Negotiating for raises and promotions

[longwings81]

My annual review at work is coming up and I am planning to ask for some increases in autonomy and responsibility that my manager may balk at. I am a relatively highly-valued employee, so I could always threaten to walk if I don't get them, but I view that as the "nuclear option" that is as likely to damage our working relationship as it is to get me what I want. What are some other ways I could negotiate or otherwise lobby for the things that I want such that I'm not pissing off my manager or coming off as not a team player?

 

[Harold falcon]

Have you seen Fight Club or American Beauty? Either go in and beat yourself up and blame your boss or threaten to go to HR and say he demanded a blow job from you.

 

[wojt]

Have you seen Fight Club or American Beauty? Either go in and beat yourself up and blame your boss or threaten to go to HR and say he demanded a blow job from you.

 

[SidewinderX]

My annual review at work is coming up and I am planning to ask for some increases in autonomy and responsibility that my manager may balk at. I am a relatively highly-valued employee, so I could always threaten to walk if I don't get them, but I view that as the "nuclear option" that is as likely to damage our working relationship as it is to get me what I want. What are some other ways I could negotiate or otherwise lobby for the things that I want such that I'm not pissing off my manager or coming off as not a team player?

Do you have specific things in mind, or is it "more responsibility and autonomy" generically? I think it's easier and more effective to make a case it you have specific cases in mine (be it clients, projects, whatever). Can you make the case that you will be better able to perform you job / meet client's needs / improve performance, etc., with more autonomy? That's a lot harder to turn down, than just saying "it's my time to have more x". If you can frame your argument in terms of doing better work (which should make your manager look good too), you probably stand a better chance of still being viewed as a team player.

 

[gettoasty]

OP, why do you say you're highly-valued? If you are, why does your post make it sound like it is about time rather than the next logical decision i.e. I assume you have been promoted before and you're looking to transition further up the ladder.

It seems you have to make a better case about why you are highly-valued rather than ask for what's due. Do you provide value by way of technical skill, generate revenue through sales, or just a hard worker putting in extra hours? The first two you can make a good argument, the latter would be more difficult.

One thing about autonomy and being a team player is whether your contribution can be done on an independent level, and whether the current setup is actually inefficient i.e. is there too much bureaucracy and you cannot push to make deadlines? Or do you think you can perform better than your colleagues, which case you may come off as a snob and damage your working relationship anyways without threatening to leave.

I hope you choose your words carefully. Be sure to share with us the results!

 

[MSchapiro]

^ That is excellent advice. It's all about how you frame it and structure. Ideally you're having a conversation about your achievements and where your abilities would be best utilized and what is prohibiting that now.

 

[longwings81]

OP, why do you say you're highly-valued? If you are, why does your post make it sound like it is about time rather than the next logical decision i.e. I assume you have been promoted before and you're looking to transition further up the ladder.

In response to the question above, I think I am highly-valued because my team was able to implement a technical solution for one of our products based on my work that significantly increases the value of our product offering relative to the competition. At least two of our direct competitors have attempted the same thing and both gave up because they were unable to work out the technical difficulties.

I will try to make the positive case that what I want is also beneficial for the company and I'll see what happens from there.