We are often asked by candidates how can I earn more money? Well, the answer is pretty simple just become more valuable to your company and to your industry in general.
Those who have the highest value attached to them in any company will earn the highest salary. So that brings us onto the next part, how do you become more valuable, this can be harder to evaluate depending on your occupation. For instance if you are a business development manager who is paid $100k per year and you are bringing in $2million dollars into your company out of a total annual turnover of $3 million then you are in effect responsible for two thirds of the whole company’s revenue each year. However if you are an engineer working on a large scale design project with many other engineers it can be harder to qualify. If for instance you came up with a design that has saved a client company money then that is a value add that could be used to justify a pay increase. The real answer is to think about all the achievements you have made and how these have affected the company’s performance.
The next stage is to sit down with your manager and explain why you think you should have a pay increase. This can be a hard task to initiate as most companies will hold annual performance reviews where these issues can be easily raised but if you cannot wait until the next review and you feel you are being under paid its best to address the issue now than let it effect your motivation in your current position and therefore de-value your efforts. Ultimately wages in any organisation come down to the value you add and what the overall market will pay for someone of your qualities and abilities.
The best way to find out if you are being under or overpaid is to review an industry salary survey that has been completed by a specialised market research company or speak to a well-respected recruitment consultant in the industry who will know what the going rate is. In the end, everyone wants to know that they are valued and paid the right amount of money for their abilities.
