Help! My salary no longer matches my job duties or contributions.

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Situations happen. Employees leave, but they do not rehire. Companies grow, but they do not add staff. You have added more job duties to your plate but have not been compensated.

Other situations happen. You may have played an integral role in your company’s growth and success by saving money, making money, streamlining procedures, etc. Despite your significant contributions to your company’s bottom line, your raises have not reflected your accomplishments.

So, you want to be compensated fairly. What would be your plan of attack? How would you approach your boss?

CREATE A HANDOUT WHICH CONVEYS YOUR VALUE

Highlight your accomplishments and then discuss each accomplishment. Don’t focus on job duties; rather, focus on your successes. To help pinpoint your successes and accomplishments, here are some questions to ask:

• What do you feel most proud about accomplishing during your tenure (or since your last performance review)?
• Have you done anything to boost your company’s bottom line? If so, do you have any numbers (or percentages) to back up what you’ve accomplished? 
• Have you found any ways to save money? Again, use numbers or percentages.
• Have you found any ways to streamline procedures?
• Have you solved any big problems?

Have you been given additional duties and responsibilities? If so, make a list of how many more in recent years (or since your last performance review).

Have you ever stepped up-to-the plate and volunteered for additional duties or stepped in when someone needed help. If so, add this to your handout.

Have you ever went above and beyond the call of duty? If so, what did you do?

Tips for creating your handout:

• Utilize graphs if possible. They serve as great visuals for getting your message across. For example, show increases (or decreases) by using numbers or percentages.
• Use “before and after” columns to showcase accomplishments.
• Have you ever received any written or emailed thank yous from customers, coworkers, or industry connections? If so, create a separate page for these.
• Have you received any LinkedIn recommendations that showcase your value? If so, create a separate page for these, also.

Schedule a meeting with your supervisor to discuss your value and salary concerns. Or, if you have an upcoming performance review, this would be a perfect time to approach your supervisor and discuss your value to the company.

Once your meeting is scheduled, you may have questions on how to ask for a raise during the meeting or questions on how to respond if there are objections to your request. Feel free to email me at careerproservices@gmail.com for more info.