Trying to land a promotion or pay rise?

If you’re thinking of marching into your boss’ office and asking for a promotion and/or pay rise, you might want to think twice. Just as most people tend to keep their guard up when approached with a sales pitch, your boss might just react the same way if you spring your request on him/her out of the blue.

Put yourself in your boss’ shoes

To maximise your chances of success, always put yourself in your boss’ shoes. Bear in mind that promotions and pay increases affect the company’s budget and financial planning. Such decisions require management approval, and therefore, careful review and planning on your boss’ part. He or she needs to have compelling justification in order to endorse your promotion.

This means effort and additional work for your boss. He or she has to really believe in your potential to sign off on your request.

Show, don’t tell

‘Show, don’t tell’ is a commonly used writing technique that provides the reader an immersive reading experience (think of JK Rowling’s picturesque storytelling skills which draw readers into the magical Harry Potter world), and is equally applicable here.

Anyone can say they deserve a promotion. You can even pledge your unwavering loyalty to the company. On its own, words don’t mean much. People make empty promises all the time. But not everyone can show how valuable they are to a company. Think of it as paving the way towards asking your boss the ultimate big question, which he or she will be ready for, thanks to your careful hints.

This approach helps you ease them into the right frame of mind so they’re not caught off guard when you eventually broach the subject of a promotion or pay rise. It also gives them time to process and get used to the idea.

But how do you show them you have what it takes to level up? Besides these tips we shared previously, today we’ll show you how to lay the foundation to land that well-deserved promotion and pay rise.

5 things your boss needs to see

Here’s what you need to demonstrate during the months (ideally six months) leading up to the day you eventually broach the question of a promotion with your boss:

1. Initiative

If you want to be entrusted with more responsibilities, you need to step up and show you can handle it. Don’t just sit back and wait to be told what to do. Share your ideas and suggestions, and volunteer to take on bigger scale projects and tasks.

If you want to be taken more seriously, first you need to demonstrate the hunger and drive to succeed, not to mention the ability to step out of your comfort zone and embrace challenges.

2. Resourcefulness

Knowing how to stretch limited resources and get the job done quickly and efficiently will always score you bonus points with the boss. Just because something has always been done a particular way doesn’t mean you can’t change things up.

If you can come up with better ideas and solutions that achieve the same or better result while saving the company money, you’re on the right track! Bosses love problem-solvers; it makes their lives much easier.

3. Flexibility

The more adaptable you are to change, the better able you are to deal with challenging situations and unforeseen circumstances. Being able to keep your calm and get things done under pressure makes you a reliable and valuable member of the team.

4. Accountability

In order to trust you with more responsibility and authority, your boss needs to be convinced of your professional integrity and work ethic. If you make mistakes, make sure you own up and present solutions rather than ignore the problem, which will only make the situation worse.

5. Likeability

This might sound simplistic, but in reality, if your boss doesn’t like you, he won’t be likely to do you any favours. The more likeable you are—not just by your boss, but by colleagues and superiors as well—the more your inputs and contributions will be valued.

It goes without saying that in addition to the above, you should be openly expressing your interest in taking on more responsibilities and even asking about the process involved in promoting employees, etc. This does two things: it gets your boss thinking about the prospect of promoting you, and you learn what’s involved in the decision-making process so you can be sure to tick all the boxes.

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