I showed my boss online pay data to get a raise, now my team is split

I felt stuck with low pay but was nervous to ask for more. I found average salaries for my job on a few websites and brought printouts to my review. Half my coworkers say using cold facts is the only way, the other half think it kills good will. How do you handle salary talks without making it awkward?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.wendy3mo ago

At my last review, I printed out local salary averages from LinkedIn. I talked about my projects first, then used the sheet to show I was below market. My boss appreciated the prep and we agreed on a fair raise.

derekd473mo ago

When I asked for a raise at my old job, I pulled numbers from PayScale and Glassdoor. I made sure to list my wins from the past year before handing over the printouts. My boss said the facts helped her make a case to upper management, and I got a 5% bump. It didn't feel awkward because I framed it as wanting to stay fair with the market. What sites did you use for your data?

cooper.reese1mo ago

Honestly, I've seen this play out in all sorts of situations, not just at work. It's basically the same split you see when someone brings up prices for a used car or compares prices on a big purchase with friends. One side sees it as just smart, fair business, and the other side thinks it's too aggressive or rude. Ngl, people who feel threatened by cold facts usually just don't have good facts on their side. Tbh, using the data is the only way to keep it from being a guessing game based on feelings, which is way more awkward.

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