meeting isn’t going well, such as your manager being there while you’re multitasking, Wood said. Your boss’s body language can also indicate how things are going.
“Do they go against what you say, or do they push back? Do they push back with their words?” Wood said, adding, “You want your boss to participate in the creation. That’s why you have this special meeting versus sending an email.”
Wood thinks enthusiasm is important during career development conversations.
“If there is one asset in any organization that is critical, it is enthusiasm and can overcompensate for so much skill, talent and experience,” Wood said. “So I always lead with enthusiasm in any kind of promotion or salary negotiation.”
Show off your victories to your boss
Lentz suggested sharing your performance with your boss quarterly or twice a year and figures including numbers. She also said she was aware of your manager’s communication style when talking about performance.
“If they are data-driven, bring metrics. If they value collaboration, you can emphasize teamwork,” Lentz said.
Wood said he would write a list of your achievements. Each achievement on the list should describe your role, objective and impact.
In your documentation of performance, Lentz said to articulate the outcome of your time rather than just talking about what you do. She also said wins should be measurable.
“Because you’re asking for the most measurable thing of all, which is more money,” Lentz said of increases. “So if you’re going to ask for 15% more, what did you do that qualifies that?”
Consider who else is involved in these decisions and who you can ask for advice
Lentz suggested seeking clarity on the standards of promotions and increased at the company. That might include asking others how leadership responds to self-advocacy and asking what timing looks like between promotions.
She said if you haven’t been with the company long, look for people who have grown internally and ask them if they have some time to advise on investing in your growth at the company. Lentz said you can also contact Human Resources.
She provided some sample questions for HR: “I’m really curious to understand the inner workings. I just know leadership structure and the org assessment and understanding how positions are filled versus external versus internal?”
Wood also said that your boss’s coworkers or managers are usually involved in raise and promotion decisions.
What questions could you ask your boss?
Even if you don’t want a promotion, you may think it’s time for a raise. That conversation may be slightly different than the promotion conversation with your boss. Instead of asking, Wood said, “Can I get a raise?” You can ask any of the following questions:
- What would it take for you to feel comfortable giving me a raise?
- How else can I demonstrate my impact so that I am an easy candidate for a raise next year?
- How can I meet with other stakeholders to help you feel more comfortable and give a raise?
Wood said your boss should also provide the number for the raise — not you — because they may know what a typical raise at the company looks like for your tenure and position.