September 3, 2025 • 9 mins
Greg Giangrande joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about how and when to go about asking for a raise in the current job climate.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
So do you have a hard time talking about money
with your boss, talking about your salary with your boss?
I know, I do. I know a lot of people
really have a problem with this getting up the courage
to go in and talk about their salary. Greg gan
Grande is the person to go to for this career
advice expert with us every Wednesday at this time. You
(00:21):
can check them out at go to Greg dot com.
I love that you're talking about this today, Greg, because
who knows and how do you know when it's the
right time to go in and ask for a raise?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Well, great, great topic and questions, and I can tell
you that generally, what's going on in the labor market
right now, the conditions aren't great for asking for a
raise because so many companies are looking at how they
can implement AI, to slow down hiring, to even do
(01:01):
some layoffs. So you have to be really careful with
the approach and the timing. A couple of things that's
really important for everyone to understand. Most companies have a
compensation structure for every role, and each role has a
salary range that's benchmarked against the market and where you're
(01:22):
paid and how much the company is willing to pay
is based on really two things, your performance and your
overall value to the company. And things like you need
more money for your personal finances or cost of living
are never good reasons for asking for a race.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, it's interesting what you said because of the current conditions.
It sounds like you are saying read the room, like
read the economy right now, because there's a good time
to go in and ask, and there's a bad time
to go in and ask. And it may not just
be in your workplace, but across the country. You have
to figure out what the good time is to go
(02:04):
in and now may not be the best time, right.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So correct a good time is if you've taken on
more responsibility. So it could even be that your company
is conducting some layoffs and the people who remain are
given bigger jobs and more responsibility. I wouldn't say immediately
after that, but after a period of time, at least
(02:30):
six months to a year. If you've been given more
responsibility as a result of even you know, negative time
at the company where they've been contracting, it could be
appropriate then to ask for a raise. If you've reached
a major milestone, you delivered on a key initiative, a
key project that was really important to the company, that
(02:51):
could be a good time. And certainly if the company
has a structured performance review process where you're supposed to
be talking about your career, learning, development, growth, and compensation,
that would be a good time to have these discussions.
But it should be part of a normal flow of
(03:14):
how you are performing and you demonstrating your value and
your impact, and not because you want more money or
you need more money, and never as a threat that
some competitor or somebody else is offering you more.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Greg you're great at reading both sides of the room,
and that both the employers and the employees are employees.
Can you just wait for them? Are they pretty good
at knowing when they should give you a raise?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Are employers good at knowing lawyers? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. I
would say that it is a fair assessment that most
companies try to pay as much as they have to
to keep their talent, but not a penny more so,
there are very few companies saying I think you're doing
(04:07):
a great job and you're not complaining about how much
you're getting paid, but I want to give you more anyway.
Typically that would happen if a company is promoting you
and you're really top talent, and there's someone they're afraid
of losing. I think those people who fall into that category,
companies are pretty good at making sure that they're keeping
(04:28):
them at the high end of the range. Everyone else,
there's the normal review process. Companies have an annual merit
review process, or if you're part of a union, that's
already built into your tracks. I wouldn't say for the
majority of employees, this is top of mind for management
to think about how to give more employees more money.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So you go in, you ask for a raise and
you're told no, What do you do next?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Well, you need to understand in why no and what
does no mean? No because you're not performing well. No
because the budget is closed and not until the next
budget cycle. You have to understand what that means and why,
because in that dictate whether or not you should start
looking for another job. It could be no, you're not
(05:20):
really performing well and so you're lucky you have a job,
let alone asking for a raise. It could be a
response do you think that you have to understand what
the no means and why and if there's an opportunity
for it to be reconsidered in the future and what
those conditions would be. What do you have to do,
(05:41):
how do you take on more, what did you need
to see in your performance, et cetera in order for
that no to turn into a yes.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
For most people, man, it's such a stressful thing to
do to get up the courage to figure out what
you're going to say. What are the what are the
real preparations you should take before you enter the boss's office.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
The facts of what you do, what you've delivered, how
you've demonstrated value to the company, and where your compensation
is relative to the market. So that's easy to find
now with so much publicly available information and compensation. If
you are someone who is valued by the company, and
(06:25):
you can demonstrate that value by the accomplishments you've had,
and you can demonstrate that relative to the market, you're
not at the top end. Those are the kind of
research and preparation you can do to walk into a
conversation like this and have the best chance for a
better outcome.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, Greg, you're an HR. You've been in the room
when the person came and they did a subtle I
don't want to say threat, but you how many times
does that work out for that person, like, oh, there's
so many other opportunities I really want to stay here,
but but bu like zero.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
So depending on the person, you can probably get away
with that once. For most people it's okay. Well, if
you feel you can find a better opportunity paying more
elsewhere than good luck to you. So you run the
risk of getting that response, which is why you never
want to make a threat. If you are interested in
(07:29):
testing your market value, go out and get a job offer,
and then you are certainly welcome to let your employer
know that you have a job offer, you better be
prepared to take it because they may just say, well,
we're sorry to lose you, good luck. But if you're
doing it just as leverage to try to get more money,
(07:49):
and then your boss says that and you don't really
want that job, you're going to look awfully foolish by saying,
all right, well never mind, I'll stay.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Wait a second, isn't it a good idea to have
the job offer when you go in, like exactly, yeah,
you go in and gay, Oh that's what I thought
you were saying, So yeah, no, it'd be wonderful to
walk in and then you have to decide between the
two jobs.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
That's real leverage because you are willing to actually walk away.
There are some people who go out and get job
offers because they think that'll prompt their employer to give
them more money, and they have no intention of taking
that job offer. And I know a lot of people.
It's happened in my career where people have come to
me and I've said, well, I'm sorry, we would love
(08:32):
to keep you, but there's not anything more that we
can do. And then the person kind of what the
tail between the legs says, well, you know what, I
really really thought about it, and I'm happier here and
I'm just going to stay here.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Oh no, you have to be prepared to leave, and
how do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Everybody does, and I've seen people come back saying, Okay,
you know, I really love it here, and the extra
money I can earn elsewhere, while important to me, it's
not more important than might.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Happen the company knows they really are not happy.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, you're dead man walking at that point. You're dead,
that's it, that's it. You might as well leave at
that point, no.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Exactly, which is why I said, if you're going to
out and get a job bar for offer, and you're
going to use this leverage, you better be prepared to
take that offer.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Thanks so much to Greg G and Grande. I don't
think I'm ever going to ask for a raise ever
after hearing this from you. That was the whole point.
He's an HR guy. He wanted to scare us all
away from ever asking for a raise. That's what that
was all about. Gregg g and Grande career advice expert
with us every Wednesday at this time. You can check
(09:41):
them out at go to Greg dot com. Thanks a lot, Greg,
always a pleasure. When we come back, my final thoughts,
a recap of today's show and the talk back of
the morning
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
So do you have a hard time talking about money
with your boss, talking about your salary with your boss?
I know, I do. I know a lot of people
really have a problem with this getting up the courage
to go in and talk about their salary. Greg gan
Grande is the person to go to for this career
advice expert with us every Wednesday at this time. You
(00:21):
can check them out at go to Greg dot com.
I love that you're talking about this today, Greg, because
who knows and how do you know when it's the
right time to go in and ask for a raise?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Well, great, great topic and questions, and I can tell
you that generally, what's going on in the labor market
right now, the conditions aren't great for asking for a
raise because so many companies are looking at how they
can implement AI, to slow down hiring, to even do
(01:01):
some layoffs. So you have to be really careful with
the approach and the timing. A couple of things that's
really important for everyone to understand. Most companies have a
compensation structure for every role, and each role has a
salary range that's benchmarked against the market and where you're
(01:22):
paid and how much the company is willing to pay
is based on really two things, your performance and your
overall value to the company. And things like you need
more money for your personal finances or cost of living
are never good reasons for asking for a race.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah, it's interesting what you said because of the current conditions.
It sounds like you are saying read the room, like
read the economy right now, because there's a good time
to go in and ask, and there's a bad time
to go in and ask. And it may not just
be in your workplace, but across the country. You have
to figure out what the good time is to go
(02:04):
in and now may not be the best time, right.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So correct a good time is if you've taken on
more responsibility. So it could even be that your company
is conducting some layoffs and the people who remain are
given bigger jobs and more responsibility. I wouldn't say immediately
after that, but after a period of time, at least
(02:30):
six months to a year. If you've been given more
responsibility as a result of even you know, negative time
at the company where they've been contracting, it could be
appropriate then to ask for a raise. If you've reached
a major milestone, you delivered on a key initiative, a
key project that was really important to the company, that
(02:51):
could be a good time. And certainly if the company
has a structured performance review process where you're supposed to
be talking about your career, learning, development, growth, and compensation,
that would be a good time to have these discussions.
But it should be part of a normal flow of
(03:14):
how you are performing and you demonstrating your value and
your impact, and not because you want more money or
you need more money, and never as a threat that
some competitor or somebody else is offering you more.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Greg you're great at reading both sides of the room,
and that both the employers and the employees are employees.
Can you just wait for them? Are they pretty good
at knowing when they should give you a raise?
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Are employers good at knowing lawyers? Yeah? Yeah, yeah. I
would say that it is a fair assessment that most
companies try to pay as much as they have to
to keep their talent, but not a penny more so,
there are very few companies saying I think you're doing
(04:07):
a great job and you're not complaining about how much
you're getting paid, but I want to give you more anyway.
Typically that would happen if a company is promoting you
and you're really top talent, and there's someone they're afraid
of losing. I think those people who fall into that category,
companies are pretty good at making sure that they're keeping
(04:28):
them at the high end of the range. Everyone else,
there's the normal review process. Companies have an annual merit
review process, or if you're part of a union, that's
already built into your tracks. I wouldn't say for the
majority of employees, this is top of mind for management
to think about how to give more employees more money.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
So you go in, you ask for a raise and
you're told no, What do you do next?
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Well, you need to understand in why no and what
does no mean? No because you're not performing well. No
because the budget is closed and not until the next
budget cycle. You have to understand what that means and why,
because in that dictate whether or not you should start
looking for another job. It could be no, you're not
(05:20):
really performing well and so you're lucky you have a job,
let alone asking for a raise. It could be a
response do you think that you have to understand what
the no means and why and if there's an opportunity
for it to be reconsidered in the future and what
those conditions would be. What do you have to do,
(05:41):
how do you take on more, what did you need
to see in your performance, et cetera in order for
that no to turn into a yes.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
For most people, man, it's such a stressful thing to
do to get up the courage to figure out what
you're going to say. What are the what are the
real preparations you should take before you enter the boss's office.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
The facts of what you do, what you've delivered, how
you've demonstrated value to the company, and where your compensation
is relative to the market. So that's easy to find
now with so much publicly available information and compensation. If
you are someone who is valued by the company, and
(06:25):
you can demonstrate that value by the accomplishments you've had,
and you can demonstrate that relative to the market, you're
not at the top end. Those are the kind of
research and preparation you can do to walk into a
conversation like this and have the best chance for a
better outcome.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
Okay, Greg, you're an HR. You've been in the room
when the person came and they did a subtle I
don't want to say threat, but you how many times
does that work out for that person, like, oh, there's
so many other opportunities I really want to stay here,
but but bu like zero.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
So depending on the person, you can probably get away
with that once. For most people it's okay. Well, if
you feel you can find a better opportunity paying more
elsewhere than good luck to you. So you run the
risk of getting that response, which is why you never
want to make a threat. If you are interested in
(07:29):
testing your market value, go out and get a job offer,
and then you are certainly welcome to let your employer
know that you have a job offer, you better be
prepared to take it because they may just say, well,
we're sorry to lose you, good luck. But if you're
doing it just as leverage to try to get more money,
(07:49):
and then your boss says that and you don't really
want that job, you're going to look awfully foolish by saying,
all right, well never mind, I'll stay.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Wait a second, isn't it a good idea to have
the job offer when you go in, like exactly, yeah,
you go in and gay, Oh that's what I thought
you were saying, So yeah, no, it'd be wonderful to
walk in and then you have to decide between the
two jobs.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
That's real leverage because you are willing to actually walk away.
There are some people who go out and get job
offers because they think that'll prompt their employer to give
them more money, and they have no intention of taking
that job offer. And I know a lot of people.
It's happened in my career where people have come to
me and I've said, well, I'm sorry, we would love
(08:32):
to keep you, but there's not anything more that we
can do. And then the person kind of what the
tail between the legs says, well, you know what, I
really really thought about it, and I'm happier here and
I'm just going to stay here.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Oh no, you have to be prepared to leave, and
how do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Everybody does, and I've seen people come back saying, Okay,
you know, I really love it here, and the extra
money I can earn elsewhere, while important to me, it's
not more important than might.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Happen the company knows they really are not happy.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Well, you're dead man walking at that point. You're dead,
that's it, that's it. You might as well leave at
that point, no.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Exactly, which is why I said, if you're going to
out and get a job bar for offer, and you're
going to use this leverage, you better be prepared to
take that offer.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Thanks so much to Greg G and Grande. I don't
think I'm ever going to ask for a raise ever
after hearing this from you. That was the whole point.
He's an HR guy. He wanted to scare us all
away from ever asking for a raise. That's what that
was all about. Gregg g and Grande career advice expert
with us every Wednesday at this time. You can check
(09:41):
them out at go to Greg dot com. Thanks a lot, Greg,
always a pleasure. When we come back, my final thoughts,
a recap of today's show and the talk back of
the morning
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