We often think we need our managers to get us the raise or promotion, in truth, it's mostly under our control to make that happen.
Last week I wrote about how to ask for a raise or promotion by having a conversation with your manager in The Perfect Moment to Ask for a Raise or Promotion. That’s not always an option; not every boss can or will help you. Don’t lose hope, because you can work to give yourself that promotion, even without your boss.
First let’s understand why you may not get an answer from your manager regarding a raise or promotion. Some aren’t good managers and may simply say, “I don’t know.” Other managers may not care about supporting you. Either is a red flag for them as a manager, but it’s your reality (and maybe why you want a promotion to get off the team). You might be at a company that has just announced no promotions or raises will be given next year and they are clear that there will be no exceptions (or simply that your manager isn’t senior enough to get an exception for you).
At startups this is also common. I remember being at an A-round funded startup with limited revenue and the employees wanted to talk to me about their careers at the company. I was happy to talk about their careers but there wasn’t much I could promise at the company. It would depend on sales, funding, hitting key milestones, and a bunch of other factors neither they nor I could predict. I could tell them what I look for at different levels of seniority, but couldn’t promise when we’d get there, or what the org structure would look like; nor could I offer a timeline on raises. To join a startup is to accept some level of uncertainty.
I often tell my employees that in a growing team, it becomes a question of hiring over versus under. A senior leader may have a team of three people under her. When that team grows to six people, and her other teams grow, she can no longer have them all as direct reports. Now she needs a team leader. The question is, as she hires three more people for your team, does she hire them over or under you? She can hire a manager over you and your peers; or she can make you the leader and hire (or tell you to hire) the new people under you. But how will you know what she’ll do?
Even if you don’t have specific guidance from your manager, for any of the above reasons, that’s not your only course of action. You can get a raise or a promotion by joining another company for more compensation or a new role. Your manager may be the gatekeeper for that at your company but it’s not the only path available to you. (Even at your company you may be able to get a raise or promotion by joining other teams.) As covers din The Perfect Moment to Ask for a Raise or Promotion you can increase your chances by putting int he work today so you can justify why you deserve it.
Remember that you can ask others for guidance, too, not only your manager. It may be other senior people in your company or other companies; you can also ask peers for their input. If you want a promotion (at this company or a bigger title and another), look at the job requirements for the role you want. If you want a raise, understand how you create value and how you can add more value. Your manager may be the ideal source for this, but she is not the only source.
Once you understand how to create more value, do so. Put in the extra work and make sure you track it or are seen as responsible for it by those who can help you get a raise. Even if you’ll have to move to another company, being able to say, “I improved the number of reports we created each week from 5 to 7,” shows that you added more value. Likewise, if you’re trying to get a promotion (at your current or other company), having taken on some of the tasks of the new role demonstrates your capability of performing in the new role.
In sports, it’s often the final minutes of the game that are dramatic, or the last few games of the season. But that dramatic moment comes at the end of months of training and preparation we don’t often see. You can only win the game by a few points if you got to that final game by repeatedly winning earlier in the season and getting enough points throughout that game to be in this situation, not to mention the countless hours of training outside of each game. The moment you win the game is not a single moment, but the culmination of all this prior effort. Likewise, the moment you get that raise or promotion is not really a single moment, but the sum of the effort you’ve made for months or even years prior. It’s that effort that earns the reward. Your manager (or others if your manager is not helpful) is like the coach, who can guide you and direct you, but it's ultimately your effort that earns it. (To be fair, the coach is usually on your side and doesn’t award points, in some cases your manager may not be on your side and your manager can solely determine if you “win;” but in most cases you should have a supportive manager.)
The bottom line is that your promotion or raise comes from your effort. You just need to make sure that your effort is directed towards the metrics that will result in the raise or promotion. Ideally, your manager will provide that guidance but if she can’t, you can find it elsewhere. It’s that extra effort over a long period of time that demonstrates that you do add more value, or can handle additional responsibilities, that will earn you the reward. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Don’t simply wish to get the raise or promotion, make the plan and put in the work.
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