‘Don’t just say your costs have gone up’: how to get a pay rise in a recession

With a recession underway in the UK, though, agency bosses are also keeping a close eye on the purse strings. So, how should you persuade them to sort out a pay bump?

The obvious and first approach many might consider taking is the nuclear option. “How do you get a pay rise? Quit,” says Sharon Flaherty, chief executive at creative comms agency Folk. “I once had to do this in a job, but you shouldn’t have to go to such extreme lengths.”

Oli Richards, chief marketing officer at The Beyond Collective, instead suggests that anyone aiming for a wage increase puts themselves in the shoes of the person making the decision. “Ask yourself, ’What’s important to them? How are they motivated?’ Then use language they will respond to.”

Gathering intel

Annabel Mackie, managing director at agency Five By Five, is one of the people often tasked with making that decision. She agrees with Richards and advises those seeking a raise to “go into discovery mode”.

“Don’t just tip up and ask for it: do your research,” she says. Many agencies, including Five by Five, use benchmarking to guard against big disparities between employee salaries and between their pay and that offered by rivals. Mackie recommends checking whether your agency has a set schedule to review those benchmarks and what criteria it uses in that process.

She also suggests looking at your performance – and that of the business – through the eyes of a superior. “Is your agency doing well financially? Are they winning new clients? If you’re working on one of the big clients, are you growing the revenue? Are you contributing financially to the success of the agency? Does your agency have the ability to pay you more?”

‘The days of people not talking about their salaries are gone’

In an industry without much history of trade union membership or collective bargaining, reliable info on pay levels can be hard to come by. Mackie says speaking to peers about their wages (until recently, a taboo in professional life) can help bridge that gap.

“Do your own internal-external benchmarking. Go and ask your peers what they’re paid, because as much as managers might say, ‘don’t talk to your peers about what you’re paid,’ the time when people weren’t talking about their salaries is long gone.”

And for those who don’t have many social connections at other agencies, Mackie points out that professional recruiters might have the data you need. “Go and speak to a few recruiters and ask them, ‘what’s my market value right now?’”

Richards suggests holding off on an approach until you’re satisfied with the intel you’ve gathered. “Too often, salary conversations revolve around cash, benchmarks and time spent in role, which are all too easy to dismiss or – more often – delay until some annual company milestone. What we really should be talking about though is value. So prepare for the negotiation with a clear idea of the value you add and the value you’re going to add in the future should you stay in that role.“

Flaherty says that the evidence-based approach usually yields the best results. And if employers are intransigent, or the agency’s fortunes are on the slide, she suggests gunning to improve other elements of your package.

“The best approach is to be clear on what you are asking for, backed up with facts. Have you achieved beyond your objectives? Have you taken on extra responsibilities? Are you being paid less than advertised roles? Be prepared but be open too. A recession means belts get tightened, so if your agency can’t pay more, discuss how they could enhance your benefits such as more holidays.”

Handling the talk

Good tactics are needed to bring that strategy to fruition, though. Richards advises cutting down your evidence into a series of succinct points. “Once you’re clear on what you’re saying, boil down your rationale into three or four killer points that you can summarize in a sentence supported by specific evidence. You will be more concise and more likely to remember everything in the heat of the negotiation.”

Mackie advises taking a patient approach. “Don’t go into the first discussion expecting an answer because your line manager may not be prepared for the conversation. Springing it on them never works very well; people don’t respond well to being backed into a corner.“

Despite the fact that the cost of living and energy cost stresses will hit those lower on the career ladder more, Mackie points out that line managers may also be struggling and might not be persuaded by an appeal that rests on external pressures. A discussion might go better, she says, by focusing on performance rather than “generic factors” that affect everyone. “Whether you’re on an entry-level salary or you’re on a management salary, all of our outgoings will be proportionately increasing. Stay away from ‘My costs have gone up, so I deserve a pay rise.’ No one’s going to say ‘yes‘ to that.”

Instead, she concludes, the evidential approach puts junior staff in a much stronger position. “An evidence-based, watertight argument is much harder to argue against. And being cognizant of your company’s ability to pay for a pay rise puts you into a more strategic conversation and a more mature conversation, and it comes across as being much more business-minded rather than individual-minded.”