Every job in today’s competitive world is demanding and takes extra effort to complete. Furthermore, if you are getting paid way too less than the amount of hard work you are putting into the work, then it’s the correct time to ask your boss for a raise in the salary. But it is not as easy as it sounds, right!
One of the most challenging tasks an employee generally faces is to ask anything from the boss, especially when it comes to salary. So, if someone wants a much higher salary, then they have two options for it, either go for finding another job, or if you love your present company, then ask for a raise.
The second option is much easier compared to finding a new job; if you are an individual who loves your current job and company’s culture but wants a higher salary, then you have landed on the correct page.
In this article, we’re going to provide you with several ideas on “How to Politely Ask Your Boss For Your Salary”?
In What Condition Should You Ask Your Boss For Your Salary?
It doesn’t matter what your position in the company is; you can be a team lead, a software engineer, a Data analyst, etc., but all we want is that we would be paid the right amount for the skills and the services we are providing for the company.
There comes a time in everyone’s life when you feel stuck because you don’t have anything new to learn in the company as well, as they are not playing well enough to fulfill your own needs. The employee becomes very frustrating or mentally disturbed and thinks of leaving a job. In such conditions, before making a decision, you should always talk to your boss and ask for a pay raise.
Several companies have a criterion of annual reviews where they raise their employee’s salaries depending on the work and the task they have performed throughout. But if you don’t want to wait for that month, or you think that it will be too late by then, you should ask your boss for a pay raise.
Bonus Read: How to Answer Desired Salary Interview Question? (With Examples)
Why Do You Feel Afraid While Talking to The Boss About Salary?
Asking your boss for anything seems an impossible task and frightening, but do you know why this process seems too scary? The answer is it can be due to several reasons:
- You believe that your boss will immediately reject your request, so it’s not worth asking.
- You believe that asking for a salary will make you look like a money minded person.
- You believe that you don’t deserve a pay raise. ( Sometimes, this condition is also referred to as classic imposter syndrome).
- You believe that your boss will find it very rude and will fire you from the job.
- You believe that your boss will start negotiating on the prices.
The above-listed points are critical and vary from one individual to another. To find out what your weakness is and what is your reason for this afraid-type of feeling to go in front of your boss to ask for your salary.
To make you much more comfortable and confident about these reasons we would remind you that if your boss has noticed your work and your skills and know-how benefit you have been for the company they will never reject your request. Your boss themselves is working for the company because they are being paid well enough to fulfill their daily needs, so it will not make you look money minded.
Having open communication with the boss always works in favor of the employees, so whatever you are thinking, keep those points in front of your boss. If you’re asking your boss with the correct amount of respect, professionalism, and dignity, then definitely they will not ignore your request because they know about your hard work and what kind of work you have been doing in favor of the company’s growth.
If you are not well aware of your weakness, then it will impact you and your reputation. So, try to find out what’s wrong! Furthermore, if you have self-doubts about your skills, then you need to work on them and regain your self-confidence.
At last, by regaining your confidence and courage, go to the boss and ask. There is a high possibility that they may start negotiating, so always make sure that you’re going in front of them while performing market research about the salary of your position, and, depending on your skills, quote a number which you believe that you should expect.
How to Ask For Your Salary Politely?
Sometimes the majority of the employees go with complete preparation, that they’re going to ask their boss or talk to their boss in such a way, but the minute they go into the office, they start to blabber. They don’t have any courage to speak in front of them.
Moreover, a few sections of the employees don’t even know how to talk with the boss, and they start talking in a very degrading tone that doesn’t seem professional. After listening to all this, your boss will begin questioning your communication skills.
Furthermore, before making up your mind, always make sure that you are well aware of the company’s financial health, your successful projects, the manager’s workload, and the correct person whom to contact like HR, etc.; apart from this, you must research about the salary trends in different websites so that it can help you to get a better idea about the amount that you should quote in front of the manager/boss.
The step-to-step guide to asking your boss for your salary is listed down below:
- Always communicate with your boss and not in a team meeting. If you are a remote employee, then it would be better to send an email request to schedule a video call meeting to discuss your salary.
Note: Never start the conversation in such a situation like in a team meeting on a project where your boss has not expected this kind of private conversation
- Always communicate with the boss in a serious, polite, and professional tone. Before going to the meeting, make sure that you have read all your payment terms in the contract so that there won’t be an issue afterward. If they have accepted your request to have this communication, never forget to say thanks before starting the meeting.
While talking, you should also mention your successful projects, the amount of experience that you have in the company, your total experience, etc., so that your boss would consider your points as well.
- If it has been several days or weeks since you have a meeting with your boss, then it is better to send a reminder or a friendly message. Also, make sure that you should avoid continuous follow-ups and stop disturbing them every other day.
Example of How to Politely Ask Your Boss For Your Salary
Thank you for accepting my request to have this private conversation. I have been working as a sales associate for the past one and a half years in this company, and I’m enjoying it very much. I love the company’s culture, and I don’t have any workload-related concerns, but I would like to point out that my paycheck is way too less than what I expect.
Thank you
I have been meeting my sales quota every month and using new strategies to tackle the target customers. I plan my strategy and execute them so that I would exceed the number of sales targets. My last salary change was made during my hiring time, and it’s been a long time since. I’m completing essential projects for the company, and I want to request a pay raise.
Bonus Read: How to Negotiate For Higher Salary Over The Phone? {4 Expert Tips}
Possibilities After Making a Request
If your manager asks you to quote for a price, then you can provide them, based on your research, give them a proper amount range that you are expecting. Always make sure to avoid giving a particular number; for example, use 4,00,00-5,00,000 instead of 4,00,000.
1st Possibility:
If your manager tells you that the company can’t provide this percentage of raise, then you can let them know about the market research you have done on the salary trends and your contributions to the company. You can also ask them the proper reason for not accepting their request. (make sure to have a polite tone, eye contact, and confidence)
Don’t worry, your manager will tell you the reason but will also tell you if you can expect this amount of raise soon or not. If you feel that his reason is valid, then you can ask them, “how you can help to achieve the company’s goal in the future.”
2nd Possibility:
Your boss can also help you to give a certain amount of raise but not the one that you expected. So, don’t make your hopes too high.
3rd Possibility:
Sometimes, the managers completely ignore the request and tell the employee’s that they will look into the matter in the future. So make sure that you send a follow-up mail in certain months, especially when you have completed a significant project for the company.
A Pro Tip
Whenever you are going to make any such request to your boss, always be courageous enough to face the rejection. You must also ask the main reason behind it and must try to understand the logic completely.
Moreover, you can also ask a few questions like what your manager thinks about your performance, can you expect the rise in the upcoming future, does your skills or experience are lacking in something, etc.
These questions are fundamental to put in front of the manager because if you know your weak points, you will work on them. After a certain amount of months, you will get a raise from the boss.
Conclusion
Asking for a pay raise is always a difficult task for every employee because they have several self-doubt questions in their mind. So it’s always better for a candidate or an employee to be self-aware of their weaknesses before requesting the boss to have a private conversation on this topic.
It is the most common situation in the corporate world because the employees work for many hours, but they don’t get paid enough to fulfill their requirements. So it’s not new, and you should be afraid to ask your employer. Your employer will help you look at all the factors like your skills, completed projects, ongoing projects, etc.
Apart from these factors, the most crucial point is the company’s financial condition. So make sure you research your company’s position and salary in different companies. We hope this article might help you.
