3 Steps to Requesting A Promotion at Work: If You Don’t Ask You Don’t Get

When it comes to requesting a promotion, the process can often times feel uncomfortable and awkward. However, with these helpful tips, you'll find that getting a raise isn't as difficult as you expected it to be!

When it comes to requesting a promotion at work, it’s often a case of if you don’t ask you don’t get. This isn’t because you’re not doing a dam fine job. It’s usually that your manager is a busy bee with other immediate items to take care of day-to-day than your personal expectations for growth and, ahem, your pay. Welcome to the world of work! We never thought we’d miss the scheduled progress meetings and scribbled feedback in margins typically associated with ‘Education’ either. So, if you’ve been slaving away and looking ahead for long enough to feel cool, competent and ready to progress in your current job, follow the 3 steps to requesting a promotion at work below. These steps are to ensure you’re not left feeling overlooked and underappreciated, forever holding your peace.

1. Properly Plan and Prepare

Requesting a promotion will go down a whole lot better the more time you put in to staking your claim beforehand. Your company will only choose to promote you if they have good reason to, right? Therefore, you need to showcase what a workplace star you truly are. Imagine you have an upcoming interview. Take your request to change titles that seriously. Record each task you have accomplished. What exactly is it you are doing so well that justifies a jump up? Can you quantify the results of your most successful efforts and achievements?

Think back to the ‘SMART’ objectives you learned in that compulsory Business Basics module back in first year: ‘Specific’, ‘Measurable’, ‘Achievable’, ‘Relevant’ and ‘Time-Bound’. Use these to sound nice and smart yourself.

For example: ‘This year, I independently sourced and acquired *this many* new clients, surpassing the target set for me of *this lower number*. These high value accounts now bring in *insert amount plus zeros* of gross revenue per month.’ As opposed to:
‘I should be promoted because I turn up to work on time most days and do what I am asked.’

Sorry folks, employers are always on the hunt for above and beyond.

2. Consider What You Could Contribute in the Next Title Up

Note any responsibilities staff in the role above currently have that you know you’re more than capable of carrying out too. With these in mind, employ another of the oldest job interview tricks in the book. Write down the core strengths you possess that will enable you to thrive at trickier tasks. See what we’re doing here? We’re basically helping Mr. Manager to identify the obvious gap in the team for *insert desired job title here* (you).

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3. Time to Ask the Boss

How you go about requesting a promotion at work is entirely up to you. The tried and tested method, which higher ups are known to expect and respond well to, involves harnessing all your proper preparation to compose an email, outlining your SMARTly justified achievements, your set of strengths specifically suited to the role you seek and, lastly, how you intend to benefit the firm in the future. Subject-line your email ‘Performance Review’ and end it with a direct call to action, such as: ‘I look forward to discussing ways I can broaden my workplace responsibilities with you in person’.
By the time it comes to pressing send, you should be brimming with reasons you deserve to be promoted, optimism, confidence but never arrogance.

Final Tip

Be sure to select the right time of day to put in your bump up request.
However perfect the email you have composed, it goes without saying to avoid firing out important messages before grabbing your coat and heading for the pub last thing on a Friday, or while your manager is undertaking a stressful phone call on the other side of the office. Whether you manage to bag the title change or the response you were hoping for doesn’t immediately materialise, follow up with another email ‘In Summary of My Performance Review’. And throw in some more of those SMART objectives for good measure.

If you follow these 3 steps to requesting a promotion at work, all that’s left for your manager to do to is recognise how oh so amazing you are and understand that your next promotion is absolutely in their best interests as well as yours. It’s win win.
Let’s arrange that appraisal?