Negotiating salary tactics

Question

Suppose a person has been at a company for 4 years and hadn't received a pay increase.

What is the best way for this person to negotiate for a higher salary? Ask his boss directly?

Should the person consider leaving the company if he doesn't get a pay increase?

Does this answer your question? How should I properly approach my boss if I'm feeling underpaid? — mustaccio, Oct 04 '22 at 00:08
Your total compensation (not just salary) is a function of your productivity, not time; has your value to the company increased in these four years? If it hasn't, or you don't know, the best you can hope for is a modest inflation adjustment. — mustaccio, Oct 04 '22 at 00:10

Joe Strazzere · Answer 1 · 2022-10-04T11:08:06.393

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Suppose a person has been at a company for 4 years and hadn't received a pay increase.

What is the best way for this person to negotiate for a higher salary? Ask his boss directly?

Of course.

If the person hasn't asked his boss about a raise for 4 years, that person should ask his boss about it today.

Should the person consider leaving the company if he doesn't get a pay increase?

Even if he does get a pay raise, that person should be looking for a new job. Once that person accepts a formal job offer, that person should give his notice, work the notice period, and leave the current job behind.

And that person shouldn't ever wait 4 years for a raise again.

edited Oct 04 '22 at 11:08

answered Oct 03 '22 at 23:13

Joe Strazzere

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So should the person ask the question in his or her end of year evaluation? Or call his boss directly? Should it be formal or more casual? – NebulousReveal Oct 04 '22 at 00:04
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The person should ask their boss tomorrow. Directly. – Hilmar Oct 04 '22 at 00:42

Job_September_2020 · Answer 2 · 2022-10-03T23:30:08.250

Ask his boss directly?

Yes.

Should the person consider leaving the company if he doesn't get a pay increase?

Yes. For most people, the fastest way to get a higher salary is to get a new job.

Further more, in general, the normal annual salary rises at a company are usually lower than the big salary jumps that people get when they go to a new company.

What is the best way for this person to negotiate for a higher salary?

You can tell the boss:

You have not got a salary raise for 4 years while the cost of living increases drastically.
Show him your good contributions to the company. If you get good job performance reviews for the last 4 years, then you should present that to him too.
You may have a great advantage in asking for a higher salary if it is hard for them to replace you. For example, you handle critical tasks for the company and it may take a lot of time for the company to hire someone new and train him to be able to do your job.

Can the person mention that he is the only person on the team left because others left or got terminated? This shows how valuable he is for a particular project? — NebulousReveal, Oct 04 '22 at 00:16
@NebulousReveal, Yes, absolutely. That will be a huge advantage going into a salary negotiation. If you have not got a salary raise for 4 years, then it is now or never because you deserve a raise to compensate for inflation or the raising cost of living. Best of luck. — Job_September_2020, Oct 04 '22 at 01:59

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 04 '22 at 00:13

If you are going to ask your Boss (which is the correct way to do it) - the first thing you need to do is coach it from your Boss's perspective.

What do I mean by this?

You want to make a business case to your Boss and the wider company as to why it is in their best interests to pay you more:

The Value you bring to the Company (even better if you can give them a Dollar figure), note this can be either Revenue grown or costs decreased
The recent tasks/projects you have successfully completed
If the company has been doing well (increased sales)
Inflation costs
The cost to replace you (at minimum, a new hire is going to take 3-6 months from initial hire to become truly productive)
What the current market rate for your position is.

You also want to give a figure, I always suggest between 5-10% higher than what you would actually accept - so that if there is any rounds of negotiation, you can come down to what you actually want.

If this isn't successful, then absolutely that is the right time to start looking elsewhere. One thing to note - if you ask for a Raise, they decline, you then hand in a resignation offer and they then magically find the budget for a Raise - my best advice would be to not accept it - if they weren't willing to pay you what you are worth when they didn't think you were leaving, why would they be willing in the future when they know you are looking elsewhere?

Negotiating salary tactics

3 Answers3