Q & A Table of Contents
No Raise After Ten Years
From: Raquel, Sharjah, UAE
Question: Can I have your expert advice in replying to a salary increment denial letter? Kindly bear in mind the following points:
I have offered to the Company 10 years of my service and I have never requested for a raise.
We have salary increments every year in the month of July, however they are very minimal.
The standard of living and its cost has gone up, especially rents.
Response: If you are the only person in your company who has
requested an increased salary, before you take any further
steps you may want to ask your colleagues what their experience
has been and whether they would join you in a broad-based
request for a salary increase to meet the rise in the cost of
living. If other people in the company have requested raises
and received them, then you have a whole different set of
issues to consider.
In the first instance where no one has had a satisfactory
raise you need to figure out several things: First, what is
your BATNA your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement?
Can you change jobs and go to work for a company that will pay
you better? Can you tell your employer that your current pay
scale is so inadequate that unless you receive a reasonable
increase you will have to leave the company or even the
country? Understanding your BATNA also includes recognizing
the options available to your employer what choices can they
make regarding how you are compensated, can they afford salary
increases for you and your colleagues, might they feel that
replacing you with a less expensive person would be less costly
than keeping you on the team?
After considering the BATNAs of the parties, you need to figure
out who the stakeholders are and what interests will drive
their decision-making. These can include people at different
levels in the company, people who hold similar jobs at other
companies, the owners of your company, customers who depend
upon enthusiastic employees for service.
Your company does not need employees who cannot afford the cost
of living. While it may increase your companys profit, if
employees need to take second jobs to survive, that reduces the
energy they bring to their current job.
People work for money, but the money is only a tool to help
them live in an appropriate degree of comfort. Thus you are
entitled to tell your employer that, while you are loyal and
committed to the company, you do have a loyalty to yourself
(and perhaps your family) that requires you to get better pay.
A response to the denial letter should say that you cannot
understand why the request was denied given your experience,
productivity and needs. If you have colleagues in similar
circumstances, you may want to strategize together so that the
boss gets a reasonably consistent message.
Of course, if you have been singled out to be denied a raise
while others have had increases, it is probably wise to take
that as a very clear message that it may be time for you to
find other employment. In that case, your prior research
about your BATNA can tell you the best steps you should take.
I wish you luck,
Steve
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