I am an employee of the Oxfam Pvt. Ltd organization presently working in my home city i.e. Chicago. I am an assistant marketing manager at the regional office of Oxfam Pvt. Ltd. My annual pay (about $52,000) has been stagnant for four years now and just recently I found it hard to cope to with the rising inflation rates. So, one day I decided enough is enough; I need a raise in my salary and made up my mind to approach my boss and voice my demands.
After finally deciding to raise my opinions to the boss I thought of a right time and right justifications to support my demands. I took an appointment to meet the boss. I made a list of all the reasons for which I needed a hike in pay and also typed a formal letter and an application to put forward along with it. I thought that since it was a sort of personal matter so I needed a personal yet, formal meeting with the boss. Then on the appointment day I went ahead and met the boss in his cabin at the time allotted.
Before the meeting with the boss I was a bit nervous and tense and had even met a counselor to prepare myself ahead of the meeting which was very important for me and my career. I started to speak my views about the difficulties I was facing with my current salary and asked if I my salary could be raised. While telling him about my problems I was quite relaxed and confident and never let anything else enter my mind except the reasons why I was asking for a hike. I told the boss that some of the staff working at my office at the same designation as me were getting higher salaries even after joining the company after me. I told him that I had to commute long distances to reach office and go to meet clients and perform other work related stuff. I told him that since the inflation rates have steadily gone up I am finding it very difficult to meet the expenses and rarely do I save anything.
I think I was assertive in my interaction with the boss and since all my reasons were valid and genuine I was quite confident that the boss would respond well to my expectations. The boss was a good listener and he was also considerate. He listened to all what I had to say and then gave his suggestions. He suggested that I should use public transport to commute to office instead of using my bike. He also argued that other people of my office were getting the same salary as I was at the same position. He never yelled or lost his temper but neither did he agree to my demands. He defended himself and the company on the grounds that it is also a time of economic recession being faced by Oxfam and similar companies. He clearly stated that salary would be increased after six months duration or after the recession gets over, whichever occurs earlier. I listened to him attentively and cross questioned at certain points but never let my emotions come out or talked in a rude way.
The boss told me that my demands would be put forward to the higher management and that I could even get a promotion. He was impressed by my performances at work and also how I conducted myself during the interaction. The interaction with my boss was according to me fruitful as he assured me a hike in my current pay package, eventually.
I found the overall experience a very smooth affair and not once did I lose my patience or talk absurdity in a rude manner. I remained quite nervy all through the interaction and never let the impression that I was being exploited or showed my desperation. My boss was also humble enough to appreciate my feelings and empathized with my demands. But the lesson I learnt with the overall interaction was that to be assertive in whatever one feels and says and never react emotionally or aggressively especially in professional life.
