I am by no means the expert, but, if I were you, I’d try two things.

(Assuming you like your job at all and want to stay): I’d get out specifics statistics of my work–logged praise, charts of how much accomplished, whatever. I’d figure this stuff out on my own time, by the way.

Then I’d ask to meet with my boss and would discuss/present the info I’d gathered, asking for a bigger raise.

If she said no, I’d start looking for another job.

The blog I quoted from above is Ronnie Ann’s, and she might be a better help in this category.

Best wishes,
GG

who determined my increase based upon her own - regardless of the fact that I completed 11 projects of 6 assigned - and she gave me a 126.6% on my review (others got a 96%).

I could go to HR who will send me back to my boss

I could go to management who told me it was her discretion.

Also, I run my department… so a promotion would send me out the door or make me a VP. LOL.
Ronnie Ann: Loved your blog and added it to my blog reader. You have a lot to teach me, I think.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Glad one of the comments spoke to you. One of the best things about a blog like mine is when people share their own real world experiences and advice.

I’ve worked in a gizzillion places (ok…maybe a few less than that) and there is no one correct strategy for this. It really does depend on the company, industry and the personalities involved. My guess is that you are able to assess your particular situation better than anyone. So I’m not writing to offer you advice. Your plan sounds good to me.

I just want to share something. In general (and I know this is NOT everyone), sometimes women are more likely to hang back and play by the “rules” and wait for people to recognize their achievements. Men are more likely to just ask for the money. I’ve seen this in non-profits, corporations, government and most recently academia. In fact, (over 7 years) I watched men at my last consulting job consistently asking for raises/promotions even when everyone else was being told money was tight. Most of the women “understood” and just accepted the standard 3% raises without complaining. Oh…and even though our boss complained about how these guys were being so inconsiderate, they quietly got the raises! This is more common than people know.

The commenter is right that raises should ideally be earned; but truthfully, we often have to be proactive in making sure we are recognized for the work we do. Although this doesn’t seem to be your boss, MANY bosses will try to get by without giving a raise as long as it looks like people don’t mind.

Oh…and you are soooo right about realizing that if you do your job well and know you have a lot to offer, there are bosses who will appreciate you if yours doesn’t. Just glad you seem to have one of the good ones. Also glad you are not afraid to speak up for yourself. When I started most women were afraid to so that, but things have changed a lot. Still, when it comes to raises, I think there’s a difference even today.

Hope it was ok to say all this. Thanks for such an interesting post. And really nice about standing up for your employee. More bosses should be like you!

Ronnie Ann
aka Work Coach

I think it’s always a good idea to go into your annual review with a notion of what you’d like to see in a raise and to bring it up. You can do this in a not-too-clunky way, and bring in another uncomfortable issue as well by saying “Here are three areas where I’ve really put in a lot of effort and shown you a lot of growth. How do you think I’m doing in terms of moving toward the next level?” Because raises are the small stuff when it comes to salary growth: it’s promotions that bring bigger salary jumps. Might as well let them know a couple of times a year that you’re eager to take that next step up.