Know what bosses want to get raise

Today marks your anniversary with your company. You view yourself as a dedicated and responsible employee who has been on time, completed assigned projects and followed company policy. Now it’s time for a raise, right? Wrong.

While your clean record may be commendable, it’s hardly outstanding. And unfortunately, where promotions and raises are concerned, being good isn’t good enough. You’ve got to be good for something. Major raises and important promotions remain “boss beneficial” and rarely occur when they are exclusively “employee beneficial.”

So what can you do to get that promotion? You must think like a boss. When you start thinking like a boss, you enable yourself with power and become noticed.

An employee who takes charge of the issues really impresses the boss. It lightens the boss’s load. They especially like employees who tackle problems and come up with solutions. Don’t go to your boss with little problems. Treat these problems as your own. Get the information you need to solve the problem. Then solve it without waiting for your boss to hand you an instruction manual. When you show initiative in solving the problems, you stand out.

Employees also have to understand what the boss really wants. This can be a difficult task. It is easier if you think of whom your boss has to answer to and just what they expect of him or her. You need to be in tune with the purpose of the order and understand what your boss hopes to accomplish by it.

Make good mistakes. Go ahead and take a few risks. Do some new things and explore. The only way to avoid making mistakes is to do nothing new. If you become too immersed in the details of the job, you don’t have time to think about the future. And when you ignore the future, you’re not showing your potential for leadership.

Do you anticipate the needs of your boss? Employees who wander around saying, “What should I do next?” or “It’s not my job,” certainly aren’t anticipating their bosses’ needs.

Don’t fall into the entitlement trap. Many employees feel that their boss has a moral obligation to take care of them. Bosses have a different view. The company must come first. The company must prosper for employees to prosper. Employees caught in the entitlement trap don’t think of ways to create opportunities that benefit the boss.

Start thinking and behaving like your future is riding on your company’s success. Use your initiative to problem solve and explore creative alternatives. Promotions and the salaries that go with them are for employees who take charge.