As I See It: Prying the Gazelle from the Lion's Teeth

by Victor Rozek

Robert Poli is a first-ballot, hall-of-fame failure at negotiating raises. As a union leader, not only did he fail to get pay increases for his members, but he managed to get some of his people thrown in jail, his union decertified, and 11,350 of its members fired. It's good to be thorough. If, as Jim Rohn observed, "you don't fail overnight; instead failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day," then Poli must have been working on this one a long, long time.

As older readers may recall, Poli was the head of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization. In 1981, he had the misfortune of annoying Ronald Reagan who taught him a practical lesson in labor negotiations: Don't tug on Superman's cape.

Poli's cause may have been just, but he made five amateurish mistakes which cost a lot of people their jobs.

• He needlessly angered his management (defying the president on television)
• He thought his people were more indispensable than they were
• He backed his management into a corner (calling for an illegal strike)
• He had no fallback position
• And, he forgot that salary negotiations often have little to do with money and a lot to do with power

Whether you're negotiating pay raises on behalf of others, or simply have enough bravado to march into the lion's den to ask the lion for a bigger chunk of the gazelle, the same principle applies: Don't walk in unarmed.

Before you confront your manager, take ample time to prepare. Let's face it, unscheduled raises are scarcer than customer service representatives, so the more unarguable your case, the better. Be advised that every manager has a half dozen stock reasons why no one can ever get a raise (it's not in the budget; you're at the top of your range; performance evaluations are only held once a year, and so forth), and you will need to address them. So don't walk in unprepared. At the very least be ready to answer the inevitable question: "Why should I give you a raise?"

"Because I haven't had one in a while" is not a compelling answer.

For those who have tried and been rejected, it will come as no surprise that requests for fair compensation--which seem so sensible to the requestor--can sometimes elicit inordinate responses. Just ask Poli. Money has an emotional charge, even when it doesn't belong to the two people arguing over it. Managers may feel threatened, annoyed, or unduly pressured by your outrageous desire to lift yourself out of subsistence, so your first objective is not to jeopardize your current situation by damaging your relationship with your manager.

There are three primary justifications for an unscheduled salary increase. 1) You are underpaid for the caliber of work you do. 2) Your workload has dramatically increased. 3) The range of your skills and responsibilities has substantially grown.

Even though one or more of these conditions may be present in your case, remember that management still holds the upper hand, so avoid Poli's inclination to try to dictate terms from the position of a supplicant. Do not bluff, issue non-negotiable demands, or back your management into a corner. Arrogance goeth before unemployment. Your job is to persuade, not to pressure.

Leave yourself some room for negotiation. Whenever possible, have a fall-back position so that both you and your manager can save face. For example, agree to review your request in 90 days based on additional performance goals. A respectful, practical, and prudent guideline for negotiating raises is to A) ask for what you want; B) accept what you get; and C) negotiate a means of attaining the difference.

However, before you can ask for what you want, you must know what you want. The word "raise" is nonspecific, and your manager's notion of a fair pay increase may not be as progressive as your own. Have an amount in mind that exceeds your expectations. If you should get it, so much the better; if the number is rejected as being too high, it will leave you room for negotiation. A great question to ask your manager is: "What amount do you think is reasonable?" The very question shifts the debate from whether or not you merit a raise, to how much the raise should be.

If you assert that you are receiving less than the going industry rate, be prepared to offer proof. IT professionals have Internet access to annual salary surveys, which have the benefit of being both objective and persuasive. Companies need to offer competitive wages in order to attract talented people. If there is a disparity in their wage structure, most managers will want to know. Newspaper help wanted ads can also be used to illustrate salary offerings for comparable jobs.

A more common road to under-compensation is creeping workload. The company grows and things get busier, people leave or retire, and the company is slow to replace them. The additional work is parceled out to the staff, ostensibly on a temporary basis, which soon has a way of becoming permanent. Salaried employees are particularly vulnerable to creeping workload because they are not compensated for overtime, but are expected to put in as much time as is needed to get the job done. The question is: which job? The one you were hired to do, or the one you are doing now? Additional work merits additional compensation. To receive it, document what you do now that was not part of your original job description.

Alternately, you may have evolved beyond the position for which you were originally hired and are now doing a far different job. Your skills and responsibilities have grown and therefore you are of greater value to the company, but your current salary no longer reflects that value. Compile job-specific evidence: you've learned new programming languages and development tools; you constructed and maintain your company's Web site; you train new employees; you've assumed project lead or supervisory responsibilities. The inescapable justification for your salary increase is that your responsibility and skill set have grown, along with your worth.

Of course, in spite of your compelling evidence, the answer may still be no. Your manager may feel he is limited by budgetary or administrative constraints, and will infer that although you are as appreciated as a winning lottery ticket, your chances of a raise are about as remote.

Don't let that deter you. Bowing to bureaucratic limitations simply shows a lack of imagination. Unless the company is in immediate danger of going under, there is always a way to squeeze a bit more blood out of the corporate turnip. Here are some common objections you may encounter, and ways to work around them.

"You are at the top of the salary range for your current position." The simple solution is to ask for a new position with a higher salary range. This is particularly appropriate if your duties have dramatically changed. If there is no existing promotional path, ask that one be created. Alternately, request that your existing salary range be adjusted to better reflect market value.

"It's not in the budget." Perhaps not, but the truth is that if you left the company, it would probably hire someone to replace you at a higher salary than you currently receive. Penetrating the budget defense can be tricky. There is a mindless inviolability about budgets that makes them like Mt. Everest--hard to get around. So, acknowledge the budgetary restraints weighing on your boss and work within administrative dictates. Your raise may not be in this year's budget, but ask your manager to include it in the next budget cycle and make it retroactive. If it's purely a budgetary issue, retroactive pay is a good solution because it gives your boss ample time to justify and plan for the expense.

"We only do salary reviews once a year." That will usually be the case, but I have never worked for a company that would not make an exception when circumstances warranted it. Point out that you are not asking for a salary review, but an adjustment based on the additional responsibilities you have been asked to shoulder, or the fact that you are being paid below market value. If you must wait for the review, ask that your increase be retroactive.

"I can't give you a raise without increased responsibilities." Ask what it will take to gain your manager's support. If you have already assumed additional responsibilities, name them. If more is required, negotiate the specifics and agree on a date the increase will take effect.

"Your performance doesn't warrant a raise." Either your manager doesn't know what you are doing, or he is correct. In either case, you are not ready to ask for a raise. If you feel you are working exceptionally hard, but your manager disagrees, it means you either need to educate your boss or admit you have an exaggerated sense of your own value. Find out what, if anything, you need to correct. If you don't have a performance plan, create one. Agree on the goals you will have to attain to merit a raise and establish a review date.

Finally, don't confuse your position with your interests. If a raise is not possible perhaps a one-time bonus is, or perhaps stock options, or company paid education that will prepare you for a better paying job, or use of a company vehicle, or paid time off, or permission to work at home. Be flexible. Direct compensation is not the only means of increasing your pay.

If you think you are not being fairly compensated, preparation and persistence offers the best chance for an equitable remedy. So why not take a chance? As the saying goes, money may not buy happiness, but it can vastly upgrade your preferred form of misery.