According to the Regional Economic Research Institute (www.fgcu.edu/cob/reri), all five counties in Southwest Florida had August 2010 unemployment rates at or above 13 percent with Charlotte at 13.0 percent, Collier at 13.6 percent, Lee at 13.7 percent, Glades at 13.9 percent, and Hendry at 20.6 percent. Hence, many Southwest Florida businesses have hired very few new employees, cut back their workforce, reduced compensation, or experienced both hiring and salary freezes at some point between 2008 and now. The companies who took these actions did so out of necessity and would not be in business today if these unfortunate changes had not been made. Therefore, it is of importance to point out that if you have maintained consistent employment through this challenging economic time, you are definitely ahead of the game.
Nevertheless, the question arises: what does this mean for the employee who is fortunate enough to be retained?
Remaining employees are often forced to pick up additional responsibilities for the same or lower pay to keep the organization moving forward. This situation is commonplace in today’s market from entry-level employees through senior executives. However, as the market turns around, these remaining employees will be in excellent position to grow with the company. The company will be more efficient and effective than ever because of these hardworking employees. Therefore, if you are becoming an increasingly valuable asset to your employer, when is the right time to ask for a raise?
If your organization has turned the corner and is heading in a positive direction toward stability and growth, there is no time more appropriate to address compensation than during your next performance evaluation:
- Focus on what you have done and intend to do in the future for the company.
- Help your superior understand your value as a member of the team and your level of commitment to the organization.
- Note all positive feedback you get from your manager during your evaluation.
- Ask questions regarding your employer’s satisfaction regarding specific contributions you have made. Ask if they were satisfied with the results of specific projects/initiatives that you worked on.
- If there has been an increase in your job responsibilities, let them know that you enjoyed the growth in these new areas and that you hope these additional duties have contributed to the overall success of the company.
- Tell your manager about all the positive aspects of your experience working for the company since you started. If you love working there, tell them why!
- Reiterate that you started out doing “_______”, and that you are happy that your team has relied on you with new responsibilities.
- When your boss asks if you have any questions, ask him/her, “Do you think that I’m more of an asset to the company today than 1 year ago?”
- If the answer is “yes” (and hopefully it is!) let your manager know that you are excited about growing and contributing more in the future.
- Finally, ask them, “Do you think that a compensation adjustment would be appropriate based on the change in my value to the company over the last year?”
- This is a great time to explain to your boss that a compensation adjustment is truly an investment and that you will deliver significant return-on-investment (ROI) if the company will consider making the compensation adjustment.
- As always, if you love working there, tell him/her why!
It is important to understand that the company budget might simply not permit a pay increase at that point in time. However, if addressed appropriately with the right person, in the right setting, this conversation will establish that you are eager to grow. This will stay in your manger’s mind and will eventually translate to a higher salary.
Perform well, exceed expectations, grow, contribute, adapt, make the extra effort, be a positive influence on your team – and professional growth is inevitable!
By: Michael Brown, Account Executive at BanyanBrown Solutions, Inc.
