BLOOMBERG OPINION: How to Ask for a Raise in a Pandemic Recession

Thanks to our friend Farnoosh Torabi for asking us to contribute to her piece on raise strategy amid the pandemic. It was published by Bloomberg Opinion on August 31, 2020. You can read it here. Here’s an excerpt:

“Propose pay “triggers.” If you sense hesitation from your employer to bump up your pay now — despite your recent wins — suggest earning incrementally more if and when specific goals are met from here on out, sort of like a commission. “Design some triggers for increasing income,” suggests Georgia Lee Hussey, who runs the firm Modernist Financial in Portland, Oregon. “If you met this stretch goal that would produce this much revenue, maybe you could get a piece of it,” she says.

In uncertain times, employers may be more comfortable tying compensation to real revenue results to limit risk. Plus, it creates a clearer win-win scenario and demonstrates that proactiveness on your part. “It makes it harder to say no,” says Hussey.

For example, let’s say you run admissions at a school and managed to increase online enrollment this summer. If your boss still resists raising your pay, suggest that if you attract a certain number of students for the next term, you receive a 15% pay bump (or whatever you think is fair), which is just a fraction of the enrollment revenue.”