What to Do When Your Employee Asks for a Raise

As a manager, an employee likely will ask for a raise at some point. This is especially true when the labor market is tight and employees have significant job opportunities.

Understanding how to handle your employee’s request for a raise is important. You need time to determine whether a raise is appropriate and how much to increase the pay rate.

Mishandling the request can lead to lower employee engagement and retention. As a result, preparation is essential.

Here’s what to do when your employee asks for a raise.

Conduct an Internal Pay Audit

Determine how much your employee is paid compared to their coworkers. Include each employee’s role, education, experience, tenure with your company, and pay. This helps keep your raise review process fair.

If you discover that your employee earns less than a coworker in the same role, ask yourself questions such as:

  • Did prior raise negotiations impact the employee’s income?
  • Do differences in education, experience, or tenure with the company contribute to the pay discrepancy?

If your employee’s pay is comparable to their coworkers’ pay, take notes on your findings. Keep them handy for when you meet with your employee again to discuss receiving a raise.

Include Your Employee’s Value

Consider how your employee’s knowledge, skills, and experience contribute to your organization:

  • Would your company be fine if your employee left?
  • How much would your employee’s departure impact business operations?

Use historical data to determine your employee’s value. Include your employee’s non-monetary value:

  • Contributing innovative ideas
  • Serving as a brand ambassador
  • Providing excellent customer service.

Consider the time and money needed to replace your employee:

  • How long would the hiring process take?
  • How much would the hiring process cost?
  • Would your remaining employees be able to fill in until you hire a replacement?
  • Would you need a temporary worker until you replace the employee?
  • What would your training costs be?

Determine an Appropriate Raise

If you approve your employee’s request for a raise, decide whether to provide a flat rate or a percentage of their pay rate. If you use a percentage, use an average pay raise or cost of living adjustment to determine the increase.

Meet with Your Employee

Talk with your employee about your decision to approve or deny their request for a raise. Include your findings and the rationale for your decision:

  • Providing a raise without a reason often creates an entitlement mindset.
  • Your employee might tell their coworkers and encourage them to ask for raises.
  • Denying a raise without a reason lowers engagement and retention.

Need Additional Guidance for Compensation?

Conducting an internal pay audit and including your employee’s value help determine whether to approve your employee’s request for a raise. Determining whether to give a raise and sharing your reasons why help your employee understand your decision. These actions encourage your employee to remain with your company.

For additional guidance with compensation, use our 2023 Accounting and Finance Salary Survey. If you have questions, reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources.

11 Costly Blunders to Avoid in a Job Interview

Performing your best during a job interview includes practicing what you want to say and how to say it. You want to demonstrate your skill set and top accomplishments in a confident, personable way. Avoid diminishing your abilities and downplaying your success by avoiding these costly missteps.

  1. When scheduling your interview, make sure you can fulfill your commitment to be at the interview at the designated time and arrive a few minutes early.
  2. Make sure to dress your best (even if the company has a casual dress code), leave your phone in the car, dispose of the gum and don’t drink coffee during the interview.
  3. Don’t write “see resume” when completing an employment application.
  4. Don’t ask about working from home or what the benefits will be during the initial stages of the interview process.
  5. Keep answers relevant and to the point. Don’t be long-winded.  If you do all the talking, the interviewer will not be able to determine your ability to do the job by asking key questions.
  6. Listen! Don’t answer a different question than the one they actually ask you.
  7. Don’t talk over the interviewer.
  8. Have questions ready to ask about the company based upon the research you have done.
  9. Do not complain about your previous employer.
  10. If you are interested in the position, let the interviewer know you are interested and what the next steps will be in the interview process.
  11. Don’t write a thank you note to the interviewer while still on the job interview! Wait until after the interview and send a thank you note to express your interest in the position and to thank them for the interview.

Schedule Your Next Interview Today!

If you’re ready to start your job search, contact the recruiting experts at Casey Resources.

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4 Ways to Cut Down on Internal Employee Data Breaches

Data breaches may adversely affect a substantial part of your customer base and result in large financial losses. Although most people believe cyberattacks are initiated by individuals or groups outside the company, the majority of data breaches result from unintentional or malicious acts by internal employees. Fortunately, you can help reduce the threat of internal employee data breaches by taking action in these four areas.

1. Provide Ongoing Training

Provide ongoing employee training on cyber security. For example, develop policies and procedures for handling confidential information. Train your employees on their responsibilities for enforcing those policies and procedures. Also, discuss ways data breaches may occur if your employees don’t uphold their responsibilities. Have your employees sign a document stating they understand and will fulfill their duties. In addition, remind your employees to not open suspicious emails that may contain malware or view websites that may be used to phish for information. Furthermore, stress the importance of your employees choosing passwords with more than six characters, including symbols and upper- and lowercase letters, changing passwords every 30 days, and not sharing passwords. Additionally, ensure your employees use secure Wi-Fi networks to reduce the risk of man-in-the-middle attacks.

2. Allow Limited Access to Information

Provide your employees with the minimum amount of access to information needed to perform their duties. Because the majority of insider attacks happen 30 days before or after an employee’s last day, your employees may use their email account or VPN login to access your company’s servers. This may open up your company to all kinds of data breaches. Therefore, you should monitor each employee’s email account and VPN login leading up to their last day, if possible, and terminate access once the worker is no longer with your company.

3. Monitor Online Behavior

Monitor your employees’ online activities to uncover unusual activity. For example, review usage reports to proactively identify potential issues and resolve them before they become bigger. Also, communicate with and provide consistent sanctions for employees involved in activities that don’t comply with your company’s policies and procedures. Show your employees why their actions are noncompliant, what potentially harmful consequences could result, and which sanctions will occur if the employees are involved in another potential data breach.

4. Model Company Culture of Cyber Security

Because employees typically follow the behavior of colleagues and executives, every employee at every level needs to model a culture of cyber security. For example, your managers should consistently talk with their teams about how data security requirements align with team members’ work responsibilities to ensure teammates understand the importance of compliance with company policies and procedures. Also, your leaders should request real-time feedback on how effective your information controls are on completing work in a reasonable amount of time to reduce inefficiency.

Work with a Top Accounting Staffing Agency in Chicago

To work with an award-winning financial staffing agency in Chicago, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources!

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