Search Results for: bad boss

How to Get the Raise You Deserve

deserved raiseWhen was your last raise? If it was more than a year ago you may be losing money.

In 2006, the U.S. inflation rate was 3.24%. That means goods and services cost more today than last year. The price of gas has increased. Milk costs more. Cable costs more. Everything costs more.

If you haven’t had a recent pay increase, you are actually making less today than you were yesterday. So, what’s stopping you from getting that raise?

Many people are afraid to ask for more money. It could be conflict avoidance, fear of rejection or that you don’t know how to pull it off. If you are one of those people, I have some suggestions to help you successfully add some green to your future paychecks.

Know the market value of your job. Research how much your peers are making at other companies. It is dangerous to compare job titles with other companies because you might not be comparing apples to apples. Your best bet is to compare job duties or job descriptions. Online job boards and sites like Salary.com can help you develop a pay range for your position based on your job duties.

Timing is important. It’s not wise to broach the subject when your boss is in a bad mood or on a tight deadline. You should also avoid asking for a raise right after you screwed up a project, went over budget or survived a layoff.  The best time would be after you completed a significant project or after you’ve taken on more responsibilities and proven you’re up to new challenges. Many companies create their budgets in the fourth quarter of the year. Employee compensation is an important part of each department’s budget so it’s best to get your request in early.

Stand strong. Don’t just walk into your boss’s office and demand a raise. You’d better put together a convincing case of why you deserve to make more. Examine your goals, progress and accomplishments. This is your opportunity to sell yourself. If you go in unprepared, be ready to get a quick brush off.

No boot kissing. Whining and groveling are pathetic in most business scenarios. You will be rewarded for your performance and confidence. Stating you need the raise because you’re getting divorced, having a baby or you need to get out of debt are not legitimate reasons. Any raise is based on your work performance. Not on what happens at home.

This should help you prepare, but it’s up to you to book the meeting and to make it happen. If you don’t ask the question, you’ll never get the answer.

This is evident in a recent study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University. Researchers found that four times as many men (51%) as women (12.5%) pushed for a better deal in negotiating a job offer. Not surprising, the individuals who asked for more money received 7.4% more than those who accepted the offer without debate.

The study cited a primary reason that women avoid salary negotiations. Women who pushed for more money were seen as “less nice” and were at times viewed negatively.

Have you recently experienced a successful raise negotiation? Do you feel you’d be looked at negatively if you ask for a raise? Are there different rules for women and men?

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss the appropriate course of action if you meet some roadblocks when asking for more money.

Working in the Great Communication Gap

Do you ever feel like you and your boss never exactly see eye to eye? Do you sometimes wish you knew the whole picture so you could understand why you’ve been tasked a certain assignment? Have you ever been blindsided by change that impacted your job or work environment?

If so, you know how frustrating it is to work in an environment where communication is dysfunctional. In the work world, one of the biggest complaints of both workers and managers is bad communication. And, your relationship with your boss is the one that will probably impact your overall job satisfaction, as well as your career the most. That’s why it’s vital to proactively communicate with your boss. In the book How to Be the Employee Your Company Can’t Live Without, author Glenn Shepard phrases it this way: “Answer the questions your boss didn’t ask.”

This can mean volunteering for tasks before you’re asked, asking for help when you need it or telling your boss you are interested in career advancement opportunities. For more on this, check out our podcasts on the book. You can see how taking the initiative to communicate with your boss really can boost your career.

However, the best communication is a two way street. With that in mind, if you could tell your boss one thing they could do that would make your job easier, what would it be? Vote in our poll below.

Corporate Culture’s Influence: Simon Says Fit In

How many of your habits and ideas do you think you’ve picked up from the people you work with? Most people pride themselves on being individualistic and independent. We like to think we’re only influenced by the role models we choose, not the everyday Jims and Kates we share a cube with. People may not be lemmings, but we’re not impenetrable brick walls either. Our surroundings and co-workers affect us.

Rebel Dad blogger Brian Reid’s guest post on the Washington Post’s blog On Balance – Juggling Work and Family discusses how the workaholic habits of a former boss rubbed off on the entire organization. Reid used to work for former Bloomberg CEO and current New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and he describes how Bloomberg’s penchant for long hours and limited family time created a company culture that followed his lead.

Sure, Bloomberg was the CEO of the corporation, so it’s logical that his employees would seek to emulate his behavior. But a CEO alone can’t create a potent culture without a majority of employees buying in to it. In a recent post on Ben Yoskovitz’s blog, Instigator, he discussed how upper management can’t control culture, they can only instigate it and then allow it to incubate.

Peer pressure can be much stronger than “CEO pressure.” While supervisors control whether you get a raise or promotion, co-workers determine if you are accepted and respected by the group – something that many people value more than money. 

When a person starts a new job, sometimes they mesh or clash with the culture at their workplace immediately. But more often, over time, they will develop behaviors and attitudes about work that mirror those of their co-workers.

For example, if you start working at a company where the employees rarely use their vacation time and never call in sick, after a while, you’ll probably either adopt these unspoken norms or leave the company. Similarly, if you work at a company where being aggressive and blunt is the way to get noticed, you might find yourself saying “please” and “thank you” less and opting for words like “immediately” and “no offense” instead.

A strong company culture isn’t a bad thing though. Without a united front, a company will struggle to accomplish its mission. But, since we’re all likely to be affected by our environment, it makes sense to work at a company and with people whose values you respect.

How do your co-workers’ values match with your own? How do you think your co-workers have influenced you? Do you feel the influence has been positive or negative?