Negotiating a Salary Increase

Going into this you need to have a clear and confident understanding of your value. Given you are in this situation and ready to approach the conversation of a salary increase. It means you more than likely do know your worth! However, having confidence in yourself and your abilities is extremely valuable,. In this circumstance, it is important to remain grounded and realistic.

With that said, taking time to research the market can help provide you with a realistic guideline and comparison of relevant salary averages. Doing so will help put you one step ahead as it shows you have collected solid evidence to back up your request. Plus this data will be very valuable to help give you leverage when starting the negotiation.

You can find this information by looking on job boards such as indeed and internal company job pages via their website. When doing your research, you could take it one step further and narrow the search right down to your local area.

Another method you could use is through our very own 2022 FMCG Salary guide. A newly released guide specifically to help you benchmark your salary against others. FREE DOWNLOAD.

Gather all the information you can to build a portfolio of evidence to support your request. Show what you have achieved and how this has helped your wider organisation. Use this as an opportunity to showcase all your achievements and skill sets, covering things such as:

• Goals, Targets and/or KPIs: how they have been met and what they have achieved.
• Any large projects you have successfully completed.
• Circumstances where your abilities / work has stood out.
• Recent training or qualifications you have completed.
• Make sure you point out any niche skills which bring a lot of value to the company and may be hard to replace.

Evidencing all of this will let the company know what it might cost to replace you and illustrate your worth.

Remember – as well as showcasing yourself, make sure to share what you can continue to do for the business too. Including what will you deliver going forward, goals you want to achieve, ideas you have for growth etc. This will help to also show your enthusiasm and passion, which can never look bad!

Once you have collected all your ‘evidence’ make sure you know it through and through. You want to go into that meeting confident, as you are essentially there to sell yourself. Make sure you spend time thoroughly understanding your justification for the request. This ensures that you can be ready to face any challenging questions there may be against it.

How you best approach this will entirely depend on your personal relationship with your Manager. We suggest booking a time in the diary to discuss this is your best bet, regardless of whether you disclose the reason prior or not. It will allow you the time to prepare and your manager will have specific time to dedicate to the conversation.

Be mindful to organise this when your business is not facing a tough time. Doing so may look inconsiderate to the wider organisation and selfish. Approach this in the most positive as possible environment with full respect for everyone involved.

Make sure to have also done the groundwork and given your all in the runup. You may set yourself off on the back foot if you approach this following a period of poor performance.

You want to stay humble and confident when meeting with your Manager. Never compare your self to your fellow employees or say anything that could reflect negatively. When communicating, you want to appear confident in what you’re saying. Project your confidence through your body language and maintained eye contact.

If you are struggling with nerves on the day, which of course is common in what can be a very daunting meeting. Try to look at the negotiation as a partnership between you and your boss, and not you versus your boss. This way, you will help to decrease the pressure in your mind, making you feel at ease and calm.

When discussing the salary first of all, let your Manager take the lead. See what figures they may propose before you begin negotiating.

Following that, you want to keep it strictly business related. It is unlikely your Manager will take personal financial situations into consideration and relevance to your salary increase. Make sure to keep the conversation away from this and rather about the value of your contribution.

There are many ways in which organisations can reward their staff, above and beyond salary.  Perks and benefits are something you should always consider too. This could be through benefits such as: hybrid working, increased holiday allowance, pension contribution, performance related bonuses, job title changes and much more!

So don’t think purely about the money. Particularly if your Manager doesn’t seem too keen on the idea, as uou can get more value out of your role.

The main thing from all of this is to keep your expectations low and don’t presume you will get confirmation at the end of your meeting. It is unlikely you will get an answer there and then. Give your Manager time to review your request and analyze all your reasonings. 

Don’t forget about yourself. You may be presented with an offer in your meeting however, it is a good idea to take some time to reflect afterwards. Don’t feel obliged to accept anything so don’t be afraid to take time to think about it first. Maybe presenting alternatives if you think there could be some room for maneuver. You’ve done all that research and groundwork, so don’t throw it away by making a snap decision!