Come again; you want a raise for what?

Let me state a Captain Obvious disclaimer! I'm Black and female; no shocking surprise, if it is. Raised eyebrow!

I have faced authentic oppression in the workplace. DON'T PANIC; this isn't the article for that conversation. Because of this, I would never have the audacity to deny that systems of oppression are five-star experiences often served with a side order of micro-aggressions. But what I don't understand is why individuals feel they deserve free money when they can't validate their worth.

"I love me some people, I really do, but some of us need a reality check, mi-grannie!" (Tone matters; think Oprah standing in the field talking about Harpo from the Colour Purple)

I'm about to rant. Please feel free to tune in next week when I return to being my sweet and cheerful self with a touch of Claudette's uniqueness. However, if you stick it out, I will share two foolproof strategies for asking for a raise. HINT, time served, and good behaviour might get you out of prison, but it is not the formula for getting a raise!

The catalyst

Three individuals calling me over two weeks caused me to kick sweetness to the curb and lose my happy smiley face. The general theme of the conversations is "I want a raise. So how do I ask for one?"

My first question: "What qualifies you for a raise?"

Their answer: "I've been working for (fill in the time)." One year, Five years, and over 20 years.

My follow-up response: "And?"

The response: "I need more money.", "I think I'm worth more!" OR "I'm not making enough money, my bills are higher, and everything costs more."

My next question: "But why do you deserve more money?"

They all respond similarly: "I go to work, I do my job, I've been there for a while, I'm a nice person (their tone goes up like they are asking me to validate their niceness)."

Me: "Oh, okay. So what significant improvements, changes, shifts, adjustments have you made to help the organization succeed."

Them: Their typical answer comes down to "Nothing."

Me: "So, you don't know how you helped the organization improve their profit or bottom line?"

Them: "I don't know if I did."

By this time, in my head, I think I'm not communicating effectively, hence these lacklustre responses. So let me try a different approach.

My new question: "What have you done to improve yourself or your work quality?"

Their stress-inducing answer: "Nothing." Followed by a long list of excuses for not improving.

Question after question, the answer came back less and less encouraging—no self-development, improvements, NOTHING, NADA, ZIP, ZILCH.?

My teeth grind, and my tone shifts from kind-hearted to militant. "Please, let me make sure I get this straight, you come to work, do the basics, have no evidence of improving yourself or the environment, and you dare to demand more money for?BASIIIIIICCCCCSSSSSSS!"

Their resounding answer was "YES!"

Let me pass that by you again; they want a raise for doing minimal work!

The amount of swear words flying in my head after smacking into their attitudes of entitlement proves I have mastered the dialectic of old seafaring men after a rough night out on the sea. Truckers could stop and ask for lessons because my linguistic abilities surpass anything they have heard. I have earned two Ph. D.s in swear-ology!

Deep breath in, deep breath out!

A biblical parable comes to mind as I speak to one of them.?

Calm down; I only thought the swears. I didn't say them. God's still working on me.

The parable

The gist is that a landowner hires new people to work in a field every few hours. The owner and each hired person agree to a set wage before they start. The hirelings sign on the dotted line and get to work. At the night's end, it's pay time. However, those who start early in the day see that the people who start just one hour before the end of the shift get the same pay. The early hirers start to complain, deep in their feeling, because they worked for 12 hours straight in the hot sun, sweating, tired and stinky, while the last person doesn't even have a single bead of sweat within a 100,000-foot radius of them. Life is not fair - insert grumbling and complaining.

They speak up to the owner, which gives us tip number one for negotiating a raise. His words paraphrased - you agreed to the amount of pay; what's your problem!

Issue One:?When you enter negotiations, always know what the work is worth. You need to count the cost before you mount the horse! If you are selling your time for money, you must determine if your pay is worth your work.

Lovely folks, to find out, CHATGPT it or check LINKEDIN but know if the base pay aligns with industry standards for your work!

Next, the landowner says, "I can do what I want with my money!"

Second tip:?Never assume their money is your money! You must prove that your work made them more money then, and only then, can you ask for more!

Let me put it into context.?

You need to know your numbers, YOUR number. Again you need to know?YOUR NUMBERS. What have you done in the organization to impact the bottom line financially? And how does it directly tie to your work?

Let's approach this from two perspectives.

Perspective number 1:?Pure numbers. Do you have a direct traceable link to increasing profits within the organization? For example, if you work in the sales department, what were your sales goals, and how did you exceed those sales goals? YES EXCEED.?

If you only hit your initial projections, that's not your money; that's the landowner's money. So, my cute and cuddly ignoramus (feel the open hand slap to the back of the head), that's you producing the bare minimum to get what you contractually agreed to do.

But if you exceeded the numbers and made what we Jamaicans call braata, meaning extra, you can ask for braata. So again, KNOW YOUR NUMBERS. Track them quarterly or monthly, I don't care how often, but you would need to know them before you head into negotiations for more money. Only ask for more if you excel beyond the terms of the initial contract.?

Perspective number 2:?For those who work in a non-direct sales role. You must track what new or improved proficiencies you brought about. Was there a new process or procedure you thought of?AND EXECUTED?to increase productivity? For example, a new sales reporting process saved a salesperson 30 minutes daily, leading to two additional sales calls every day. Consider asking for a percentage of the new business if you did that. Again the concept of braata. What extra did you bring to deserve the extra funds?

Could you track your process, link it to the braata and then ask for it?

Ri-Ri sings a song, "B*!*H better have my money!"?

You can't go in singing "Pay me what you owe me" without knowing what you did and being able to back it up.

Deep breath in, deep breath out; I feel much calmer now.?

For those of you looking for how to ask for a raise or someone asks for your help, I recommend the following reads.

• Never Split the difference, Chris Voss
• Knowing what you're worth. Salary.com

Time spent isn't enough; stagnancy will not get you anything.

Knowing your numbers and worth means never splitting the difference again and proudly singing, "Pay me what you owe me!"