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Raise the bar: how to demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a pay rise

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Pay Rise|Raise the bar: how to demonstrate to your boss that you deserve a pay riseYou could easily feel jittery if you approach your boss to ask them for a pay rise. After all, you don’t want to risk striking an arrogant or self-important tone – but, all the same, you don’t want to come across as so humble and reluctant that your manager could wonder why you asked in the first place.

Fortunately, it’s more comfortable to bring up the idea of a larger pay packet if, before then, you have excelled more than usual in the workplace, making it easier for you to justify the salary hike.

Invest in self-development

In a sense, you are probably already doing that by honing your existing job skills. However, you could go a step further by enrolling on a course. The Muse points out that plenty of free courses are available online, but taking classes at a local college or university is also an option.

Before you do any of this, though, you should directly ask your boss exactly what new skills you – or perhaps “the team”, if you would prefer to be more subtle – ought to learn.

Ask for your boss for boring-but-essential tasks

In probably every workplace, there are a few responsibilities that people only do because they have to, not because they want to – and your boss probably has some of those tasks on their own plate.

Just imagine, then, how much further you could get into their good books simply by asking your manager whether there are any important-but-dull tasks you can handle for them. Even if there aren’t, your offer to help won’t go unappreciated.

Surpass your manager’s expectations

If there aren’t any extra assignments for you to take on, doing even better with your existing ones can be a great way for you to ease your argument for a pay increase.

For example, you could endeavor to hand in completed projects ahead of the officially-set deadlines. Still, make sure that, in your attempt to do that, you don’t compromise on the quality of the work – as submitting a sloppily-done project early would be rather defeating the point.

Mentor a junior member of the team

That doesn’t necessarily have to mean enrolling in a formal mentorship program, though it would certainly be convenient if your company had one. There are more informal means of mentoring someone, such as by providing them with impromptu feedback and support from time to time.

As you do so, your relationship with your mentee should develop naturally – and, as their career takes off, yours will inevitably improve, too.

Be ready to negotiate in a flexible way

Sometimes, no matter how persuasively you put forward your argument for a pay rise, your boss might have to resist due to factors outside their control, Chron notes. In that case, you could indicate that you are still open to receiving other perks.

Through LifeWorks’ perks and savings scheme, many employers can provide their employees with price cuts on such routine purchases as cars and family outings – so, you could point this out as an option.

Why Professional Mentorship is a Highly Underrated Business Tool

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Why Professional Mentorship is a Highly Underrated Business ToolIf you’ve never heard of a mentorship program, look no further.

Mentorship programs are often overlooked by business owners because they’re seen as an expense instead of a beneficial investment. You should understand the importance of mentorship because it will help you and your company.

Mentors can provide a plethora of benefits to employees and business owners that allow them to make better decisions and improve their workspace. This will allow any business owner to earn more money in the long run.

Keep on reading to learn more about mentorship programs and what they can do for your business!

What Is a Mentor?

A mentor is someone that can enter a company and guide both the employees and owners. They act as the eyes and ears of the operations because they’re constantly involved with employees and see what goes on daily.

Depending on the size of a company, there may be multiple mentors. The more employees you have, the more mentors you’ll want so that everyone can get mentored equally.

Mentors typically go to school to learn how to deal with people. They’re effective at providing support to others and giving business recommendations when needed. You can learn more about the experience that mentors have if you’re interested in hiring them.

Asking Questions and Getting Advice

One of the main benefits of mentorship programs is that they allow employees to ask a question and get advice whenever they need assistance.

Many employees, especially newer ones, struggle to get the hang of things when they enter a new job. This is because they’ll go through a standard training procedure that all employees do and will be expected to start working efficiently right away.

The problem with this is that each role needs to be trained in a certain way so that employees aren’t confused about what their job is.

Bringing in someone to mentor employees will ensure that they do their jobs consistently and effectively because they’ll have someone that’s always available to answer questions.

Receiving a Different Perspective

It’s important to hear from another perspective before deciding to do something because it helps you guarantee that what you’re doing makes sense.

One of the mentorship program goals that most programs have is to provide unbiased and useful information. Whether a business owner or an employee is looking to hear from someone else, a mentor can give them their thoughts and explain other scenarios.

Improving Key Skills

The main purpose of mentoring is to guide someone through a process by helping them improve their key skills.

If you have a new IT employee that doesn’t know how to repair a broken motherboard, a mentor can show them what they need to do. In this case, the mentor would act as a trainer.

Should your employees constantly complain about not knowing how to do things, your mentors will tell you how you can make the training process better.

Venting with a Trusted Person

Although a mentor will often assist employees with tasks, they’ll also be a person that employees can go to when they want to vent. If an employee feels as though they can’t express themselves, you’ll usually see a decline in their work because they’ll feel stressed.

Similar to a counselor-patient relationship, mentors won’t disclose the personal information that’s shared between them and the person they’re mentoring.

Expanding Networks

Mentors give employees and business owners the opportunity to expand their networks by introducing them to new people. Most mentors have worked with several companies, so they can give you contact details and mention you to others.

Even inside a business, a mentor can expand a new employee’s network by introducing them to other coworkers. It’s common for employees to not know everyone within a company, especially if it’s larger.

This benefits business owners because they can start partnering with other companies, and it benefits employees because they’ll be able to interact with more people and feel included.

Methods and Strategies

Every business has a set of methods and strategies that they employ to fulfill their services. A mentor can drill these things into employees, making them better employees as they won’t feel lost when they’re working.

If a strategy is outdated or isn’t working as effectively as it should, mentors will make recommendations to improve the system. They’ll have a better idea of what’s working because they’ll be interacting with various employees daily.

Confidence to Make Better Decisions

Having a mentor gives employees the confidence to make better decisions because they’ll know they can fall back on someone if they mess up.

Their guidance encourages employees to make bolder decisions, even if there’s a lot of risks involved. They’ll do the same with a business owner that’s struggling to decide on something.

Start Looking Into Mentorship Programs Today

Investing in a mentorship program is one of the best things you can do as a business owner because you’ll save a lot of time and money in the process. Instead of having to deal with employees when they’re stressed or don’t know what to do on the job, a mentor will take care of that.

If you own a business, we encourage you to start looking into mentorship programs in your area to help you take your business to another level. You’ll quickly notice that the company is more productive, ultimately allowing you to maximize your profits.

Browse our articles to learn more about mentorship programs and other business ideas.