Ask for an Addition to the Company’s Financial Schedule for Better Results
You know that scene from the movies where the employee decided, “Today is the day I finally ask for a raise!” If you are smart, this is not the way to plan it. Decide when to ask for a raise based on your company’s schedule.
As reddit user drhorn points out, most companies have some sort of schedule for when they pay promotions. This is usually around the time of the annual assessment. In most cases, this is the best time to ask for a raise because all the moving parts that will really help you raise are already in motion. Starting this process six months in advance means a lot more work for your leaders:
If you are not the CEO, making the case for an employee to get a promotion or promotion (especially off-schedule) takes away valuable resources from the manager. This doesn’t mean you can go to your boss’s office and end up with him right away. Most companies will need several levels of bureaucracy to get there, and generally you will need to spend some of your probably limited “goodwill” budget on it …
This means that if you want to raise your salary 3% off schedule, this will not happen. Not because you are not worth 3%, and not because 3% is a lot of money for the company, but because the level of effort required to get you a 3% raise is not proportional to the likelihood that you leave if you don’t get a 3% raise.
If you want to ask for an off-schedule premium, weigh that against the factors that make it worthwhile: do you have a back-up offer from another company that you can leverage? Does your boss appreciate you enough to overcome the unnecessary bureaucracy to keep you? Is your company agile enough to handle the pay rise? Some large companies may have deep-rooted plans that cannot be changed except in extreme circumstances.
In many cases, you may deserve a promotion, but it is time that kills your chances. If you just want to raise your salary a little because you feel you deserve it, it might be worth waiting until your usual checkout time. If you are looking for a higher position with a higher pay and are willing to leave the company to get it, it may be best to ask immediately. Read Dhrhorn’s post below to learn more about how to negotiate a salary from a manager’s perspective.
Promotion / Promotion Negotiations From A Manager’s Perspective | Reddit