7 Strategies for Getting a Raise

7 Strategies for Getting a Raise No one ever wrote a song about performance review time, calling it the â€Å"most wonderful tiiiiime of the year.† Nobody loves it, except maybe the most devoted members of Human Resources. It’s extra work for you, your boss, and your company. However, it’s worth it- it not only lets you know how you’re doing, but it also might net you a bonus or raise. The time to start thinking about that raise is not 10 minutes before your self-evaluation is due. Planning ahead can bring great rewards.1. Set goals  early. REALLY early.If possible, you can even set these goals  before you have the job. If you spend a lot of time discussing the skill-building and growth you expect to see in your first year in the job, it helps your new employer set a baseline for your performance. Of course, realism is the key here. If you say you’re going to increase revenue by X% and you don’t meet that, you’ve just set yourself up for failure. Instead, set your self up for success†¦ and future profit.2. Know your goalposts throughout the year.If your boss expects you’ll hit certain milestones or complete particular projects, take extra care with those- they’ll be the concrete proof of your raise-worthy year. Make sure you keep a paper trail for big projects to help remind you later what you accomplished. If you get glowing reviews from a colleague or a client, save them! You can casually bust those out during a year-end discussion, and use them to how just how valuable you are to the team. If you’re collecting data and keeping track of things all year, you won’t have to make a rushed pitch at the end of the year and risk forgetting accomplishments or projects that would make an excellent case for a raise.3. Don’t limit yourself to just your responsibilities  If your company has committees, join one. If there are employee social events, volunteer to help set up or clean up. If you see a way to provi de excellent service, but it would be a minor inconvenience to you, try to do it anyway. Things like these show that you’re willing to get your hands dirty in support of the company. You’re a team player who does what needs to be done, and doesn’t just wait around to be told what to do. If you want to look valuable, be valuable. You’d be surprised at how â€Å"small† things add up by the end of the year.4. Don’t lie or bluff about your accomplishments.Your boss will know if you are over-inflating numbers or making it look like you have a skill you don’t quite have. Be positive about your accomplishments and your skills, and talk them up as much as possible- just don’t feel the need to embellish. You don’t want anyone to question your integrity.5. Treat your review like a re-interview.Instead of letting your boss (or whoever is reviewing you) run through a monologue of your year while you sit quietly and sign the forms at the end, try to make sure it’s a dialogue. If she mentions a particular project, make sure the background and context are clear and that the takeaway- your success- is clear.6.  Turn your mistakes into accomplishments.If you didn’t have a perfect year (and who does?) it doesn’t mean you’ll be disqualified from a raise or that you don’t deserve one. Again, this is a chance to play up your strengths. If something didn’t go well and it comes up in your review, make sure you put some spin on it. Talk about what you learned from the process and how you’ve grown/what you’ve done to fix the issue after the fact.7. Don’t plead poverty.A discussion about a raise is a discussion about your work performance. That’s it. You may very well need the money, but your employer is not obligated to give raises out of pity or because you’re a nice person. Make sure the focus stays on the reasons Professional You deserves mor e compensation. Once you make it personal, you also give more leverage to your employer. If they know you really, really need more money for Fluffington McWhiskers’ plastic surgery, they can try to lowball you because they know you’ll take less than you might be able to negotiate for yourself as part of a neutral, job-data-only presentation.If you start preparing well before you’re scheduled to meet for a review- or if you’ve picked a time during the rest of the year to make your case for a raise- you’re in a great position. If you’ve built a careful and clear case about why you deserve more, you have also created some built-in confidence. All you need to do is cross the finish line, hopefully a little richer than you were before.

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Leadership - Essay Example There are some people in the organization who have tremendous qualities, which can be used for the growth of the organization. A good leader exploits those qualities and makes them unlocked for the attainment of the ultimate objectives of the organization. Some people get misunderstood with leaders and managers. An ideal leader always focuses on the people. The leaders inspire the people; motivate them to do right things and to shape the entities. A leadership has to perform the common activities on the organizational scenario, such as planning, organizing, directing and controlling. It has always been a debate whether the leaders are born or they are made. This debate between nature and nurture in leadership context has been an age-old topic of debate in management field. It is because some people have the innate leadership qualities. For example they are quite outspoken, very aggressive. Further they have natural intelligence. But an effective leadership needs some more traits beyo nd these qualities. The above mentioned qualities certainly are very useful for being good leaders, but it doesn’t mean that if they are absent in the persons, they cannot prove themselves as leaders. The best example of this was Mahatma Gandhi, a charismatic leader, who has a tremendous influence on people. The complicated and huge Indian society despite all its heterogeneous aspects, stood behind him, followed his ideals. Controlling such a hug and diverse nation like India was definitely not an easy task. Mahatma never stood in the benchmark of a good leadership; still he was one of the most influential leaders in the whole world. There are some exclusive qualities of the leaders, which are not found in some of the most influential leaders of the world. Still they have proved themselves as the leaders. No doubt, there are some born leaders. Many leaders have honed their leadership through extensive practice. It is because of their readiness to adapt them and equipped them with some qualities which were previously not in them. Importance of Effective Leadership on Organizational Scenario: In the changing market dynamics the people with various profiles join the organizations. There is fierce competition in the business world. In such crucial circumstances, the organization cannot survive just on the basis of knowledge. No doubt, the sound business knowledge is advantageous but for making things happen. However the effective leadership qualities cannot be neglected. For the survival and growth of the organization, it needs to develop certain strategies effectively. If there is a competition between equally competent organizations, and if the one organization is lacking effective leadership, and the other has a very strong leadership, ultimately the winner will be the organization with effective leadership. Effective leadership is regarded as the highest level of interpersonal dynamics. Learning Outcomes from playing scenarios: To sharpen the leadership qualities among the leaders the simulation has become a smart method. Simulation is nothing but a real life situation in which the trainers have been given the training of becoming the perfect leaders and not just a boss. For this I played games in which five different scenarios were given to me. I played the role the boss. I was not supposed to be just a boss, but to show my leadership qualities. All these scenes were useful for developing the fundamental skill of leadership and