Evening star., 1950-04-09
Want a Raise? You'd Better Rate Yourself First
Nersh Amsrieon Newspaper AIIionee


| Could you use a little NOR,
money on payday? Sure! Blu
do you deserve any more?
Before you ask for a pay raise
you had better get a cold -bloodes
answer to that last question
That's the one the boss asks.
Seat yourself mentally in tn
boss's chair. suggests Changing
Times. the Kiplinger magazine
in its April issue, and examin
these items:
The company's ability to pay:
| You probably won't know all tn
intimate details involved here
But with what information
available. try to make an esti
mate of the situation and see nov
it affects you personally.
In a period of tough shedding
raises are likely to 60 only to thos
who carry extra work loads o
who make important contribu
tions toward an upswing. Boom
ing business may mean that tn
whole organization has earned ,
general increase.
Explore such angles as pro
posed expansions, uncertain busi
ness conditions. pending reor
ganizations, new methods ant
products. Will they mean nev
opportunities and new pay poll
cies-or just that there will b,
little to spare for pay raises?
II hidden" raises-such a.
pensions or insurance benefits o.
longer vacations-have been ad.
ded recently, consider their in,
fluence on company costs.
10 Yardstick Examples.
Your job:
The way your office is organized
and run, company personnel poll
cies-these affect your chance!
for a raise. And so does the typ,
of work you do-the amount oI
responsibility you carry, the diff.
Guilty of the work, the experienc,
required.
Above all, decide whether yol
will have to get a promotion tt
a more difficult or responsible jok
to make more money. If so, Il
there an opening on higher leve
right now? Is there likely to b.
in the future? Are you aiming fol
it: can you understudy it now?
Your own performance:
Here are 10 samples of the yard.
sticks which are probably beins
used, formally or informally, te
decide whether you have earnee
a raise.
/. Reliability Note whether
some one has to follow up to make
sure that you do an assigned task
or whether you come through or
your own. Can the boss depenc
upon you to be in on time in the
morning? Are you likely to take
sick leave when the going get.
hard?
2. Cooperation - The employt
who carries a chip on his shoul.
der. who sticks firmly to a "do-it.
my-way-or- else" platform, who /!
out to take care of himself at al
costs-he's in little danger of get.
ting raise. At the other extreme
are the folks who don't hesitat,
to Sacrifice their time and energy
for the good of the team, who ar,
able to work smoothly and sue.
cessfully with colleagues they ma,
privately consider first-class dopes
who pitch in to put across SOM
tproject, that they have previousl.
! opposed strenuously. .
1 a. Production volume-"Produc
ton" sounds like turning out CAD
gets on q machine, but it can jus
as well mean waiting on custom
ers, typing letters or copying fig
ures. There are production
standards for your job, whether
they are fixed and formal or JUS
set by the normal pace of bust.
ness. Above-standard production
is a strong argument for above.
standard pay.
! 4. Production Accuracy - Tot
many errors or rejects or wrons
decisions can cancel out a higf
rate of speed. Razor sharp &C.
curacy can more than make VI
for a low one.
S. Resourcefulness - you ar.
worth more to the organization
when you can hurdle obstacles b,
yourself, take problems In strid.
or if you ask help only on tn.
real TOUCHES, and even then hav,
worked out the various alterna.
tives and can make a recommen.
dation. You are worth q gooe
deal less II you keep running K
the supervisor or foreman anc
dump all your problems in his lap
s. Sincerity and Enthusiasm
Better even than the boss, yo,
know whether you tend to soldier
on the job, stretch a e-minut,
task into an hour long stall, o.
watch the clock. You know hov
often you take a break for !,
smoke, visit the water cooler ant
otherwise waste time. You know
whether you tackle jobs with en-
thusiasm, look on your work a.
a challenge, put out your best ef
fort.
7. Flexibility-Changes of on,
kind or another are relatively fre
quent in any live organization
Some people sit and grumble tina