NWR: Asking for a raise? or not?

dyerwise

So, I wanted to get an opinion on asking for a raise or if I should do something different? or get any feedback or tips...

I've been with my company for 9 years and have never asked for a raise. I've been promoted throughout my time at this company and made it through rounds of lay offs, my manager and director frequently tell me I'm doing a good job and that they appreciate all that I do.

2 years ago I joined a team where all members were very high performers. On previous teams I was always the "lead" or the highest performing member. Last year the company merged with another and a lot of my current team was let go and only three of us were offered positions in the "go forward company" . The two other woman that stayed played hardball and acted like they wanted to leave the company so management decided to give them a pay increase as an incentive to stay. These two woman were analyst level II at that time and still are. During that time I made it very clear that I wanted to stay with the company and loved my job, when they offered me a position going forward I took it, without any negotiation. They offered me an Analyst level II position(from a level I) and included my year merit increase with that pay raise, which did not put me at the same rate as the two other women when they first became Analyst II (only 6 months prior). This was a little frustrating but I was happy to keep my job.

In the past year I have taken on lots of new projects and tasks. The two other women on my team do not like to travel for work so I am left to do all of the traveling. Often times the other two women give me their busy work, which I do and then also do my regular tasks and my special projects. A lot of what I do is train other people on processes and systems while the other two women have more tangible projects/measurable results. I believe that we all perform in the same capacity. I don't think any of us does more/less than any of the others (besides travel), we just have very different tasks. I don't want to seem whiny, but I feel like our pay should be on par.

I'm nervous to talk about pay with my manager. I have a great relationship with her and she is super easy going, but this is something that just makes me really uncomfortable, but I feel like it is something I need to do. maybe instead of asking for a raise I should just ask for more work or larger projects that will have higher visibility and then hope a raise will follow? 

labro

You can't get offered the raise you never ask for. The reason those two women on your team are earning more is because they asked for it. Yes you can show your merit just through your work ethic, but unless your boss KNOWS you want more than a normal merit raise/COL raise, she isn't going to know to award it to you.

Ask your manager to have a performance review, lay out the stuff you wrote down here about your job performance, your extra duties, etc. and leave out the comments about what the other team members make. Go in knowing your number, what percentage increase will bring you to the same or better level? The worst your boss can say is no.

I understand that you were just grateful to keep your job, but being passive and not speaking up is not the way to communicate that you desire more. I guess I look at it like a relationship - your SO won't know you aren't happy about something unless you tell them. You can't just go on hoping that he/she will notice/suddenly learn to read your mind.

dyerwise

Thank you @labro! Our company did away with performance reviews last year and are kind of a dirty word now. I do have a 1:1 with her this afternoon, which is when I was planning on bringing it up. I will go into that meeting with a list of my duties and accomplishments and I will figure out a percentage to ask for. Thank you!

OurWildKingdom

Good luck!

kvruns

don't ask for more projects and hope the raise will follow - you may end up with more work and more frustration w/o an increase. I would definitely bring it up in a 1:1 setting or even schedule a time next week and let her know you'd like to discuss it.

charlotte989875

So if you can't have a supervisor do a performance review, do your own annual review. Summarize what you have done in the year, how it contributed to the company, what specific tasks you did, all the travel etc. and if you have a job description you can compare and show how you're doing all of it (plus more). 

Also, if you can, document what your peers make in and out of the company, and show why you think you deserved to be paid what they are making (or more!). And as @labro said, you won't get a raise of you don't ask for it, just make it about why you deserve to make X rather than saying coworkers don't deserve more than you. Good luck!

floridabride44

PPs have it covered, but to reiterate - absolutely ask! Worst your manager could say is no - but if you lay out all the reasons you stated in this post, I doubt she will say no. 

Asking for a raise is a super uncomfortable conversation, but it's a good one to learn to have. It'll get easier and easier each time you have it. 

Also... a book recommendation for you!  Read "Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You're Worth" by Mika Brzezinski.  I read this a few years back and seriously felt so empowered. 

Good luck and let us know how the conversation goes! 

OurWildKingdom

How did your meeting go?

fyrchk

OurWildKingdom said:

How did your meeting go?

I was wondering the same thing! Hope it went well for her!

dyerwise

So, I ended up chickening out a bit. We had to shorten our meeting due to an overlap and I ran out of time. I did ask if we were having merit increased this year, which she wasn't sure about. We have another meeting in a few weeks and I plan to be more prepared and ask about it then.