How to successfully negotiate a salary increment

Getting a good raise starts with clearly communicating the value you are bringing to the company

- Jahnabee Borah

It's that time of the year when you sit with your reporting manager inside a cabin, discuss the targets you've met and missed, and your overall performance at the workplace—all points of discussion that will help decide your salary increment for the next financial year.

The thought of asking for a raise makes many employees nervous. Perhaps they do not want to come across as needy, lacking self-confidence, or maybe they simply do not know what to say. But asking for more from your employer is actually reflective of what matters to you.

Negotiating a higher salary starts with thinking about the why, the what and the how much. As Amit Nandkeolyar, associate professor of organisational behaviour at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) says, it all begins with clarity on knowing your worth, and "finding a way to intersect with your employer's expectations. What is your focus in relation to the company's goals? Ultimately, what you're doing is only a part of increasing their profits or revenues, and employers are paying you back as a function of it. You must highlight that and justify the why."

It may seem unfair to have to justify the "why"—after all, you did the work all year. But it's important to clearly communicate the value you are bringing to your manager and the organisation, especially when everyone else in the company is also angling for a raise during appraisal season.