Negotiation expert Casey Brown makes the case for asking for a raise (and how to do it), even in uncertain economic times.
Figuring out how to ask for a raise can be incredibly nerve-wracking, even during amazing economic times. And unfortunately, we are not in amazing economic times. If you caught our recent HerMoney podcast episode with employment attorney Peter Rahbar, you know layoffs are top of mind for a lot of folks right now, and “uncertainty” seems to be the word of the year.
But if you’ve been with your company for a while or taken on more work this year, you might want to ask for a raise anyway. Because every time a woman advocates for herself, we move the needle just a little bit more towards closing the gender pay gap. By doing so, you’re paving the way for other women to know what they deserve and demand it.
And the data shows that now is actually a good time to do it. According to Fortune, for the first time in a decade, workers who stayed in their roles saw way bigger wage bumps (4.6%) than those who switched jobs (just 0.2%). So, how do you make that ask? And how do you communicate your value clearly, confidently, and unapologetically?
Negotiation and pricing expert Casey Brown has the answers. She joined Jean Chatzky this week on the HerMoney Podcast to share how to identify the value you bring, learn how to speak about it with confidence, and then ask for a raise in a way that feels authentic (and even joyful).
Step One: Define Your Value
Jean Chatzky: A lot of women have problems with the tell part. We think, “I don’t want to toot my own horn.” We think, “My work should speak for itself.” It doesn’t.
Casey Brown: In my work with business owners, women business owners spoke about their value differently than the male business owners. They said things like, “If I keep my head down, work hard, and produce value, those rewards and recognition will naturally come.”
And it started me down a journey of researching how differently male-owned businesses and women-owned businesses are rewarded financially, which fascinated me. Even when we’re in charge and we’re the boss and we’re setting the price tag, we’re underpaid. And it started me down the rabbit hole of understanding the societal and psychological stories that we are told and that we tell ourselves, that cost us 20 cents on the dollar, whether we are an employee or an employer.
Step Two: Tell Your Story With Confidence and Authenticity
Jean Chatzky: In terms of finding the right words to tell your story, what works?
Casey Brown: It’s super important to be authentic to your voice. Sometimes when people are gearing themselves up to go ask for a raise or make a big ask for promotion, think of their neighbor who’s a great salesperson or their sister-in-law who tells a good joke. It’s like they’re trying to channel someone with more bravado than they may naturally feel, and I think that doesn’t work because it comes across as artifice.
Then, find a way to make your natural voice fit the ask. Think about the other party: How does what you’re doing serve them? Every single person is a salesperson. We’re all selling ideas. Whether you sell a product or service, your own salary, or your own talent. Think of selling as serving, not as trying to get something or trying to manipulate someone. You’re not trying to milk your employer out of money you don’t deserve. You’re trying to be paid fairly for the extraordinary value you create.
Step Three: Know That Right Now Might Actually Be The Right Time
Jean Chatzky: Let’s talk about all of this in the context of today’s economy. Right now, interestingly enough, staying at your job is paying off more than job hopping. That was not true during COVID. Job hopping at that point was the way to get a very, very big raise. So, how does today’s economic climate shape the way that we should think about how to ask for a raise?
Casey Brown: Because the economy is tightening and customer demand is softening, there’s less free cash flow to go around, and companies are getting a lot more conservative so they’re not necessarily making a big investment in X or Y or Z. With that backdrop, it’s a hard time to ask for a raise. It’s a hard time to ask for a promotion.
But I would offer a counterargument, which is that very often, a thing they’re not deciding to invest in is filling those two open positions on the team. They’re leaning extra hard on the people who are already here, holding everything up. And your essentialness, your criticality as a member of the team, goes up in difficult times, not down. We’re a cornerstone of keeping the ship afloat.
When the ship is in stormy seas and we’re sitting low in the water, they’re looking really hard at the team that’s essential to keeping things moving in the right direction. And in some ways, that’s the moment they’re most present to your value, which generally means that’s when you have the most power from a negotiation standpoint.
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