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Laura Rowley Money & Happiness

Laura Rowley, Money & Happiness

Seven Ways to Get a Raise in a Soft Economy

by Laura Rowley

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Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008, 12:00AM

What's the trick to getting a raise in a soft economy?

Economists expect continued weakness in the labor market this year, according to a survey by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank. Employers will shed 45,000 jobs a month on average in the current quarter, forecasters predict, and unemployment will rise to 5.5 percent from 5.1 percent by the fourth quarter.

At the same time, companies are expected to hand out raises of 4 percent this year, according to a survey by the Washington-based Economic Research Institute. For example, at my brother's wedding over Memorial Day weekend, I chatted with a friend and HR executive who said his firm is still doling out raises to top performers, even though the company is in the battered financial services sector.

The key, experts say, is to steer clear of some common pitfalls in your quest for a bigger paycheck. Here are the top seven:

Mistake No. 1: Assuming you can't ask for a raise.

"People have a surprising amount of power even in a sluggish economy," says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. "Unemployment is still only around 5 percent, and that's very low."

Cynthia Shapiro, a California-based career coach and author of "Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn't Want You to Know -- and What to Do About Them," agrees.

"They'll break the budget if you make a compelling enough case and they're worried about keeping you," she says. "A lot of people will sit back and say 'I'm doing such a good job, they'll notice and offer more money' -- but they'll assume you're happy if you don't ask for anything."

Mistake No. 2: Justifying your request for a raise.

Soaring prices for food, gasoline, and other staples may prompt you to seek a pay hike -- but that's not what your boss wants to hear.

"Most people ask for money because they personally need more money -- they say, 'I just had a baby' or 'we just bought a house' or 'I lost money in stock market' or 'I've been here a long time and work really hard,'" says Shapiro. "Don't ask because you feel you deserve or need more -- make a case that you are critical to the company's success."

There are essentially only four measures of performance -- quantity, quality, cost, and timeliness, says Robert Lorber, an executive coach and co-author of "Who Are You and What Do You Want?" to be published this month.

"Look at what you can do that adds value,'" he says. "Can you bring in new customers, reduce costs, improve efficiencies, or boost sales? Then you're open to asking for more money. If your company is in crisis mode, your job is to make sure your bosses understand how you can be part of solution."

Search Salary.com to find the current market rate for your position, taking into account years of experience, the size of your firm, and the region of the country in which you work. Then base the pitch on your accomplishments.

Mistake No. 3: Asking at the wrong time.

Don't wait for your review to make the request. "Ask when you just did something that made you look like a star," Shapiro says, such as landing a major client, saving your department a bundle of money, or receiving a glowing email for your marketing campaign.

Don't ask the month after you've taken a holiday, Challenger suggests: "There's no question that you have a right to your vacation, but if you ask after you're gone ten days, you've lost some impact." Know whether your boss is a morning or afternoon person, and time your proposal accordingly, he adds.

Mistake No. 4: Tooting your own horn too loudly.

Rather than widely proclaiming your triumphs, build key alliances with people across the company who are working on the firm's highest priorities, Shapiro suggests. "In a down economy, if you want to be promoted when the dust settles, be generous with your time," she says. "Offer yourself in service to other people. Get people around you talking about how great you are. Then you don't have to toot your own horn."

Meanwhile, be wary of grabbing the spotlight and outshining your boss. "Make it your responsibility to keep that relationship strong," says Challenger. "Your raise request will be met much more favorably if you and your boss are simpatico."

Mistake No. 5: Promoting your unconventional style.

Emulate how people at the top look, dress, talk, and behave, both at work and company social events. "They'll have a dress code, a language -- maybe they all play golf or have an MBA -- whatever it is, that's your path," says Shapiro. "People at the top hate looking at lower levels and seeing one of their own. They'll pull you up to their level if you look like you belong there."

Use a resource like LinkedIn, a professional networking site with more than 20 million members, to research career paths of people at the top. Sign up for free and create a profile page that basically reads like a resume, including the companies for which you've worked. Once you enter that information, you can click the name of your current employer to display every other LinkedIn member that works at the firm. Click on their profiles to view their education, tenure, and experience.

Also adopt the causes of the people in the C-suite, Challenger advises. "Look for what your boss does in public service, and join in, whether it's doing sustainability and green projects or volunteering at a food bank," he says. "It's a good way to raise visibility."

Mistake No. 6: Listening to what the company says instead of watching what it does.

Pay attention to who the company rewards rather than listening to its lip service about values. "Most people don't keep their eyes open," Shapiro argues. "They focus on their work and think if they do a good job and are talented, they'll be taken care of. But only 50 percent is how talented you are -- the other 50 percent is being culturally savvy about your company."

For example, Shapiro describes a Fortune 100 company that strongly promoted a new work-life balance program.

"They did it to appease the shareholders, because they had earned a reputation for being slave drivers," she recalls. "They continued to reward and promote the people who put in major hours. People who didn't have their eyes open -- who were leaving to go to their kids' soccer games -- got crunched in the process. Sometimes companies preach ideals they can't live up to; it's meant for PR, not for the employees."

Shapiro counseled a manager at another firm who was laid off while on maternity leave. "She thought, 'I'm a VP, of course they'll take care of me,'" Shapiro recalls. "I asked her, 'What's the precedent? What have they done for others who went on maternity leave?' She realized every single one of them had never come back."

Mistake No. 7: Quitting when you don't get the raise you want.

If you can't get the raise you seek, you'll likely find it by switching jobs -- but don't quit your current gig, says Shapiro. "In a down economy, the trick is to look for a new job while currently employed," she says. "Look from the solid foundation of a current job; you'll always get more offers."

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  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 1, 2008, 1:15PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Readers are being realistic in assessing the trend in the economy and the state of corporate culture. However, should that deter one to do the best one can to cope with the situation? Even if being optimistic only lets me avoid the axe, it is worth visioning growth.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 1, 2008, 12:07PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Many bosses in corporate settings, judge their employees by their personal situation. I had to start my own business because my old boss refused to acknowledge my contribution because he judged me because I was single and lived with my parents longer than most people. Nevermind that they both lost their jobs through no fault of their own so they needed financial assistance and the only way I could provide it was by living with them. Now I since I'm self-employed I don't have to worry about fillling everyone in on my personal situation. It's funny that people still want to know my personal situation even though I'm a consultant and will only work with people for a short time. I even lie about my personal life because if they knew the truth, their personal biases would take over and I wouldn't be able to command the money I am paid by the client. Pretty astounding but true.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Sunday, June 1, 2008, 11:56AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    To follow up on Spock's comments a few posts down. It's even more important that if you're boss is male, you should be male. If your boss is married, you should be married. If you're boss has kids, you should have kids. If your boss likes college basketball, you should like college basketball. Once you do all that, if you get raises and avoid layoffs, you're set. If you don't, NOTHING else you do will get him to respect you.

  • Greg - Sunday, June 1, 2008, 10:19AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    The inability of the masses to admit this is a severe recession forwarding into a depression is further proof that I believe that this country has literally gone insane. In California they are making laws that allow people to sleep overnight in parking lots. In their SUV's. You can't sell a car. You can't buy a car You can't sell a house You can't buy a house Bear Stern's is gone JP Morgan is gone with all their phony book keeping in LEVEL 3 Assets 1500 Banks are now on credit watch by the FDIC, which is increasing their head count by 60% pulling people out of retirement. Rt 30 in Oregon is a ninety mile yard sale. And you call this a soft economy with the word EXPERT over your picture. God Help Us....

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 11:53PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This is not a soft economy. THIS IS A RECESSION. Stop the Bush double-speak. People have died and are dying because you abuse your position. Is Yahoo becoming a haven for right wing hacks like Ben Stein? These people are trust-fund losers or ivy grads who never worked a day in their lives. Pssss, when you ask for a raise in a recession you're FIRED or told to go soak you head! -Please take a real job and learn about the real world Ms trust fund. You fool no one.

  • NDM - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 11:15PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Stick a fork in corporate America! It's done! It's all so 20th century.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 5:05PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    “Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.” Abraham Lincoln Amaricans have the Z.O.G. they deserve. It can only get better with the current candidates, mandated health insurance or 100 year oil war. Buy into the B.S. get on your knees and beg for nickle an hour raise

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 10:50AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    I hear a bunch of whiners out here! As an employer of 15-20 people, the reason that these whiners rarely get raises; is that they're usually just "place holders" for good people that will come along and give best effort and care about the company that they work for. The whiners have issues about this or that, like Marc with the soap dispensers, he probably doesn't wash his hands after going anyway. The people that get raises show positive interest and ideas about how productivity can be increased, how money can be saved, and how customers can be better served. Those are the people that get raises and extra benefits. There are still a lot of segments of the economy that are crying for good employees, like nursing and engineering, food service to name just a few. The employee's attitude is everything, the most important thing along with his or her ability to get the job done. I'm sick and tired about all these whiners looking for their employer or government to give them a hand out, where it's their responsibility to get themselves ahead. You hear about all these people who support Obama, his policies are not going to help anyone in the middle class. He’s going to over tax the middle class and the businesses that employ the middle class to death.

  • Skip - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 8:19AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Corporate America is for the most part....lame. The sad truth brought forth in this article is the 50% factor. 1/2 of your job should be brown nosing? The Dilbert factor. These are the idiots that rise high in companies, ass kissers with 1/2 the ability and 1/2 the brains to make good business decsions.

  • binderzz - Saturday, May 31, 2008, 3:53AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    It's been my experience that the boss's friends will get the raises and they will also avoid the layoff axe when that time comes, too. Work late? Doesn't matter. Do good work? Doesn't matter. Talented? Doesn't matter. Experienced? Doesn't matter. Spend some quality time with the boss instead. Smoke? Make sure you use his brand and when he steps out to the smoking area, follow him out and offer him a cigarette. Dress like the boss. Buy a car just like his. Learn to like the same foods. Like animals? Find out what dog the boss has and get one just like it for yourself. That's how to get a raise. That's how to keep your job. Worse yet, if you don't follow my advice realize that someone else will. That other someone else will be sharing a smoke with the boss while they're discussing your failings as an employee.

  • RobertM - Friday, May 30, 2008, 6:46PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    It is a bit interesting how a self-employed person is an expert on getting raises. Nevertheless, there is one really good way to get a raise, make yourself invaluable to your superiors and be able to demonstrate how you add value. Simple as that. Management will give you want you reasonably want if you can make them personally look good, which also means don't show them up. Appeal to their greedy self-interest.

  • Grunge45 - Friday, May 30, 2008, 2:06PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Mostly common sense. I don't think you have to adopt a life style like the boss, but being around once in a while certainly helps. I made the mistake of not talking to the boss (higher level) enough. It is easy to hold back someone you don't know very well.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 30, 2008, 12:22PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I worked for a huge Coporation that had plenty of signs on the walls about how the Company was all about integity,honesty and so on and so forth. When downsizing time came I uncovered some blatant corruption and told management about it. They fixed the problem and promptly made sure I was in the next group to get laid off.The managers involved in the corruption were never punished. They were allowed to stay on and get their future raises.I think it is more about politics then it is about your job performance or honesty. The backstabbers usually get ahead in the short term but I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 30, 2008, 11:27AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Granted this is just one story - but I received a raise just yesterday. I work in health care - interviewed for a job with another company and approached my employer. They saw my specific services as being valuable and gave me a raise. I was doubtful that they would/could come through with a raise because of the economy, but they did. Granted, not all jobs/occupations are the same, but that shouldn't keep all people from attempting to at least ask for a raise in some situations.

  • Tom Brown - Friday, May 30, 2008, 10:39AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Then there's always the classic technique of sleeping with your boss!

  • Out of Focus - Friday, May 30, 2008, 6:36AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    For the commenters on affirmative action, I'm not going to get into a huge debate about it. You know why it started and you know why its still in existence. With that said, there are plenty of highly qualified non whites males out in the world. If you dont know how to find them, thats on you. Blaming affirmative action solves nothing. Also, just because you may have hired a less than qualified candidate does not excuse you from your supervisory duties once these people get the job. If these people are performing poorly on the job and you are too busy blaming affirmative action instead of addressing the person, then thats on you. I used to work for the government, and I saw slackers of ALL races (including whites, Gasp!!), so to blame affirmative action for the hiring of poor performers is just plain ignorant, and shows your lack of due diligence.

  • Big - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 11:31PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    There are some industries where asking for a raise will do you no good, due to the yearly "merit"-raise process, per peer evaluations, such as at the hospital where my wife and I work. I have seen many good people get screwed by this system, while others who should be given the boot actually benefit from it. Luckily, I have averaged a 4.7% raise in my 14 yrs here and my wife 5.5% over the past 11 yrs. I am a medical secretary, while she is a R.N. To the poster who said his company wasted money on automated faucets and soap dispensers.....Well, actually those are much needed items and should be installed everywhere to help reduce disease and infection; when people will actually wash their hands after taking a piss, such as your waiter.(Hopefully, you all will remember this every time you go to a restaurant....or hospital!) Look up C. Difficile, it is rampant in hospitals and sure to come to restaurant near you...soon! Chow down!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 10:26PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    I worked in HR for a couple of years and people would demand raises because they bought a car or house and had a child and said they NEEDED more money. The bottom line is that a business is not a charity and doesn't make choices based on moral arguments. The fact that you have 40k in credit card debt and 6 kids or 200k saved in the bank shouldn't have any impact on what your employer pays you. A business is there to make money and pay those hard working and productive workers based on their productivity. The last poster who brought up affirmative action in the defense industry is correct. It was one of the reasons that drove me out of the HR position when I had to hire less qualified workers because of a government mandate to hire people based on sex and race at the expense of the best person for the job. Do you understand how hard it is to sleep at night when you have to turn the perfect candidate down because you need more (insert group here) people? Then once you start hiring less qualified people, you would at least think they would be happy to get a job but nope, they can't even show up on time or perform their tasks. Then when they don't get promoted within 2 years it was their sex/race creating a "glass ceiling" and holding them down.

  • Russell - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 9:35PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Do Not Want

  • Ken - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 9:27PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Having worked in the defense industry for ten years now, I have seen that it is very easy to get a raise in any economy -no matter how poor your performance is or how clueless you are, as long as you are not a white guy, you can pimp your race and/or sex to get that big raise.

  • Dan - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 5:32PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Where's Penelope Trunk when you need her the most? Apparently Laura and Penelope have fallen from the same tree. Apparently doing a good job isn't enough, you put yourself through reading a bunch of developmental information, that doesn't really work in your office/organization, and do all this garbage about making yourself noticed without making it look like your groveling, or flaunting yourself. Seems that last year with Penelope Trunk, we were told just the OPPOSITE to what Laura is telling us. EARTH TO LAURA: If you haven't realized, that regardless to what the stock/commodities market is doing, we are in a RECESSION (Can you say RECESSION Laura?). Asking for a raise at this time is not only a sure way to get yourself noticed, but to have you fired in a hurry. There aren't many companies making much of a profit, and when the bottom drops out (just after the November Elections..), those making a profit, will be hurting for certain. Laura, again you are showing that your head is buried in the sand again (probably how you became a blonde). EARTH TO YAHOO: Last year it was Penelope Trunk and her bathroom yoga and unnannouced vacations telling us to be noticed, and this year with Laura telling us otherwise...try being original, and have some consistency and can the contradiction. It is little wonder why Yahoo is on the selling block!

  • Marc - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 5:15PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Companies give raises now a days? Funny I thought they have the "barely keep up with inflation adjustments but we'll give you something pay increases". I see money wasted on fancy soaps, automated faucets, and automated soap dispensers. Seeing cash blown on junk like that ticks me off. Most employees walk around ticked off b/c they can't get a decent raise, but at the same time top dollar is spent on useless stuff. Whatever happened to keeping employees happy.

  • Chris - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 4:49PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    If I see this article one more time I'm going to cry. It's a crying shame how often these same round-up tips articles are being repackaged and repurposed over, and over, and over.... ugh.

  • chicago3200000 - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 3:58PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I generally like the ideas in this article (albeit not for the reasons stated-getting raises). To me, it is an employees responsibility to acquire skills regardless of whether or not a person is going for a raise or promotion. In my opinion, this forms the basis for employment. As far as raises go, my wife and I have had mixed experiences. For my wife, she was promoted a number of times but really wasn't compensated with each title change. So, we came up with the idea of skill and relationship building. This makes a person extremely valuable to the current company; however, it also makes them valuable to a number of other companies. The relationship building also aids in movement elsewhere should it be necessary. The point of this is not so much to try to instill fear in a company. Rather, it is a form of employment security. A couple of years ago we did have to execute the quitting option when a company failed to sufficiently compensate my wife so her skills were shopped to someone else resulting in a 40% increase in salary (gone up a bit from there now). My company has been rather good to me. I went for one promotion and they moved me up two slots as opposed to just one. I was planning on pushing for a certain salary but the company exceeded what I was going to push for by 20%. Even though, the company has been good to me one never knows what the future holds. So, I continue to work on skill building and networking within my field. And, once my skills move up to a certain point, I will ask for a raise (other than cost of living). Should, I need to move elsewhere I will be able to and get what I want if not more.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 3:24PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    Ok, Mr. Averagestupid Yahoo finance dummy, you present a solid case for a raise. However, the fact that you chose to present this stupidity after the company posted a 1.5 billion lost tells us how smart you are and the true value this company will have without you. I have made the calls to our best competitor and hope you land a job there tomorrow. Ah, hope Yahoo Finance tells you how to deal with the pain of being stupid. I can't believe these people get paid to copy ah write this trash. Is she serious or was this a joke.

  • HR Dir - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 3:18PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I just had two employees ask for a raise... and they are good employees who we want to keep and we authorized the raise. I'm shocked by the back lash here! ~HR Dir.

  • Manoj - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 3:14PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    The problem is that people are not good at selling themselves, even if they have good job skills. There is no course on that. It really requires spontaneity. My take, don;t put too much pressure on yourself and just have fun and do your best. Ignore the brown noser and back stabber. If you are working hard, make sure you are engaged in what is happening in company. But still there is no guarentee. Who said life is fair?

  • Nick Name - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 1:46PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    My God, I just wasted 2 minutes of my life reading this. Oh, the humanity! Makes me long for the days of Penelope Trunk and her bathroom Yoga sessions.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 1:45PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    These days... Ask for a raise = Ask to be erased.

  • geoff - Thursday, May 29, 2008, 1:25PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This is almost as bad as Weinstein's rehashing of some other "experts" blog. Laura cites Shapiro so often, why not just print an article Shapiro wrote to begin with.

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