Hi ladies,
A couple of months ago, in a comment somewhere, I shared a template I developed that I use and coach my colleagues with when it's time to ask for a promotion/raise. I saw a post today asking for tips and figured I'd make a stand alone thread.
I'm copy/pasting below:
Sorry if the formatting is off, I tried really hard and it's still giving me problems.
Below is the template I follow. I developed it a few years ago by reading blogs, talking to higher ups, and getting feedback from friends and managers. I am pretty confident about this approach and am happy to share, hoping it will help.
The general guidelines I follow are:
Keep it direct and short (to an extent of course). The opening paragraph should not be longer than 2 sentences and need to have the details of what you are asking for.
Generally speaking, people have VERY short attention spans and don’t want to read a novel – managers are very busy and they should not spend more than 3 minutes reading the email
Body of the email should have 3 main achievements and at most 2 bullet points of validation. This is probably the toughest part for me personally, but it’s important for the sake of time and attention span of the receiver. (I know I have 4 here, but well, I did a lot haha!)
As much as possible, make your accomplishments quantifiable. Numbers simply jump out the most to people. This part might be tougher for those not in sales/financial positions, but think of what you’ve done in your position:
a. Did you create a process that increased efficiency and/or output by X%?
b. Did you fix a bug that cut down on customer complaints by Y%
c. Did you develop a training process that decreased onboarding time by Z%?
Some accomplishments of course can’t have a number next to it and it’s fine, but having a strong mix of the 2 would be my recommendation.
Below is an actual (names and brands redacted) email I sent to my manager 2ish years ago when I was due for my promotion to Director. It was a big promotion, so it is a bit longer. I work in AdTech (in case it matters).
Hi Direct Manager,
As my tenure is coming up to X years with Company, I am requesting a promotion to Director as well as an increase in base salary to Y per year - which reflects my accomplishments, new title and aligns me with the industry average. Over the last 3 years, I have taken significant career steps and became a leader on the Brand Performance Operations team with the following achievements:
In Q2 2019 I billed $3.5M out of the team’s total $5.22M (67%) revenue month and in Q3, slated to bill a total of $3.9MM out of Brand Performance total of $5.4 (72%)
The support team in Turkey is an integral part of Brand Performance who continue to support all aspects of daily backend unique projects
The brand performance team has not been hit with client-initiated Fraud issues since
Above all, I am now the trusted lead App Install advisor on the East coast, providing insights to the Sales team, both pre and post sales. I continue to nurture relationships with all sales reps, building strong partnerships and go above & beyond level of duty to ensure client happiness. I have great feedback from the sales team members I work with and deliver my absolute best.
I look forward to continuing my tenure at Company and supporting the company vision by executing at the highest level of performance and integrity.
Thank you and I look forward to discussing further.
A couple of months ago, in a comment somewhere, I shared a template I developed that I use and coach my colleagues with when it's time to ask for a promotion/raise. I saw a post today asking for tips and figured I'd make a stand alone thread.
I'm copy/pasting below:
Sorry if the formatting is off, I tried really hard and it's still giving me problems.
Below is the template I follow. I developed it a few years ago by reading blogs, talking to higher ups, and getting feedback from friends and managers. I am pretty confident about this approach and am happy to share, hoping it will help.
The general guidelines I follow are:
Keep it direct and short (to an extent of course). The opening paragraph should not be longer than 2 sentences and need to have the details of what you are asking for.
Generally speaking, people have VERY short attention spans and don’t want to read a novel – managers are very busy and they should not spend more than 3 minutes reading the email
Body of the email should have 3 main achievements and at most 2 bullet points of validation. This is probably the toughest part for me personally, but it’s important for the sake of time and attention span of the receiver. (I know I have 4 here, but well, I did a lot haha!)
As much as possible, make your accomplishments quantifiable. Numbers simply jump out the most to people. This part might be tougher for those not in sales/financial positions, but think of what you’ve done in your position:
a. Did you create a process that increased efficiency and/or output by X%?
b. Did you fix a bug that cut down on customer complaints by Y%
c. Did you develop a training process that decreased onboarding time by Z%?
Some accomplishments of course can’t have a number next to it and it’s fine, but having a strong mix of the 2 would be my recommendation.
Below is an actual (names and brands redacted) email I sent to my manager 2ish years ago when I was due for my promotion to Director. It was a big promotion, so it is a bit longer. I work in AdTech (in case it matters).
Hi Direct Manager,
As my tenure is coming up to X years with Company, I am requesting a promotion to Director as well as an increase in base salary to Y per year - which reflects my accomplishments, new title and aligns me with the industry average. Over the last 3 years, I have taken significant career steps and became a leader on the Brand Performance Operations team with the following achievements:
- Leading Client Services contributor with 69.5% ownership of the Brand Performance book of business.
In Q2 2019 I billed $3.5M out of the team’s total $5.22M (67%) revenue month and in Q3, slated to bill a total of $3.9MM out of Brand Performance total of $5.4 (72%)
- I established and executed the entire training process for the Turkey support team in Q3 of 2017 who are now providing all backend support for Brand Performance
The support team in Turkey is an integral part of Brand Performance who continue to support all aspects of daily backend unique projects
- Founded the Fraud Prevention Initiative
The brand performance team has not been hit with client-initiated Fraud issues since
- Have been a successful manager for 1.5 years now, with up to 2 direct reports in NY and the leader for the support team in Turkey
Above all, I am now the trusted lead App Install advisor on the East coast, providing insights to the Sales team, both pre and post sales. I continue to nurture relationships with all sales reps, building strong partnerships and go above & beyond level of duty to ensure client happiness. I have great feedback from the sales team members I work with and deliver my absolute best.
I look forward to continuing my tenure at Company and supporting the company vision by executing at the highest level of performance and integrity.
Thank you and I look forward to discussing further.