Performance Review - Bringing Up Raise Topic

[becoh]

Hello

I have my 1 year performance review coming up in a few weeks, (suppose to have been done in January) and I need some advice on how to approach the topic of a raise.

Since my hire date, I've taken over partial duties of a departing team member on top of my own and have a long list of 'extra' work that I've done that to help the department out.

Back in January, when I was initially suppose to have my 1 year review, I was given a 2% raise without asking for it and my Manager said that we don't look at real raises until at least the 1 year mark.

I've never had a performance review before and don't know how I should bring this up. With the amount of work that has been added to my plate, I'm looking for at-least 10%.

[carmaster]

You are not likely going to get a 10% raise unless you get promoted. I would discuss the topic of being promoted rather than a raise which would line up with your extra responsibilities. The 2% raise is typical to match inflation.

[Firebot]

Asking for at least 10% percent raise is quite a lot and a hard sell, raises are very often 2-5% (5% being on the high side), and companies sometimes have percentage maximums within the same position. You better be prepared to quantify and prove to your boss why you are worth that extra 10%, as everyone wants a raise, but not everyone necessarily deserves it. It's one of the reasons why it's adamant you negotiate a proper salary when first joining a company.

[rapashoo]

In private sector, 10% raise is highly unlikely (usually 5% tops) like the above poster says. Not going to hurt you trying to bring it up but I have feeling that your manager is not going to like it....

[rocking23nf]

Best way to get a raise is to switch jobs, or give notice and accept your companies counter offer if you are a quality worker that is wanted at the company.

[Syne]

This is the problem with fresh grads. They take on a job that pays quite awful (for example, an IT analyst making $13hr to get experience) and when they are trained, the grad, now experienced, expects the company to start paying them an entry level salary. Instead, they discover that the wage they were hired at is roughly fixed, and they have to find a new job to get a competitive package.

The strange thing is, often they do find a new job and this pointless shuffle takes place. It's a strange phenomenon and I won't pretend to know why it works this way, because to me it seems really inefficient to train someone, then dig your heels in about pay once they are trained. Now you either have to train someone else and do it all over again, or hire someone different at market rate. In the end, the company saves nothing and might as well have bumped the grad's pay.

It doesn't just happen to fresh grads either. I've seen my friends ask for a raise, are met with resistance so they just find a new job. Then, the company comes back with an offer once the worker has given notice and after they've accepted the new position. It's stupid. Why do companies treat their employees like this? These same idiot managers wonder why they have such high turnover.

[BananaHunter]

Hello

I have my 1 year performance review coming up in a few weeks, (suppose to have been done in January) and I need some advice on how to approach the topic of a raise.

Since my hire date, I've taken over partial duties of a departing team member on top of my own and have a long list of 'extra' work that I've done that to help the department out.

Back in January, when I was initially suppose to have my 1 year review, I was given a 2% raise without asking for it and my Manager said that we don't look at real raises until at least the 1 year mark.

I've never had a performance review before and don't know how I should bring this up. With the amount of work that has been added to my plate, I'm looking for at-least 10%.

In my first full time job, I did a ton of "extra work" and ultimately did not get much of a raise since the organization implemented pay freeze where salaries can only go up with inflation. From my understanding, big raises are not common in Canada. So your expectation of 10% is far too high. 5% is probably already on the generous side. If you want money, it's all about promotions and jumping ship.

You should avoid equating volume of work to amount of a raise. If you think this way the only outcome is disappointment. Most big companies have pre-set policies and procedures on performance reviews. Often they have a performance grid and you're given a rank. Each rank is associated with a raise %. For small companies, they are often too poor or not stable enough to afford lavish raises. The REAL point of doing extra work isn't to get a raise. Doing extra work often leads to greater exposure. Greater exposure can lead to better chance of promotion because you see the bigger picture and can make better decisions. And finally, promotion leads to a bigger raise. Even if you don't get promoted, you can put the experience on your resume which will increase your chance of landing a better job.

Also to note, it's not the hardest working people that make the most money. The people who make the most money are usually those with people skills. Once you grasp this, you'll start thinking about how to work smart as opposed to work hard.

[aaaaaa]

I'd disagree and say that a 10% raise isn't impossible. it really just depends on the company and their policies. afaik, 3% is "cost of living", so the people saying that a 5% raise is on the high side at really just working at crappy companies (or already have really good compensation). At many companies you have three general categories for yearly raises, <under performing>, <satisfactory / average>, and <over performing / exceptional>. Usually they're split up something like 20%, 60%, 20% respectively, and each get a raise of something like 2%, 5%, and 8%. It sounds like you should fall into group 3, so the question is really just what the max raise for your position is this year.

As someone has already mentioned, a promotion may really be the option you are looking for. I would definitely include this in your discussion with your manager, and see if they are open to an immediate one, and if not, see if you can set a list of goals and a timeline to be promoted. If you get a raise you are happy with, great, but make sure you don't leave things at "Great job this year, you're definitely well on your way to a promotion". There's always pro's and cons to staying at any job, and feeling that you are fairly compensated is important!

[Stinger]

The "trick" of the new millennium has always been to quantify your value in terms of $$$ that your actions have brought to the company or the department.

Somehow you need to turn your new responsibilities, initiatives, efficiency, projects into dollars. That way you can justify requesting a piece of the pie. If you've saved the company $50,000 over the course of the year by eliminating a second person that would have been required to do the work you've now taken on, create a presentation on this and justify your request in dollars and cents. If you show them that for $5,000 you've turned them a $45,000 profit, you've become a lot more valuable and they're getting a great deal. Same with projects you've initiated that result in improved efficiency in the department (and therefore saved $$$) or the best way, you've directly brought in dollars through sales.

I learned the hard way that if you can't show the managers or honchos the paperbacks then you shouldn't expect a raise. Being a hard diligent worker doesn't interest a lot of companies - they have the mentality that "You were hired to do X job at $Y and you are doing X job, so you are getting exactly what you're worth". Improved productivity in the job you were hired as is simply a benefit to them as a result of them giving you a job and a return on the initial loss of hiring you when you were inefficient.

It's unfortunate but it also requires you to change from a mentality of "Let's work harder and better at my job or improve the deficiencies or operation of the company/department to be a better place for employees/employer/customers/etc." over to "Where can I make the most money for the company so I can make the most money from them" and just ignore anything that may improve business but doesn't generate the most dollars.

Dispute it how you want, (and yes it is a generalization) but I've seen it in action across dozen's of companies and through the complaints of friends. Many friends who have take my advice of "quantify your worth in dollars" has either come out with a raise, or found that their company doesn't give a rats *** about them and moved on to one who does.

[Syne]

The "trick" of the new millennium has always been to quantify your value in terms of $$$ that your actions have brought to the company or the department.

Sometimes this isn't appropriate, especially if you're not in the financial or 'back end' of a company. There are many jobs where I'd never presume to speculate on these things. Heck, many jobs even my immediate supervisor has no idea about the financial end of things. This is very common when you have a technical role in a company.

[DJ_Peanuts22]

Be straight-up with them. No sense in beating around the bush if that's what you want. It can work to your advantage since many are afraid of asking for a raise.

[rocking23nf]

I got a job offer which i didnt accept yet, I went in to HR, basically said if they want to keep me, heres what i want (16% raise, extra weeks holidays, pension increase)
I gave them 4 hours to think about it, or else im resigning (i did it in a calm way, basically saying I want what im worth on the market)
they came back and offered 10% and my other 2 items, I turned them down, 30 minutes later they accepted my "demands"

It costs alot to recruite and train someone these days, headhunters charge a pretty pennie, and I have 5 years under my belt, which would take alot to replace.

If your going to do what i did, ensure you are prepared to go all the way. I was ready to move on, i didnt hate my job, but being underpaid sucks.

[rapashoo]

I got a job offer which i didnt accept yet, I went in to HR, basically said if they want to keep me, heres what i want (16% raise, extra weeks holidays, pension increase)
I gave them 4 hours to think about it, or else im resigning (i did it in a calm way, basically saying I want what im worth on the market)
they came back and offered 10% and my other 2 items, I turned them down, 30 minutes later they accepted my "demands"

It costs alot to recruite and train someone these days, headhunters charge a pretty pennie, and I have 5 years under my belt, which would take alot to replace.

If your going to do what i did, ensure you are prepared to go all the way. I was ready to move on, i didnt hate my job, but being underpaid sucks.

Not saying 10% or even above raise is impossible but it really depends on the job and company. If the job itself is easily replaceable and trainable, then why would company bump your pay 16% with extra holiday, more perks....etc? They'd rather find someone else to replace you.

And about "training" topic, frankly speaking most companies don't go for unexperienced grad. Look at the job ads nowadays; all they say is "we are hiring some with one or two year experience in the field". I am telling you it's not uncommon.

Not to discourage you OP, your job sounds like one of those admin duties. It's considered easily replaceable and it's not hard to find someone with admin experience already thesedays. Asking for 10% raise without even getting promoted, it does't sound like a good move.

[devil2k]

It doesn't just happen to fresh grads either. I've seen my friends ask for a raise, are met with resistance so they just find a new job. Then, the company comes back with an offer once the worker has given notice and after they've accepted the new position. It's stupid. Why do companies treat their employees like this? These same idiot managers wonder why they have such high turnover.

This is what happened to me when I quit my previous job. They had 3 years to do something about it but instead they asked me if there's anything they could do to keep me after I already accepted another company's offer.

[Abel4Life]

Not saying 10% or even above raise is impossible but it really depends on the job and company. If the job itself is easily replaceable and trainable, then why would company bump your pay 16% with extra holiday, more perks....etc? They'd rather find someone else to replace you.

And about "training" topic, frankly speaking most companies don't go for unexperienced grad. Look at the job ads nowadays; all they say is "we are hiring some with one or two year experience in the field". I am telling you it's not uncommon.

Not to discourage you OP, your job sounds like one of those admin duties. It's considered easily replaceable and it's not hard to find someone with admin experience already thesedays. Asking for 10% raise without even getting promoted, it does't sound like a good move.

The client I work for has been trying to fill 3 reqs (2 FT and 1 Contractor) since February. If any of the current team members that are full-timers pull this off they will probably get it (they need balls though). You cannot easily replace or train someone if there is no one in the market to replace them with. Plus the lack of internal equity the current employees have.

[rocking23nf]

Not saying 10% or even above raise is impossible but it really depends on the job and company. If the job itself is easily replaceable and trainable, then why would company bump your pay 16% with extra holiday, more perks....etc? They'd rather find someone else to replace you.

And about "training" topic, frankly speaking most companies don't go for unexperienced grad. Look at the job ads nowadays; all they say is "we are hiring some with one or two year experience in the field". I am telling you it's not uncommon.

Not to discourage you OP, your job sounds like one of those admin duties. It's considered easily replaceable and it's not hard to find someone with admin experience already thesedays. Asking for 10% raise without even getting promoted, it does't sound like a good move.

We have had legal assistant jobs empty for months and months because theres no one around to fill them.

You either hire someone out of school, train them, and hope they dont jump ship
OR
you pay more money and try to steal someone from another company.

Unemployment is around 3.5% in Edmonton.