Today we have a guest post from Andrew Mahaney.  Andy is a contact center solution architect and consultant at eLoyalty Corp specializing in the deployment of Cisco Unified Communication technologies. He has been workshifting for 6 years from hotels, airports and client sites around the world. He now works from his home office in South Florida.  You can catch up with Andy on Twitter and LinkedIn.  He blogs over at [andymahaney.com] and is currently blogging his activities at CiscoLive this week.

The #workshiftingqotd for Thursday, June 25th 2009 asked: "How do you ask your boss for a raise?"  I responded with a series of answers to this question and the nice folks at workshifting asked me to formulate a guest post on the subject.  This post reflects my personal experience working my way up through a variety of IT roles over a 15 year period. During that time I have asked for raises several times, and these general guidelines have always served me well.

Determine why you want a raise in the first place.

Are you asking for a raise because you are stressed out at work, exhausted and undervalued? If this is the case, stop here and think about what you really want. Getting a raise, although an ego boost in the short term, cannot make your job better. A raise alone is rarely a long term solution for dissatisfaction at work. Perhaps you should discuss your work/life balance with your boss before you talk about a raise. It may be possible that your boss is unaware of the situation that is causing your stress. Especially in the case of workshifters who may not meet with their boss in person for months (or sometimes years) at a time, it is critical that you maintain an open, ongoing conversation with your manager. You may be surprised to find that actively communicating with your boss may result in positive changes.

Make yourself invaluable every day.

The most important part of the process is earning the raise. In my experience the best way to do this is to work like you already received the raise that you want. That may mean volunteering for that tough assignment or going above and beyond to make a project successful. This is not something that you can do in the two weeks leading up to your request for a raise. Make sure that you build your rapport internally and externally early on and then continue to maintain it.  This step takes time and consistent effort.

Keep track of your efforts over a 12 to 24 month period.

This step is critical if you are asking for a large raise or promotion. You must be able to quantify your contributions. This may mean tracking your sales closure rate, your consistent achievement of a top-tier service level, your personal contribution to the company's bottom line, or whatever key metric is appropriate for your job. Companies reward continuous, consistent effort.  There are also plenty of other reasons why tracking your time and effort will prove valuable to you.

Determine your market value.

The third step is sometimes the most difficult. In this step you must determine your own value. If you are asking for a raise, it is incumbent upon you to ask for the amount you feel is reasonable and appropriate. You don't want to go into the raise negotiation without a clear idea of the amount you are willing to accept and the position of that amount within the market range for your position. You can start with research online at sites like salary.com, where you can input your industry, title and zip code to find a salary range for your position. There are also numerous salary surveys available online for a wide range of industries, either for free or for a fee. Ultimately, you may need to interview (discreetly) with other companies in your industry to determine your current market value. Use common sense when interviewing for this purpose, since your co-workers may be applying and interviewing for the same positions. This is particularly true in niche industries or for jobs that require post-graduate education or extensive professional certifications.

Negotiate for a raise, don't beg. Justify with evidence.

Asking for a raise is a negotiation. Successful negotiators know what they want, provide supporting evidence to support their position and are willing to compromise in order to achieve a solution that allows all parties to get what they need. Never threaten to quit unless you have already secured another job. A good policy is "Don't quit unless you mean it." Have you ever heard a story about someone who resigned specifically so they have leverage with their current employer? Admittedly, this last-resort tactic may work with some companies but it may also burn your bridge with the new company who has invested time and money to recruit, interview and process you for hire. You never know what the future will hold. Sometimes competitors become partners and vice versa. Be aware of the long term impact of your decisions. Is this raise worth it?

Understand how timing affects your request

If your company just made a strategic sale, closed new business that you helped to secure, is performing well financially, and you have contributed consistently to that success; then it may be an appropriate time to ask for a raise. If on the other hand your company is drowning in red ink and considering layoffs, you may want to wait for a more opportune moment. The approval or denial of your request may simply come down to a matter of budgets and accounting. Don't set yourself up for disappointment. Understand the landscape before you enter negotiations.

My final thought for all the raise seekers out there is simple. "Know the chain of command." Sometimes your boss doesn't make the final decision about raises. It is critical that you understand the chain of command within your company and that you make your value known to senior managers who may actually have the authority to approve your raise. If you perform consistently, keep an open channel of communication with management, perform as though you already received the raise you are seeking, and understand the strategies of successful negotiators, you may just get that raise. Good luck.

Disclaimer: I am currently a Sr. Principal with eLoyalty Corporation (a Cisco partner). The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent eLoyalty's positions, strategies or opinions.

Photo by: veken