ASK THE HEADHUNTER Give resignation, or get a raise?

[deanwebb]

Give resignation, or get a raise?

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Question I haven't yet joined the "great resignation" but I'm tempted because it's a good way to get a raise nowadays. I like my job, my boss and my team, but I don't know how to get the money I think I'm worth by staying put. My performance review is coming up but I suspect a job interview will pay off better! Before I make a mistake, can I get a raise rather than give my resignation? Nick’s Reply There’s way to help your employer give you a raise before you give your resignation. Who wants to go on job

Join us for discussion! https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/16425/give-resignation-or-get-a-raise">Give resignation, or get a raise?

                              

Question

I haven't yet joined the "great resignation" but I'm tempted because it's a good way to get a raise nowadays. I like my job, my boss and my team, but I don't know how to get the money I think I'm worth by staying put. My performance review is coming up but I suspect a job interview will pay off better! Before I make a mistake, can I get a raise rather than give my resignation?

Nick’s Reply

https://www.asktheheadhunter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/resignation-1.png" alt="give resignation" width="300" height="200" />There’s way to help your employer give you a raise before you give your resignation. Who wants to go on job interviews when a well-managed performance review might get you what you want? You can make a performance review pay off better than a job interview, if you seize it. That means you must trigger the review even before it’s scheduled. With many employers worried about losing workers, I’m going to suggest a way to pull this off.

Get a raise: Call your own performance review

Someone once described the annual review as "an exercise in corporate kabuki theater," and I agree. Formal, rote review meetings should be pitched out the window, and replaced with a roll-up-your-sleeves work session with your boss.

The main problem with performance reviews is that by the time you walk in to do one, your fate has already been sealed. The human resources department and your boss have likely already done all the talking. They've filled out the forms and they found you a nice place for next year — on the fat middle of the company's salary curve. All that's left is the formality of running through a list of canned questions with you.

I see these reviews a different way. Your challenge is to subvert the process. If your performance review is coming up, great — use it. If it’s not, do your employer a favor and call your own performance review. Subvert the review process by taking the initiative to show why you are on the leading edge of that salary curve — and perhaps off the curve altogether. You're the exceptional producer who deserves the kind of raise you'd get if you changed companies.

Don’t give your resignation yet: Get a raise

Resigning and getting a new job is indeed a way to get a good raise nowadays. But as you note, some people like their jobs and the people they work with. They’d rather be part of “the great stay-cation” than the great resignation — if they can get the raise they want.

You may not need to give your resignation and change employers to get the raise you want. Here are three suggestions for how to avoid a resignation and trigger a raise. Maybe if more people would take the lead in their performance reviews with their bosses, something could actually change for the better.

3 steps to a raise

• Don't wait for your formal review. If you’re not in a hurry, lay the groundwork. Start meeting with your boss casually all year long – do it once a week, or once a month. Just explain you want to talk briefly "to make sure we're both on the same page." Then recount three ways your work is paying off for the company and how it’s making your boss look good. These meetings are crucial because it's how you establish that your boss's expectations and your work are in synch all the time. It's how you train your boss to recognize your performance. (If your goal is to hide your performance, then stop reading. I can't help you.)


• Think and talk profit. If you’re itchy for a raise and can’t wait, create a reason for a review. Tell your boss, "Look, I know the CFO doesn't measure how profitable my work is. But I'd like to try to figure it out, using any terms we can. When you assign me a project, I'd like to figure out how to do it so it either helps to increase the company's revenues or decreases its costs. Are you game?" Then outline three ways you can make incremental improvements in the way you do your job.


• Look back and look forward – all the time. Every worker should do this all year long. Show your boss the money! Create opportunities for casual meetings to discuss how the work you’ve been doing pays off – or how it didn't. Be candid and be honest. "I realize that if I had done this rather than that... it would have benefitted the company more. What do you think?" Listen for input. Then take this tack: "Learning from that, do you think I should tweak the way I'm doing this new project to be more efficient?"

I won’t resign if you hire me all over again!

What's subversive about this? You’re showing your employer why they should hire you all over again, rather than replace you at a much higher salary in today’s market.

[deanwebb]

Good advice, take ownership of your reviews!