How to ask for a raise

Last summer my developer friend Dzimka called me and asked me to raise his salary.

— Misha, I moved to a new place and my rent went up. I think this request of mine, some $X00, is not something impossible, nobody would even notice it on the scale of the company.

Besides, there is an occasion: in a month it will be 5 years since I joined. I think that would be symbolic.

The reason does look real. And the sum really is small, that is an average raise for a developer. The fifth anniversary is an argument too, of course.

But that is an argument for Dzimka, to make himself start the conversation.

For a raise it is not an argument.

Other people are not going to take into account that you have "circumstances" or that you "have earned it". That matters to you and to nobody else.

Yes, you can squeeze money out of your boss with pleading and ultimatums. But that is arm twisting. You do not build a healthy relationship that way.

You need arguments that make the person who decides want to hand you your raise themselves.

Your boss wants you to earn money for him. Then he will be ready to share.

If you have ideas how to earn, with your own hands and with 100% certainty, at least twice what you want as a raise, you can stop reading. Respect.

If you are still reading, things are probably not that simple.

You will have to work with "objective" numbers that, from the manager's point of view, affect money.

Here is the top 3 I would suggest Dzimka look at:

1. Speed of work

Dzimka needs to show concrete numbers. He can look at the average speed across the team and point out that he works, or promises to work, faster than most.

Dzimka can also promise to lift the team average — by consulting his teammates the moment they get stuck, for example.

This is a convenient metric, because it also affects the amount of work done. Dzimka works full days. With the same hours and higher development speed, the amount of work he finishes goes up as well. Doing it faster, he does more.

2. Initiative

Or proactivity, or engagement, or involvement. You cannot put it in numbers, of course. All Dzimka can do is promise to get into every process in the company with his heart in it. Not that many people are ready for that at all, so it may well work.

3. Hard, unattractive work

This one does not fit Dzimka, because he was already taking on any task there was. Otherwise he could have promised to grab the hardest and the ugliest jobs, the ones everybody else turns away from.

Usually I prepared the arguments for my CEO myself, explaining why a developer deserved a raise. This time I asked Dzimka to talk it through with the boss on his own.

To make it easier for him, I came up with this framework:

1. Get ready for the pitch

   First say that all of this is new to you, and ask for three minutes to speak without interruption.

   Then say, literally:

   Andrey, I want to ask for a raise to $XXX, and here is why.

2. Underline your reputation

   Point at something you are unquestionably good at and that matters to Andrey. The rarer that quality, the better.

   I am the best on the team at getting tasks accepted by our clients. I almost never get complaints about quality, I do not have to redo things (I can prove it with statistics from Jira). On top of that I often pick up other guys' rejected tasks and finish them without trouble — I have enough expertise to solve anything.

3. Promise to fix your weak spots

   At this point Andrey may be thinking: "Yes, he is good at that, but...". Your job is to guess those "buts" and offer a way to fix them.

   I know that lately you may have got the impression that I keep my distance and show no initiative. As if I were an outsourcer. I promise to make an effort so that impression does not come up again.

4. Make an offer

   Keeping your current level of work and fixing your weak spots is not enough. You have to show what you can offer in the future.

   Over this year I will grow as a manager and will be able to fully replace Misha as team lead. And I will improve the team average for task lead time on the board from X to Y.

5. Close it right

Say that you will do all of the above anyway, and that if Andrey decides to say no, that is fine. But you would appreciate it if he took your request.

Dzimka spent the whole weekend thinking about what to say and how to lay it out. He picked the wording and tried to memorise it. By his own admission, he did most of that in the shower.

After which a very clean and very prepared Dzimka got through to Andrey the CEO and discussed the raise. Andrey reacted well. He liked that somebody finally started saying concrete things instead of twisting his arm with claims that "the market is growing".

Do not beg for a raise. Raises are given for value, not for pity.

And Dzimka is a champ. Be like Dzimka.