Own Your Worth!
Feel like you deserve more at work?
Get ready to shift your perspective on money, and earn more!
In this episode of the Whole U. Podcast, Ashley Paré, CEO of Own Your Worth - teaches us how to:
- Become our own best advocate
- Prepare for a salary negotiation &
- Establish boundaries of what we say “yes” to
Click below to listen in
Blog post by Amelia Young:
Here at Whole U., we are all about confidence - and how to see the value in yourself and your work. However, we also know that negotiating (e.g. salary) is an Achilles heel for most of us. Because it can be difficult to stand up for yourself and ask for what you deserve, we spoke with a negotiation expert - who shared all the tips and insights on how to own your worth in negotiations - and in your career.
The definition of "negotiations" from a corporate standpoint is:
the process that we undergo to find a mutual solution or come to an agreement around how we will work together.
However, according to TEDx speaker Ashley Paré, CEO and founder of Own Your Worth - an organization on a mission to break glass ceilings through confident leadership -
negotiations are about determining what you are willing to say yes to, and what you’ll say no to.
Ashley gave us clear, actionable steps to help gain the confidence needed to be compensated appropriately.
The biggest insight?
Salary negotiations are helpful for everyone involved!
In fact -Paré says that most employers will expect their hires to negotiate! Many managers will use negotiation as a tool to see how confident you are. Paré says that when employees ask for what they’re worth, their employers will be better off too. Creating a culture where people feel comfortable to speak about what they deserve, benefits everyone in the workplace. In fact, asking for a raise can build a deeper relationship between an employer and an employee.
Ashley says that in any salary negotiation, there should always be TWO winners. (Keep this in mind the next time you are nervous about asking for more!)
They WANT you to ask! BUT there’s a catch . . . you have to go about it the right way!
Research is everything.
Your goal is to make it as easy as possible for your employers to say "yes" to your request. Get your numbers:
- Your sales
- Your hours
- The amount of times you went "above and beyond" what was asked
- Look up what others in your field are making at competitive companies (especially if you feel your salary is on the lower side)
Put your research in a presentation. (Smother it with some icing, and serve it up so that all they have to do . . . is say "YES!")
The other factor to keep in mind, is timing. You want your request to come at the perfect time. If you "missed your chance" to negotiate during your initial job negotiations . . . it's not too late. There are other times to ask for a raise - for example, during a lucrative sales period, or when several people have left the company. Those could be excellent times to remind your employer of all that you do for the company.
Of course, you're not going to see the monetary raise happen overnight.
Paré advises that you should give the company anywhere from two to six months to actually receive the raise. (This doesn’t mean you aren’t deserving of the raise. Rather, it's just that - in any working environment - there's likely going to be a need for lot of: red tape, moving parts, and approvals before a raise is finalized on paper). As such, your first goal should be starting the conversation:
“Hey boss - I would love to chat with you about my future in this company, and possibly a path to a promotion. Could I put together a case for myself?”
In terms of how you should address the monetary amount you're requesting, Ashley recommends getting specific about what you want. Don’t just say you want more and have them create the number for you. Your employer does not know how to make you happy, if you don’t ask for it. You can give a small range to see if it's within the company’s budget, but the last thing you want, is to go through all of this . . . and have them say yes to a raise. . . just to be unsatisfied with the end result!
What keeps many of us from negotiating our worth is our relationship with money. In the United States for example, it's often viewed as impolite to discuss finances - either in our homes, relationships, or workplaces. Because of this, we often find ourselves "low-balling" ourselves. This "wage gap" promotes gender inequality, and ultimately leads to many other socio-economic problems.
We don’t want to ask for too much, because that’s considered greedy.
But we don’t want to ask for too little, because then we are a sucker.
The solution?
Simply owning your worth!
By requesting that our hard work be fairly compensated and reflected on our paycheck, we are communicating to our employers that we respect the company - but we ALSO respect ourselves. By forming this relationship with your employer, and being honest with them about your needs - you're going to gain their trust - (Again, this is beneficial for everyone involved).
Negotiating still feel scary? You're not alone!
Ashley shares that she has clients who had such poor experiences negotiating that they were terrified of trying it again. However, through the process that Ashley lays out, working the steps and preparing yourself, you will gain the confidence to own your worth. Take the time to heal from the rejection, but do not give up on yourself. Just because one person did not agree, does not mean that a raise is out of sight for you - (even within the same company).
One of the biggest takeaways from our talk with Ashley was that any company that respects their employees, and has properly developed programs for their people, is going to expect salary negotiations to arise (i.e. These discussions won't be "coming out of left field.")
If the worst is to happen (e.g. hearing "no," or receiving some type of retaliation from your employer) then the issue might be that the company’s values system is NOT in line with your own! That “no” should really be seen as just more information on your company. And the sooner you can gather insight into what kind of culture you are in, the better. (This idea dissolves the fear - because either way, the outcome will be beneficial!)
If you believe you are deserving of a raise. . . stay patient.
Generally, the answer you are going to hear is not negative. Rather, a common response Ashley’s clients hear after they have come prepared to ask for their worth, is something like:
“Wow. Thank you so much for your preparedness.
Thank you for making this easy to bring to my boss.”
Hopefully these conversations will only strengthen your relationship with your managers and/ or organizations.
If you feel like you are ready to negotiate for a higher salary, prepare a script. The first time you practice asking for a raise should never be in front of your boss. Do your homework, then try your script out on some friends, so that you are comfortable with the conversation first. Ashley gave us some professional language to use for salary negotiations. You can try some rendition of this:
“Dear Boss, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me today. I’m really excited about my future with our company. I’ve been giving some thought to my current role versus my responsibilities and I want to talk with you today about my future on our team, and how I feel that I'm operating at the next level. I pulled together some examples, but I really do value your input in terms of creating a path forward here for a potential promotion.”
This may sound basic, but to know your worth, and to own your worth, is crucial in a world where money does make the world go around. Money is not a dirty subject, and during our chat with Ashley, it became very clear that there is a strong link between salaries and confidence.
Our conversation was very rich (pun intended) - and you listen to the full conversation linked here.
For free insights on living a balanced, purposeful life, subscribe to Whole U.'s monthly newsletter (below).
Links to Ashley's:
- Website: https://ownyourworth.com/
- TEDx Talk: https://ownyourworth.com/tedx-talk
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Produced By:
Shannon O'Brien
Ed.M, M.A.
Shannon created Whole U. to encourage career seekers to live a balanced purposeful life, while pursing their life's work.
