What to do differently in a salary review

Salary reviews are hard, stressful and very personal. There is a way to overcome a lot of these feelings and it’s a simple as being prepared.  

Here at The Salary Coach, we’ve seen it all when it comes to negotiating your worth and here are five things you can consider doing a little differently the next time you’re faced with this difficult conversation.  

#1. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.  

When you are prepared for the worst possible conversation it means that you have thought through and prepared for the tough conversations. By doing this you will be mentally and physically prepared and this will, in turn, make it a more comfortable conversation. 

#2. Own the space as in the room you are meeting in.  

Be sure to be comfortable in it. Spend some time in it in advance of your meeting so that you are physically psyched along with being mentally psyched. 

#3. Slow the conversation down and ask questions.  

Ask what others say about you. Ask what your boss has noticed about your performance. Dig beyond the first question/s and explore more and more.  

This will help you to build understanding, awareness and for you and your boss to have a more open conversation about you. 

#4. Be aware of what is going on in the organisation and your industry in general.  

Speak to that as you speak about your performance. This will show an appreciation of the broader world you work in and relate it to your performance. For instance, if times are tough and you know you are a top performer note the impact that you have made and are making to support build and strengthening your team, department, customer/s, organisation and/or industry.  

#5. Be very clear in your communication.  

Treat it like a job interview and assume the other person knows nothing about you – state the situation, what you did and the outcome. Be sure to quantify the outcome in terms of bottom-line value i.e. savings, improvements, boost in morale etc.