Is it that time of year for a raise in your job?

Anytime is a good time for a raise and here is how to approach it.

It is your job to show your manager or the business owner that you deserve extra pay increase. With Internet technology, employees can now have a “blue book” value on their salary given their position or set of responsibilities. Remember, business owners and managers are often too busy with their own matters so they probably won’t remember your hard work on that important project last month.

Prepare your supervisor that you are looking for more money. Often times, they have to get a salary increase approved by higher management. Use your performance review as an arena to remind management of all of your good deeds throughout the year. It is a good opportunity to remind those forgetful bosses of your importance and the value you bring to the company. It is imperative to back your validation of value and worth to the business by having documentation of situations where you have impacted the profit line for that business.

The whole performance development process benefits the proactive employees that are successfully proving to management that they deserve the pay increase. Don’t let your boss establish your job goals for you. You should take the opportunity to discuss what you want to accomplish while you are employed there. Put your goals on paper and hand it over to your reviewing boss and I am pretty sure that manager will be impressed by your initiative. Additionally, this won’t hurt your story for asking for extra money. It shows that you are planning on how to get that extra pay.

Develop a strategy throughout the year that will be helpful for you to come well equipped for the time of year to talk about performance and hopefully, a pay increase and/or a promotion. This strategy should consist of steps that you can document that will outline your value to your company. This way no one can refute the fact that you are worth a certain amount of dollars per hour or per year.

Timing is everything so you, as a clever employee, should find a time in your job where you can have the most comfortable conversation with your boss. The purpose of this conversation is just to schedule a time where you would like to discuss a pay increase with him/her. The time that you schedule with him/her should be about thirty minutes. This is the time where you bring your back-up documentation proving your value and impact to the profit line of that business.