Here’s the conversation and PowerPoint presentation that landed her a 43% pay rise

If you were following along on Instagram last week, or on the GFY community, you might have seen me share this request for advice:

Thankfully loads of you were on hand with advice and practical suggestions. Here are a few of your messages....

People were so invested in the story, I had messages all weekend asking for updates 😂

And then on Monday, I got this message…

Incredible!

I knew some of you would be interested in how she did it, so I asked if she’d share how she approached the conversation - she said yes!

Here’s the story of the 43% pay rise.

“So, I posted a last-minute post on the GFY community about my pay review meeting needing advice. I had sooo many encouraging posts within a few hours, it was amazing. It gave me the confidence to go for a big raise (for me). I asked for 50k (originally was going to ask for 45k after feeling v nervous but the comments made me braver!)

It was amazing to me the difference in tone - posted something similar in a job advice subreddit and the GFY community had waaay more thoughtful, useful advice and were far nicer.

I got the raise and wanted to share the overall structure of my pay review PowerPoint. I decided to PowerPoint it as I was essentially pitching myself, and also I have confidence issues so this really helped ensure I remembered everything I wanted to say."

Here's how she approached the Powerpoint …

1) SMART GOALS

'Firstly I went through all the personal SMART objectives my line manager and I set for me from 2022 and showed how I accomplished them, with examples.'

(if you don't know about SMART goals, here's a summary infographic)

2) REVIEW OF THE LAST 12 MONTHS

Then I went through the last 12 months of work, internally, externally, and personally.

Internal - This included internal things like onboarding & managing 2 new team members, a massive 4-month project, and also allowed me to hear feedback my manager had gathered from the company (luckily is was all great as I was sort of counting on that haha)
External - Externally, I listed all the key clients I'd worked with, the results of those (not just £, but also more work, positive feedback, deepening relationships etc). Also had saved some direct quotes from key clients that had provided positive feedback post project completion.
Personal - Personal, commented on growing confidence, how much I appreciated the company constantly helping me progress, particular projects I enjoyed. But was also honest in that the last 6 months especially had been relentlessly busy, I wanted more time to make longer term changes, and also I wanted to keep learning new things/progressing career/skills-wise as these opportunities were a key reason i loved working here

3) VISION

This is where I basically launched into where I'd love to take my team. I highlighted how my team has been central to the business' major growth this past year, yet we are almost segregated from other teams. I shared a high-level plan to integrate us across all departments. I also wanted our team to work more with clients to spot new opportunities/co-create new products.

4) PAY REASSESSMENT

Rephrased from pay rise thanks to a top tip, as it has a better ring to it. Essentially reiterated key points from above, dropped in that I had been headhunted by a client (worded this V CAREFULLY so as not to sound antagonising), and crucially, shared some screenshots of current job offers that showed I was currently at below market rate

5) SMART GOALS FOR THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

I also said my salary expectation! (50K)

What happened next?
The meeting was on Thursday and then I had my 1:1 at lunchtime on Monday. My line manager went straight into it. He said he loved my vision for the future of my team, and whilst he did have to take it to my CEO to get the salary confirmed (as it was a big % raise so he couldn't automatically sign it off) he basically told the CEO he wanted to do the 50k straight away and not negotiate lower. CEO said he'd already seen my internal/external feedback and agreed.

We're going to have a few more meetings over the next 2 weeks as we're going to start figuring out the changes I want but they see this as a big step up into senior management and they want to support however poss.

But honestly came so close to asking for lower due to feedback on Reddit, then the GFY came jumping in with soo much good advice in terms of places to look for market rate, tips for proving worth in my raise pitch etc. But mainly, so much encouragement on just being confident in your worth, which I badly needed. It was that last min confidence boost and am so, so happy it happened

I know it's anonymous but I want to buy everyone who responded a round.

So there you go, how one community member negotiated a 43% pay rise. I hope this is the information and inspiration you needed to get what you deserve too!

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