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February 4, 2025 20 mins

Money. Actually, more like money you’ll get in the future.

Money is funny that way, especially when the money we’re talking about is your salary.

We negotiate like heck for what we’ll be paid in the future.

So, why is it that so many employees try to argue for a new salary based on what they did in the past?

Isn’t that so yesteryear?

Wasn’t that so your last job?

Past performance is not an indicator of future performance when I change the variables.

Here’s a funny.

I earned a nice living as an executive recruiter.

Then, I became a career coach.

And, well, as smart as that rich executive recruiter guy was, that new career coach didn’t know diddly about email marketing, YouTube-ing, podcasting, and TikTok-ing (still don’t).

I could have argued with myself and said, “Self. You’ve been awesome at recruitment, sales, serving your clients, and everything else that goes with it. I’m sure you know your stuff and can explain it to all those people who live in Germany, Canada, and California. Here’s a big fat raise.”

Then, I would have fired myself in the first year. Splat.

Career coach guy didn’t only not earn more money.

He didn’t even earn less money. He actually lost money. Ouch! (I’ll stop the 3rd-person thing now.)

You might be thinking, well, you were making a career change, so that makes sense.

Okay, but why do you think you should get a new payday because you’re doing the SAME job as last year?

Or, the same job at a new employer?

Why should your current employer give you more money for doing the same thing? Inflation? Don’t think so.

Oh, you got a fat promotion? Or more responsibilities? Ah.

Heck to the YEAH!

So, that means you’re in a new position?

How can I, your boss, know for certain you’ll do well? (Remember, past performance is a funny thing and we have some new variables here.)

I think you get the gist by now.

Good news is I won’t be the one you’ll need to negotiate your raise with.

Better news is I’m giving you the what-to-do to earn more money—in the future.

Think of me with every paycheck that is auto-deposited into your bank account.

If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings:

1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums.

2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel.

3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page.

4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.

5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today I want to talk about pay raises whenever you're up for a pay raise whenever you're up
for promotion whenever you're getting additional responsibilities you always want to think about
is there an opportunity to recalibrate hopefully upward your compensation so I want to talk today
about three primary considerations these are the factors that I would be thinking about that drive

(00:24):
your compensation up that's the thrust of today's talk although I am going to talk about a few
Concepts and things I want you to keep in mind I have a bonus tip for you as well by the time
we're done with this I think you're going to have a better appreciation of what truly truly
contributes to the value that you create for an employer and then in turn which hopefully

(00:45):
will raise your compensation as a thank you for driving that value cool all right give me a hey
in the chat if you're excited about this if you're here with me live if you're watching
on the recording welcome to you too okay first thing is just very simply these are not the three
factors these are just three concepts I want you to consider when it comes to your your your pay

(01:06):
raise or getting ready to discuss it first thing is you want to look at your accomplishments you
want to think about your future value and what what your historical accomplishments are going
to mean to your future value what your future responsibilities are going to mean to your future
value so we're going to talk about that this number item number two is going to be the main
thrust of today's talk but then there's also a jux to positioning and if you you don't know what that

(01:30):
is it's getting the other person through to look at what you want them to see through a different
lens uh really just gaining A New Perspective for how they're considering what they're considering
so I want to talk about these three things let's run through the accomplishments first and I want
to do this one quickly because when it comes to your accomplishments I just want you to think back

(01:56):
as to what you've done over the past year or even through your career but basically the past year
and I want you to recognize that when it comes to accomplishments your accomplishments and what
you've done for an employer don't necessarily translate to a pay raise if you want to get uh

(02:17):
compensation for your past accomplishments generally that's done in AAR and it's given
through some form of a bonus the bonus could be cash the bonus could be a spiff the bonus could
be stock stock options or any any number of of ways that that an employer can give you a form
of compensation but usually past accomplishments are made whole through a catch-up payment now one

(02:43):
of the things that I want to say about about your your your past accomplishments is one
of the things that I think people do poorly is recollecting what it is that they've done but
also don't take a look at how what they're what they've done done actually translates into value
and there is a reflection exercise that you should go through through every project that

(03:07):
you do however long the project is whether it's a day a month or a year or whether it's something
that you repeat or something that you do for a one-time event now to to to very quickly Breeze
over this point of the discussion I do have a free career achievements Journal if you're here
with me live Cara has pinned it in the chat there are 14 different areas that will help

(03:29):
you think about and prompt you to think about key aspects of your accomplishments that truly matter
and when I say truly matter I'm thinking personal satisfaction reflection so that
you understand what you've done how you've grown how the others around you have grown
your company your team and so on but even more importantly the value that you created because

(03:54):
what most people don't do is they don't take time to consider the actual value they're introducing
into this world for their teams for their bosses for their customers for whomever it is that are
their key stakeholders or beneficiaries of their action when I do something right now I'm just in
the middle of a talk I'm I'm I'm trying to bring to light or educate you or remind you

(04:16):
about certain things I want you to consider absolutely nothing happens right now you're
just being educated but hopefully you're going to take that education and you are going to go into
the world wherever that may be with your employer talk to your boss because C dear coach Andy gave
you great tips and ways to discuss certain things about your pay raise hopefully you will get the
pay raise that's the value I create it happens sometime in the future and most of you won't

(04:39):
even let me know that it happens but I have faith that it does same kind of thing for when you go
through your daily job you don't necessarily feel successful because you haven't stopped to reflect
about the value that you're adding and the value is not found at the moment you're doing something
the value is created in the Echo or in the Ripple I like to say it comes at a later date so this

(05:02):
career achievements Journal will prompt you to look into areas where you will truly discover
the value you're creating and it's important that you're doing this because not to get ahead
of myself but the future value that you create by something you set up today matters because you're
worth more tomorrow because of the value you're creating inside the career achievements Journal I

(05:24):
also have a link to a video on YouTube I also have a podcast if you like listening to my audios uh
where I talk about my career achievements Journal a tool that every job seeker and employee needs
you can watch that I break down the 14 areas all of that's free but this is a great way to do some
homework okay this isn't even the point I want to make today about the three big factors but it's

(05:48):
something that you need to do in order to get in a great position to be able to do what I'm about
to teach you right now all right that was a whole mouthful I need to take a sip if you're enjoying
this while I take a sip please click the like button share it make sure you subscribe to the
station okay now what I want to do today is I want to go very quickly through three key points these

(06:12):
are what I think Drive value in the future as it relates to your job whatever it is that you
do but most people think that because they did a great job in the past that they should be rewarded
now you want to remember when your salary changes the employer is paying you for tomorrow they're

(06:33):
not paying you for your past I realize that if you've performed effectively in the past all that
does is make you a good bet into the future that I know what I'm getting with this person but when I
adjust your compensation I'm really banking on the value you're going to create for me in the future
whether that's the upcoming month the upcoming year or whenever that period is so let's talk

(06:57):
about the different scenarios that you might go through and how they can affect those numbers and
when I say numbers I mean c all right futuristic Point number one this is big factor number one
your current trajectory how much better will you be so here you are mining your own I'm dear coach

(07:18):
Andy I'm going to be dear coach Andy tomorrow my title's not changing a lot of my activities
will be similar I'm going to help you with job searching and career development I'm going to
do that through my workshop events through through my Thursday live office hour show through my books
through my all my downloads my templates and all that well that's just going to keep going right
so that's me on my current trajectory you're still going to call me a career coach tomorrow

(07:41):
my title's not changing maybe you're a project manager maybe you're a senior analyst maybe you're
a system engineer whatever you are maybe you're the Human Resources Director today tomorrow you're
going to be the Human Resources Director but if you're going to continue on that trajectory why
would I want to pay you more if you're basically going to do the same thing that's a legitimate

(08:04):
question follow me right except that tomorrow Dear Old Co dear coach Andy's way better at everything
he does I prepare these talks faster I create my workshops faster I teach better why because I've
had a lot of practice I've executed it I have repetitions because I can make two widgets at

(08:24):
the speed I used to be able to make one widget I can make 10 videos at the speed it used to take me
to make a 100 videos or or or I should say that the other way around but you know what I mean
can you double your productivity can you triple your productivity are you that much faster which
in turn creates more widgets more services more value with the same amount of time so if you're

(08:50):
if if if if if you're manufacturing something can you create it faster are you freeing up time
to either create more of them in which case you have more value or you're picking up additional
responsibilities which we're going to cover in a second but effectively are or is the quality
going up is is what my videos today are better than my videos hopefully yesterday or the last

(09:14):
year or the 10 years prior so if you continued on your current trajectory can you make an argument
that you are better quality wise faster production wise or whatever it might be all right so that's
that's number one so if I just continue if I'm just a project manager tomorrow am I managing
the projects more effectively am I cranking the widgets out more effectively all right so that's

(09:39):
number one number two another consideration is well you might get additional responsibilities
and I titled this one additional responsibilities because you might get a title change you might go
from system engineer one to system engineer 2 you might go from HR manager to HR Director you might

(09:59):
go from Vice President of Sales to Chief Operating Officer so are you are you getting additional
responsibilities whether your title is changing is irrelevant if your title is changing it could just
be a title change some companies do that it could be a title change and a suite of responsibilities
change in which case you're you're getting more it could be I'm the account manager and I'm

(10:25):
responsible for all the clients in the central region I'm now picking up the rocky mountain
region I just doubled my regions okay well those are additional responsibilities even though you
might be doing the same act follow me so there could be wholesale additional responsibilities
like I was formally responsible only for sales I'm now the Chief Operating Officer I'm responsible

(10:49):
for sales marketing and services that's an that's one case or I'm a project manager I was handling
only one project my title didn't change but because I'm more seasoned I now can actually
inherit another project I'm managing two projects and I'm still a project manager or I might get

(11:09):
a promotion and I pick up a project whatever it is these are new responsibilities any which way
they come and it could be in place of what you were formally doing or it could be in addition
to what you're formally doing but the point is those additional responsibilities could carry
additional comp compensation and when you look at these additional responsibilities what new

(11:34):
benefits are you creating so if if I was able to manage one project and you were paying me $100,000
because I was creating value that's great but now I managing another project and that other project
is also creating more value therefore logic would say I I I I'm more valuable to you and as a result

(11:56):
of my greater value and the contributions I make making my compensation should go up in
some relation to that so what are the additional responsibilities some of you might say I was just
a player I was just managing my book of business as a seller now I'm a player coach I'm still just

(12:16):
managing my book of business but now I have to coach the other five salespeople or I'm
responsible for tutoring them and mentoring them or quality assurance reviewing their
processes or whatever that could be additional responsibilities pick up a new project pick up
a new division or whatever this is item number two I had a a coaching session a few weeks back with a

(12:38):
woman who's a senior data manager but in addition to doing her data management stuff she had also
uh inherited operational Improvement projects uh streamlining contract negotiation processes
and other things that even though her title hadn't changed she was making major contributions because

(12:59):
of these additional responsibilities that she had inherited and we wanted to make an argument a that
she was worth more and B for future employers she wasn't just a data manager she was this
other these she was doing these other things which made it her made her much more like an
operational consultant so not only were we trying to position her within her organization but also

(13:22):
position her externally so think about that and then future item number three is any additional
projects do those create new values so you might not be uh inheriting whole new sets
of responsibilities meaning you might not be the VP of sales who gets promoted to the chief

(13:44):
operating officer who now is inheriting s uh not only in sales but marketing and service so
it might not be something like that it might be that um that example that I just gave you with
the woman who had data management but now she also has operational Improvement initiatives or
it could be the project manager who's picking up an additional project any new initiatives should

(14:08):
translate to more compensation or another way of looking at this third item is perhaps you're
in a situation where you were the project manager you were managing a project last year the project
was operational improvements for the back office we were looking at more efficient ways to create

(14:29):
uh an operational structure that was streamlined we were wasting some steps it was costing us money
we had duplicate entry of stuff and anyway I clean that up and that's all done that's
last year next year I'm inheriting a new project it's going to be my only project but this one is
a front-end project it's helping the sales team become more effective at generating prospects

(14:54):
closing sales generating revenue and so on maybe the value of what you're doing even though it's
the same thing is actually much higher so these new projects could be new in terms of value not
necessarily responsibilities this is another way to look at are you worth more okay so wait

(15:15):
just quickly recap I want you to think about current trajectory if I just continue doing
what I'm doing how much better am I and am I able to crank out two widgets instead of one
this one here additional responsibilities could be a title change in additional responsibilities
or maybe it's just additional responsibilities maybe you just inherited a team who knows this

(15:38):
one maybe your project changed and there's more value hopefully there's not less value hopefully
there's more value it's another way to think about it so those are three hu three huge factors now as
a bonus tip I mentioned earlier this card where I talked about jux deposing well when I talked about
in the beginning how your future compensation is actually to pay you for future activities right

(16:06):
your salary increase well it should be based on what you're going to do tomorrow and you don't
necessarily uh get to lean on what you did in the past as an argument to raise your rate however
this is where we get to even it up because from a ju to positioning perspective if you're going to
be working in the future you're employer should consider what the future rate is in general not

(16:34):
just for you do you know what I'm saying do you always hear me say hey there's no Market pay for
salary when you're negotiating salary if you're trying to lean on well these other companies are
offering well go ahead go work for those other companies maybe they're more desperate than we
are maybe they would value you more it's based on future value of what you're going to contribute

(16:55):
but it's a transaction at any moment in time to determine how much I'm going to pay I use
my house as an example on some website the house is listed as and appraised or estimated at some
certain value except that doesn't mean I'm going to get that value it's based on and the buyer's
situation as well does the buyer is the buyer really desperate are they willing to pay more is

(17:16):
the buyer not so desperate they want to pay less am I more desperate to sell same kind of thing
well when you look at and you say to your employer okay I'm inheriting new responsibilities I'm
also going to be working on new projects I'm going to be creating more value I can crank the widgets
out faster so on and so forth you need to take a moment and say to the employer okay well what's

(17:40):
the new rate for somebody that is can do that if you actually had to pluck somebody off the street
right now what would you have to pay them because I'm here I don't want to be penalized because if
you actually had to pluck somebody off the street and replace me how much would you pay now you

(18:01):
would probably probably not always probably have to pay more not always but probably and
what would you be what would you be losing you might be inheriting a learning curve somebody
who actually has to at least learn either how to do what I do or learn it in this environment
there could be additional expenses internally and externally well you're going to have to have the

(18:25):
recruiter spend time you're going to have to spend time interviewing you're going to hire
somebody you're going to have to spend time on boarding them and so on and so forth there might
be recruiting costs time relationship capital I have credibility and so on so you want to
make sure that if need be part of your discussion centers on well could you even imagine if I wasn't

(18:48):
here and who would inherit this and if they say well I'll get somebody else on your team to take
that slot that's fine you're going to have to back fill that role there's still some cost so
much like when you're hiring somebody from the outside and you're have to pay paying them more
to get less value at least initially than I can contribute can we at least factor into the

(19:09):
discussion or factor into my compensation the ju to position of you having to replace me now look
at it from another angle because while you might not appreciate my past contributions or want to
factor those in what happens if you had to start cold so this is an additional way to get them to
look at at your from your perspective what you're actually worth not only based on your track record

(19:34):
but also if somebody was to replace you what would that cost them to backfill and that can be part of
the discussion so when you're looking at the three primary factors of what you're going to do in the
future based on your current direct uh trajectory based on any additional responsibilities you're
going to inherit or based on anything that you're going to do from a from the value a new Project's

(19:56):
going to yield one of the other things you want to factor in is the jux to position so those are
some those are some big big considerations that I want you to think about and this also applies
for any of you that are negotiating salary with a new employer you want to think about what value am
I going to be creating what responsibilities am I going to be doing and and what is what am I seeing

(20:21):
in the market so I hope I hope you enjoyed that but I want you to make sure don't forget to grab
the career achievements Journal that free but just think about these factors whenever you're
talking with it with with your employer your boss your management team or whoever's deciding your
compensation going forward don't forget to look at the future from those three angles all right hope

(20:42):
you enjoyed that if you did click the like button make sure you subscribe if you're here with me
live we're going to the Q&A if you're watching me on the recording I will see you next week
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