The Professional Woman’s Guide to Successful Pay Rises

There is another cause we often hear about, though: women are less upfront about asking for a pay rise. As a group we seem to expect our hard work to speak for itself and be rewarded accordingly. If you’re feeling like part of the gloomy pay statistics, read on for some success tips on preparing for and negotiating a pay rise.

External benchmarking
Just like you’d do market research before buying a house, do the same for your current role - or new one if you’re considering a job move:

• Get hold of published surveys and reports. Visit websites for specific industries/professions that have useful tools e.g. Teamfactors for law. Other good sources include Sheffield’s reports, and Statistics NZ’s website.
• If you’re taking a new role in your current company, check with your HR department for pay rates for job bands.
• Ask around! You don’t have to be pushy. Talk to others employed in the industry, recruiters you know, or relevant HR professionals.

“Internal” benchmarking
Your position in reported pay bands, both in your current company and beyond, will depend on your performance, experience, and credentials in the industry.

To assess where you should be in the band you need to honestly evaluate how experienced you are and what level of competition there is for your role. Be honest, but don’t be overly modest. You must also assess how good you are. We suggest you write out an accomplishments list. Facts can help you feel more confident!

Preparation

• This is a good time to shine at work, so go the extra mile.
• Pick your time carefully to ask for a meeting to discuss pay. After a great review is good (!) and so is ahead of the next budgeting round.
• Consider what you actually want. Don’t just develop an opening salary request and a corresponding bottom line, but think flexibly about non-monetary items too. For example, do you want extra leave to cover you for when dependants are sick?
• Decide how long you’re willing to wait for the rise and what you’re prepared to do if it’s rejected.

In the negotiation

• Be transparent about the research you’ve done and how you came up with your opening figure.
• Be courteous but confident. Remember that it’s more expensive for your employer to hire afresh than pay you a fair increase.
• Consider brainstorming with your boss if you’re prepared to accept non-salary improvements to your package e.g. a performance bonus increase

Other tips:

• Flexibility - you can negotiate flexibility without compromising your pay by shifting to measurable outputs to show you’re still performing. If you opt for part time work, be staunch about taking time in lieu when you work an extra day. Too many women move to a lower, part time salary and end up working considerably more than they’re paid for.
• If your new job is a big step up (or sideways) it can be hard to negotiate as strongly at the outset. Ensure you schedule a pay review within a fixed period, preferably after six months and have it in your contract.
• Lastly, review what worked and what didn’t to help you prepare even better next time!