The Key to Getting Your Next Raise

#YouAsked: “If you have been at a company where you are extremely comfortable and happy but feel underpaid, is it worth it to move to a new company where you're unsure what the environment might be, just for higher pay?” —Kelsie Clemens, Legal Secretary at McCullough Hill PS

It’s not uncommon to feel like you’re underpaid. A study by the career site Indeed, found that only 19 percent of U.S. workers are comfortable with their current salary level. However, it could be a knee-jerk reaction to quit a job where you’re happy in your current environment. 

Instead, reflect on your dilemma this way: What can I do differently that will make me more valuable to my employer? 

In my research of 5,000 people across corporate America, I found that top performers changed things in their jobs to add more value. When the boss sees you as a top performer—someone who provides great value—opportunities will open up, including a better role with higher pay.

Start by identifying tasks that could improve your organization in some way. For example, examine your company’s travel expense system and find ways to streamline it. Suggest and implement a new customer service. Call a new customer and ask if there is anything you could do to help them. Or follow up on an overdue invoice. These seemingly small initiatives can be seen as very valuable to your employer.

You can also chase and solve internal “pain points”—those thorny problems that plague a set of people. A good example is Carmen, a forty-five-year-old business analyst who processed payroll at a New Jersey–based life insurance company. Carmen helped the company’s agents, who were scattered across the country, stumble through a bewildering throng of steps and tax filing implications. Nearly every day she received a phone call from someone who was irate over the paperwork requirements. That’s a pain point.

Carmen reached out to the company’s software coders and got them to help her streamline the enrollment procedure into a single-user interface screen. Now, agents log on and they’re done within minutes. Carmen ranked in the top 15 percent of performers among the 5,000 people we studied. Look for opportunities to solve a pain point in your organization like Carmen did, and you’ll quickly be considered a top performer.

Another way to add value is to look for ways to improve yourself and what you can offer. Identify new and valuable skills that can earn you a different role in the company, and enroll in training courses. Your employer might even pay for you to attend classes if you can convey the value it will bring to the organization.

You can also learn as you work, using actual work activities as learning opportunities. Develop one skill at a time, implementing a “learning loop” method: do, measure, gain feedback, and modify. Complete the loop on a continual basis until you are proficient in your new skill. In my own experience, I’ve found it takes about 15 minutes of work time every day to improve a skill using the learning loop.

Some time ago, I sought to improve my public speaking. I applied the learning loop to delivering keynote speeches at conferences. The keynotes were my real job. To apply the learning loop, I recorded the event, studied a few segments of the recording while on the plane home each time, asked someone to watch parts of it for 10 minutes, and received feedback about the one behavior I tried to improve. In all, I invested 30 minutes of extra work on each keynote—15 minutes per day for a two-day trip. The constant yet brief effort made a difference.

If you’re wondering where you’ll find the time to add new tasks or learning opportunities, take a hard look at your current job and trim things that aren’t necessary. Excuse yourself from meetings where your attendance isn’t mandatory, and identify and eliminate busy work. Far more people than we might imagine have at least some latitude in their job to focus their work activities. Of course, some job activities are fixed and cannot be changed. Others, however, are discretionary or can be modified. When you free up more time, you can add things of value.

Adding value to your organization and to yourself can lead to a better job with better pay. The grass is oftentimes not greener on the other side. In fact, it can be made greener right where you are when you reimagine what you can do. 

Why do some people perform better at work than others?

Morten Hansen reveals the answer in his “Seven Work Smarter Practices” that can be applied by anyone looking to maximize their time and performance.

Learn More