Performance Review Pt.2

People often think that you should talk about the pay increase you want during your performance review. Which is not the case. You should talk about the pay increase that you want before the review. Schedule a meeting with your manager prior to the review and let him/her know what you want. By the time they get to the review, all decisions have been made. If you blindside them with a pay increase, then they now have to go back to their manager, and get HR involved. Now you might say, “my manager should have already thought about giving me a pay increase. I deserve it.” My question to you would be, “Do you always expect people to hand you things?” No you don’t. This isn’t some fantasy Utopian world where we all know what the other person is thinking. If you want something you have to ask for it or get it yourself. When you do go to this meeting prior to your review, you need to be prepared with evidence. Evidence of why you deserve this raise and/or promotion. The projects you have worked on, how much money you possibly saved the company. How you have helped your coworkers(if you have) What kind of impact you have had on your team. How you have made your boss’s life easier. You can keep a journal, or add it to notes on your calendar. Your boss might already know all this, but this will help them make a stronger case to their superiors and HR. You want as much information as you can possibly gather. This might sound like a lot of work, but you have to work for what you want. Life won’t give you rainbows and sunshine all the time, most of the time it’s lemons. You need to turn those lemons into a lemon meringue pie.