How I Negotiated an Almost 10% Raise
This is a first hand account from Reframe community member, Betsy Crumb.
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I strive to live my life authentically. I work hard at everything I do – my job, connections, friendships, designing and rearranging my apartment on the reg. You name it, I give it my all. I’m the good girl and always have been: straight A student, class president, winner of the spelling bee.
I know you know the type; we’re exhausting. As adults in the working world we are also, to put it in the vernacular: shit outta luck. As much as we want the world to be a meritocracy, it ain’t. Even the non-profit world, where I find myself, is a misnomer. Sure, we non-profiters are striving to do good in the world, but we’re still a business at the end of the day, vying with everyone else for money to get shit done.
“All people” means me too
No matter your thoughts on it (and I assure you I have plenty), capitalism is here to stay at least for my foreseeable future. And as a single nearly-40-something, I am the only one bringing home the bacon*, frying it up, and living with the consequences. I seek to be fair-minded and treat all people with dignity, and though it took me a while to realize it, “all people” means me too. So being authentic and living my values is important to me, but I can’t be the dignified best version of myself, and give that best version to my clients, if I don’t get paid what I deserve.
When I recently got a promotion at my job, I knew it was on me to negotiate a raise to go along with it. I also knew that asking for a raise wasn’t gonna do it; I needed to mandate that raise. Sure, it helps that I’m a trained lawyer and so confrontation isn’t something I shy away from, but preparing yourself for this kind of negotiation can be done by anyone. And if you’re a former good girl, you definitely know how to prepare.
Step 1: Prepare
The first thing I did was quantify my work. Performance metrics vary by industry, but figuring out stats as to how you’ve improved the company during your time there can be done by anyone. For me, this meant reviewing my job description for how many cases I was supposed to have in a year and then figuring out how many cases I’ve actually done (spoiler alert: it was nearly double).
Step 2: Look again
The next thing I did was again review that job description and determine what things I have been doing that were not even listed that I’d either been asked to do anyway, or did on my own accord (because, see above: good girl syndrome dies hard). For me this meant recognizing all the places I’d picked up slack when another colleague left and realizing all the areas of “unpromotable work” I’d participated in (read: sitting on various committees) that helped further the goals of the organization.
Step 3: Set your goal
Once I compiled my data and wrote it down in a neat, succinct couple of sentences, then I picked a number. An amount I decided was my target. If you walk into a negotiation with an amorphous goal, you’re going to walk out with an amorphous idea of what happened. Pick a floor (the least you’re willing to accept) and pick a ceiling (your hoped-for), and know you’re likely to end up somewhere in the middle.
Step 4: Understand the other party
The final step is not vomiting out these stats and talking about yourself. I’m afraid no one really gives a damn about what you think you deserve or how over-achieving you are. Even us non-profit do-gooders. Every time you make it about you, about your goals, about your mortgage you give your boss the opportunity to say, “gee I wish I could, I really want you to own that townhome, but we just can’t swing it.”
The “we” is where it’s at. Therein lies the key: make it about the organization. Take those stats, take that unpromotable work, and make your case for how the organization has improved as a whole because of it. Your work has impacted the bottom line of the company (it has, I promise!). Without you, the organization would be worse off. Your promotion (and ipso facto, raise) is all part of a business strategy and the organization will win when you do.
I followed this roadmap when I (politely) demanded my raise a few weeks ago and let me tell you dear readers: I’m hanging out on the ceiling like Uncle Albert and Bert in Mary Poppins – laughing loud and long and clear and all the way to the bank.
*Since I do indeed have to live with my choices, I am actually frying up tempeh. But “bring home the veggie burger” just doesn’t have the same ring.