How should I ask my manager for a raise?

Of course you want to begin by making sure you are in private and to have selected a time that your supervisor is not overrun with pressing tasks. I would assume a pleasant informal tone and remind him/her of the milestones you have made recently and justify why you think you merit a raise - FROM THE ORGANIZATION"S PPOINT OF VIEW.
In other words, it is better to focus on how you are an asset to them, rather than on detailing your personal needs. If you receive a negative response, be sure to solicit feedback as to what you can do to earn the raise you are seeking. It may be more a matter of stressful economic times than it is your personal performance. If this is the case, the best you can do is to reaffirm your commitment to excellence and that you will help the company make it through this rough patch in any way you can. Expressing this loyalty in the face of challenges will set up to be one of the first to be recognized when the funds are free.

Hi Teri,

From my perspective I would do a few things...

1) ...and I don't mean to offend you here - Ask yourself and be brutally honest, are you actually worth more than you are currently being paid? This is a tough one because I imagine that if I asked 100 people at random if they were getting paid what they were worth they'd probably respond with a resounding "no" me included!

What I'm doing here is asking you to examine whether the company is obtaining a significant financial benefit in having you employed by them rather than someone else. I don't know what it is that you do but when I was running my own business I felt that top performing employees (customer facing) should provide me with two and a half times their salary (or more) in income to the business - Your employer may operate using a similar calculation.

2) Prepare your case well - reread your job description. Do you meet the spec? My philosophy here is that if I'm doing my job "as per the basic spec" then I deserve my "basic salary". If on the other hand I'm exceeding targets - that's a different story altogether. If you have been exceeding expectations consistently then prepare a document of evidence that you can take into a meeting with you to add weight to your performance claims.

3) Always have a contingency plan. If you ask and your manager says no - what do you plan to do? Know this well in advance and write it down so that if the answer you get isn't the one that you want to hear, you don't make any rushed decisions based on emotion rather than logic that you may live to regret.

4) Ideally I find that the best time to discuss salary is during a performance appraisal. Springing a meeting request to discuss salary on your manager may not do you any favours.

5) Don't expect an immediate answer and DO expect to be asked what you will do if you do not get the pay rise. Be prepared for how to answer that one going in.

That's all from me. I wish you the best of luck and just remember to breathe and remain composed - I have a feeling that whatever the outcome, it'll be the right one for your future career.

Andy.

There is no simple answer or solution to your question, however, I will say that the key is having someone be your champion, which is normally your boss.

Familiarize yourself with your employer's pay practices. If the standard practice is to offer salary increases once a year after an annual review, you are unlikely to receive a raise at any other time.

If your company offers more frequent increases, you'll have more luck asking for a pay raise. Listen to your employer. If the employer announces that the pay raises will be four percent across the board, you are unlikely to negotiate more money.

Research the market pay rates for your job. Getting information has never been easier, although you'll want to take care with online projections and salary calculators. They rarely reflect your local market conditions including the number of open positions in your area. If you are already paid above your market pay rate, negotiating a pay raise can be difficult.

Network with other employees in similar jobs in similar industries to determine your salary. Or perhaps you've determined that your pay is competitive. Ask yourself why you deserve a pay raise because you will need good data to support your request for a pay raise. Determine whether the topic of the meeting you schedule is to ask for a pay raise. Maybe it's smarter to ask your boss what you need to do to qualify for the highest possible pay raises and bonuses in the future, if you cannot justify a higher salary now.

Make a list of the goals you have accomplished for the company. Determine how their accomplishment has helped the company. Document costs savings, productivity improvement, superior staff development, important projects achieved, above-the-call customer service, and ways in which you have contributed more than your job required. Documented, these accomplishments may justify a pay increase.

Make a list of any additional responsibilities you have added to your job. An increase in responsibility, more employees supervised, or special projects are often grounds for an increase, if you ask.

Set a pay increase goal, in your mind, that appears to reward the contributions and additional responsibilities you have documented.

Set up a meeting with your immediate supervisor to discuss your compensation. You will not want to ambush your supervisor. If the supervisor is unprepared to discuss an increase with you, nothing will happen at the meeting. Your boss will also want to do his research with the Human Resources staff and his own industry sources.

At the end of the day having said all this, it's really much simpler than it seems, do people like you and do they believe you add value, if the answer is no to either question, you are out of luck.

To get the raise, you must overcome 5 obstacles:
1. Rejection of the message (No one wants to give a raise if they do not have to)
2. Indifference (Why is it important to him/her if you make more money?)
3. Skepticism (What is the proof that a raise is a good investment?)
4. Procrastination (Why should I act now?)
5. Anxiety (What if I need this money for something else? or What if I don't get the expected return?)

In short, overcome rejection by reminding him/her of the relationship
Overcome indifference by tapping into how a raise would impact him/her. This is also the time to tap into emotion or inspiration.
Show proof that a raise will bring the desired benefit. Either use facts and figures or a compelling story
Overcome procrastination by creating urgency. In this case, discuss the opportunities lost by delaying. It is important to note that threats to leave if you do not get a raise soon rarely work, even when you insinuate. Only play this card if you have a bona fide offer from another company.
Overcome anxiety with reassurance by briefly summarizing what you said for stages 1-3.

Without knowing the person and the circumstances, this is a good framework to guide your strategy but cannot stand alone without your creativity.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.