How to survive a paltry pay rise

Don’t get angry

If you’ve just been handed a letter, detailing your percentage pay rise, resist the urge to yell ‘bastards!’. Practise deep breathing and go and hide in the toilets until you’ve calmed down.

If you feel genuinely aggrieved that you have been let down, then it’s a good idea to say something about it. You may be able to secure a promise of a bigger rise next time, but first make sure you…

Before you rush in to see your boss all guns blazing, find out just how personal this rise is. Is it across the board company policy to give only 2% this year? Are you being singled out? Try to find out what sort of rise your colleagues got so that you can gauge exactly how to approach this tricky subject.

Be sure to rehearse your speech. Get across how committed you are to the company, but how you also need a higher salary in order to pay the mortgage, raise your family, and so on.

Keep calm. It may be the case that he or she would really like to give you a higher pay rise but that their hands are tied. Therefore, be smart and ask for a car allowance or an increase in your existing one, or perhaps a bonus or larger expense account to make up for the shortfall in your pay packet.

It may be that you will be able to earn a little extra through the back door, so to speak, without affecting the pay scale hierarchy.

Perhaps you like the company and want to stay there but think it’s time for an internal move? Then start hanging out with the movers and shakers. Find out where they drink and start the ball rolling. Or, make an appointment with the human resources department to discuss your options.

Deal with it. It’s just one of life’s many bitter pills.

Book some holiday and take some time out to think about your future.

Just don’t make it obvious that you are looking for something else. Be subtle about it and don’t tell colleagues, however trustworthy they may seem. There’ll always be one who’s after your job.