Business Without the Bullsh*t: 49 Secrets and Shortcuts You Need to Know (6 page)

If so, you respond with, “Who said anything about a raise? I want to discuss the discrepancy between my value to the company and what I’m being paid.”

Give your boss one copy of the material you’ve gathered and review it with him or her. Since you’ve laid the groundwork, there’s a good chance that your boss will simply concede that you’ve got a point and there is a discrepancy. If so, jump to Step 7.

If your boss objects to your characterization of your contributions, neither argue nor concede the point. Instead respond in a way that agrees with what your boss is saying but reinforces your point:

Remember: your goal is to get the boss to concede that there is indeed a discrepancy between what you’re being paid and what you’re worth. After you’ve fielded any objections that your boss has raised, ask:

If the boss answers no, the discussion is over. You can conclude that you’re not going to get a raise from this boss, regardless of what you say or do. That’s bad news, but at least now you know.

If the boss answers yes or maybe (which in this case means “Yes, but I don’t like where this conversation is headed”), move to the final step.

Once you’ve established that you should be paid more, ask the boss, “What do you intend to do?”

Either you will now get a commitment (“I’m giving you a ten percent raise”) or the boss will make some attempt to stall or change the subject. No matter what he or she says, keep driving toward a commitment while you’ve got the advantage.

Key point: once you’ve gotten your boss to admit that there’s a discrepancy between your value to the company and what you’re being paid, do not let your boss off the hook until you’ve gotten a commitment with a number attached to it.

Bosses (even great ones) can be unreasonable. You must therefore be prepared to react appropriately when the boss asks you to do things that either are outside your job description or would require too many extra hours of work.

If you’re salaried, by far the most common unreasonable request will be for you to regularly work more than forty hours a week. Also common are assignments that are “beneath” your job role as it’s usually defined, such as being asked to do data entry when you’ve been hired to provide technical support.

Other unreasonable requests might involve providing various kinds of personal services to the boss. For example, I recently read of one manager who expected her employees to cater her private party.

Ultimately it’s up to
you
to decide what’s unreasonable
for you
. Remember, though, if you don’t draw the line now, what was once an unreasonable request will become an implicit part of your general job description. And that will make it much harder to refuse similar requests in the future.

If you decide that the request is truly beyond the pale, skip directly
to Step 3. If the request is in a bit of a gray area, proceed to Step 2. Special case: if your boss requests something that is actually illegal, contact your lawyer and activate your escape plan (see “Secret 22. How to Achieve Career Security”).

If your boss has shown a willingness in the past to trade favor for favor, you may be able to use the unreasonable request to your advantage. For example, if your boss has previously rewarded extra hours of work with under-the-table time off, maybe you can make a deal.

If you think you can, estimate the amount of time and effort your boss is requesting. Based on that estimate, come up with something comparable that will advance your own career or enhance your own life. Example: “I’d be happy to cater your party if you’ll send me to the user group conference in Tahiti this winter.”

What’s important here is that you’re establishing a precedent. By demanding something substantial in return, you’re making it clear to the boss that you’re no chump. This will minimize unreasonable requests in the future.

There is a right way and a wrong way to do this.

The wrong way is to make excuses. Example: “I’d love to work this weekend but I’d risk being arrested for child neglect.” While this seems like an easy way out, it allows the unreasonable request to pop up later in a slightly different form. (For example: “How about working through your lunch hours?”)

A better way to say no is to force a discussion of priorities that puts the unreasonable request into perspective. Say something like, “If I do A thoroughly, I won’t be able to do B thoroughly. Which of the two is the real priority?”

If the boss persists, you may need to be more direct, like “No, I
don’t intend to do that because [reason that makes sense to you and hopefully to the boss as well].” Here’s an example from very early in my career:

This approach could be perceived as the “wrong attitude” and result in the boss’s getting annoyed and possibly putting you at future disadvantage. That’s why you’ve got to have your options open.

While being this direct with your boss may seem difficult, saying no is like any other skill. It gets easier the more you do it.