Americans everywhere are feeling the effects of the price hike as the annual rate of inflation in the United States reached 6.2% in October, the highest in more than 30 years. As a result, gas prices, winter heating bills and consumer goods are at new highs.
But when you ask for a pay raise, does this consumer concern also become something you bring up to your boss? As performance is reviewed and company budgets set, this is the time of year when payment negotiations typically take place. Happen.
According to data from The Conference Board, a non-profit research group, median wages and growth are expected to be 3% for 2021, the same percentage as the previous 10 years. It is a reasonable request for employees to ask for an increase in cost of living by no more than 3% to compensate for inflation.
But there is a time and place to consider before mentioning wanting more money due to rising inflation. Here are a few words of caution from human resources and career experts:
Don’t make this the focus of your raise request at the end of the year.
Nadia D’Alla, a negotiation coach for professionals in technology, said she sees women of color, their client base, fault citing inflation on their job achievements as a reason.
“It sounds simple because it’s neutral; it’s not personal,” she said, citing customer concern, “Well, what if they don’t agree that I bring value to the company? “
But in a salary increase conversation about your job responsibilities and performance enhancements, “the biggest point we want your employers to focus on is the value you bring with your job,” she said. .
De Ala said knowing how the cost of living affects your market value should be part of your research to negotiate. But you don’t need to explicitly bring it up to your boss in a request about your performance as it may backfire.
“Your employer’s expenses are probably also increasing because of inflation, and they could easily use this as their point of argument, in my opinion, as to why they can’t raise you. That can’t be the only reason. [for your request] Because it’s likely that their cost of doing business is going up as well,” D’Ala said.
It is possible to get a greater increase in the cost of living in a separate negotiation. But don’t expect a quick answer.
Just because you shouldn’t bring in a request to increase it based on performance, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring it up at all.
Daniel Space, a human resources consultant with business partners in Strategic Staffing, said it is important for employees to recognize An annual qualifying increase is not guaranteed, unless there is another contract. Since an increase in living wages due to inflation affects everyone, he recommends negotiating it separately from requests for an increase because of performance.
“There may be employees who may not have increased scope, responsibility or influence, and therefore do not necessarily receive a pay increase because of it,” he said. “While actually responding to inflation, my recommendation from the two companies I was working with was to raise the qualifying growth for this year from the standard 3% to 5%.”
If your company isn’t taking into account rising inflation, you can bring this up in a real conversation with your boss like “Can this be considered as part of the compensation process?” Space said. He also notes that it can be helpful to ask your manager when you hear answers from stakeholders for accountability purposes.
Although Space noted that employees should keep expectations low and not expect quick answers, he said people have benefits during a period when millions of Americans are leaving their jobs.
“Companies will be open-minded to this, given the very volatile, delicate situation for retention right now,” Space said.
