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

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 organization, especially when everyone else in the company is also angling for a raise during appraisal season.

Sonal Agrawal, managing partner of the boutique executive search firm Accord India, suggests doing an honest self-assessment and analyzing one's improvement in order to present a strong case for a raise to the manager. "Quantify your performance and contextualize (the salary ask) with industry benchmarks you have gathered (from research). Then approach your supervisor for an appraisal conversation. Present your case logically and factually, and listen to feedback without issuing ultimatums, which could sour relationships," she says. "If a raise is not forthcoming right away, understand why and ask how you might reasonably earn one—for example, by taking on more responsibility or explicitly defining results. Finally, agree on a review timeline."