Congratulations on your promotion! We're sure you've earned it. When entering a salary negotiation at promotion time, it can seem like you have few options. Employers rightly believe that most people are just happy with the change in title they receive and pay little attention to the salary increase. People also don't want to rock the boat after receiving a promotion with a salary raise since they feel wanted by the company.
What we're hear to tell you is that you have some wiggle room to negotiate salary for a promotion and don't necessarily have to accept what you're given. The goal at Springraise Salary Negotiation is for you to maximize your salary at every career event throughout the course of your career. In more simple terms, that means getting the highest career salary.
Here's a two-minute case study of how I was able to get a much larger raise at promotion time based on knowing peer salaries. I was able to double my raise!
How's that for negotiating? Want to make that happen for you? Here are some points to consider:
a. You just got a promotion. Why not negotiate?
The company has shown you that you're valued. Is it wrong to ask for more money? If you have prepared for this career event and have your expectations set along with your other support information including peer salaries and the salary bands for your company from your HR rep, then you may have some justification for a salary raise.
b. How much more responsibility will you have?
People should be paid based on the impact they have on the company's goals. Higher responsibility is commensurate with more money. Are your responsibilities in the new job drastically higher than that of your previous job? If so, then you should get a raise that reflects that increased responsibility.
Now we get to the nitty-gritty. Here are some practical tips for your salary negotiation at promotion to help you get what you want.
1. Be prepared
We say this all the time at Springraise Salary Negotiation. Know how much your colleagues make as well as how much the salary band is for your new position. Many position bands overlap so employers may say that your small salary increase is the "starting pay" for the new salary band. You don't have to accept that when you have the data you need to counter that argument.
2. Test the waters
You've been given a promotion. It's time to see if there are other companies who value your services. See what's out there. Do a few interviews, even if you don't want to leave your current company. Why do this? Because if you do get an offer from another company, it can act as a negotiating chip. Remember, this is about your getting paid at market rate--and market rate is set by other companies are willing to pay you to do a similar job. You may see that you're underpaid by up to 25%! You need to know that.
3. Know who the decision-maker is
Your manager may not be the person who sets the salary for your position. Know if there's another person that you'll have to deal with up front. If you find out that the decision-maker isn't your manager, then try to set a meeting with that person to negotiate. Getting that meeting may prove difficult, but having an outside offer from another company goes a long way to getting internal attention!
4. Would you leave the company?
One of the advantages of having an offer is walk away power. If your company can't pay you what the new company offered, then you can leave your current company. If you don't have leaving as part of your goal, then pursue a softer negotiation strategy.
Good luck with your negotiation and we're always happy to get feedback and success stories! Let us know how it goes at springraise AT springraise DOT com.
