The Key To A Significant Pay Rise

The biggest shift in my career wasn’t realising that I needed to work smarter-not-harder to achieve a pay rise…

…it was finally realising I had everything I needed already, in that moment, to make it happen. 

I got a promotion and exponentially increased my corporate salary by $45,000 from a single conversation. 

And it wasn’t even hard or scary. 

I then replicated that same conversation method again and again. 

Would an extra $15,000, $20,000 or even $50,000 be life changing for you? 

It certainly was for me.

I was able to save for a beautiful house by the beach, a ski trip to New Zealand (arrived a week early before ski season opened but that’s another story) and finally got that new car I so desperately wanted.  

That one conversation changed the way I viewed myself, my value and what was possible for me. 

What was the secret? 

I used to think that qualifications, experience and skills were the most important things to get ahead, and because I didn’t have all of these, I saw myself as “less than”.  

But really, the only thing that actually mattered was…

…influence. 

I’m going to break it down for you, but first, let me share something important. 

I spent my entire career thinking I needed to be more qualified and more experienced.  I felt compelled to ‘slog it out’ to impress management.   In my mind, I was so deserving of an increased salary.  

Work hard and a pay rise would just come my way, right?

I was so wrong. 

When it came to performance and pay review time I was getting only the standard CPI increases.  Nothing that made me feel proud or motivated. 

And I couldn’t understand why others around me were getting paid so much more, when they clearly didn’t put in as much effort as I did. 

Which is why it pains me so badly when women tell me about their experiences of negotiating pay rises, and the disappointment and rejection they feel when it doesn’t happen for them. 

Because I know how deep it cuts. 

The top feelings for women when negotiating salary as found by Syndio Data, UK are: the fear of being rejected (25%), lack of confidence (23%), and concern about being seen as ‘pushy’ and risk of damaging their career (21%).

I definitely felt that. I also was left feeling unappreciated and downright angry.  Maybe you’re thinking what I did: “why can’t they just see my value, dammit?”

But, I was going about it in all the wrong ways and have learned an incredible amount since then. 

So much so that 92% of women who go through my Leadership Accelerator Program increase their salary - a lot! 

(Those that didn’t were either happy with what they were on, or they were about to change roles and have the conversation in the next 3 months). 

How did they do it? 

They learned an incredible skill that all women possess but must learn how to bring out and harness (and the secret to your success): 

Influencing the conversation.

You must learn how to be truly influential.  To make an impact. To value your worth.  Both in interviews, performance reviews and pay rise conversations. 

Once I learned this important skill and redefined how I positioned myself, I didn’t have to do any further study. I didn’t work harder.  I went for jobs that were previously “out of my league”.  

So, how do you influence a pay rise outcome? 

In the Career Hack section below I’ve written a “Get A Pay Rise Guide” that you can download for FREE. 

I’ve outlined in detail the steps you need to take to prepare yourself for the conversation, but first lets’ talk about the key to your success:  Influencing the conversation. 

Let me start by sharing what doesn’t work, and if you’re doing this, please stop it right now!

It doesn’t work to: 

• Talk about how hard you work and how deserving you are. You are totally deserving! It’s just not a narrative that works.  
• Have the “it’s not fair” mentality and only talk about market value and how you’re below it.
• Bring up comparisons to other team members salaries (another version of “it’s not fair”), or threaten to leave. 
• Have all your hopes riding on the one conversation and then give up.  It often takes more than one conversation and an hour of prep.  

The key to being influential and successfully negotiating your next salary increase is;

1. Understanding that it has to be a win/win situation for you and the organisation.  They won’t pay you more if it doesn’t make financial sense to do that.  You also don’t need to stay there if they cannot offer you what you want - you have a choice!  Really getting that is so mentally freeing. 
2. Creating daily habits that increase your reach in the organisation i.e. the decision makers need to know who you are and what you bring to the table (your manager is often the middle person without financial levers to pull).  Showcase your work and track your achievements.   
3. Create a rock solid business case that lands as an opportunity for them.   Businesses won’t consider paying you more unless you can show a return on their investment.  Preparing for the conversation with hard facts and figures about your output and the market is a must. The way you set up and design the conversation is key. 

So, think about how you’ve approached your previous pay rise conversations.  Where was your mindset and how did you communicate your value? 

Or did you totally miss the mark?

Making this one massive shift and showing up prepared with an influential conversation was a game changer.  Every new role, promotion and performance review conversation became easy!

If you’re doubtful, fearful or just have no idea where to start to prepare for the conversation, make sure you don’t miss the Career Hack Section below where I outline it for you.

Or hit reply and let me know where you’re struggling.