Asking for a pay rise is always difficult, especially if you have the inbuilt English inhibition for talking about money. It’s a difficult topic to raise, the expectations and potential for embarrassing disappointment are key factors in the nervousness, especially given the fact that a person’s own performance and the trumpeting of that performance is always part of the dance required to achieve a pay rise.
While 65 percent of employees surveyed by recruitment firm Robert Half have more confidence in their job prospects compared to a year ago, only 59 percent plan to ask for a payrise this year. Instead of making the case for a pay increase, employees would rather clean the house, look for a new job, go to the dentist or even run a marathon, rather than ask for more cash.
Globally, employees in Hong Kong are the most likely to prefer to look for a new job than ask for a payrise, while 7 percent of US employees stated they would rather have dental root canal work than ask for more money.
UK workers are much less likely to ask for a salary rise than those in other parts of the world next year. Just over half plan to request a rise, compared to 77 percent of workers in France, 78 percent in Germany and 81 percent in Brazil. However, UK workers may be more likely to be ‘suffering in silence’ as a quarter would rather look for another job than ask their boss for a raise.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.