Getting a raise

In a small or medium enterprise.

We will tell a true story, not try our hand at one of the many bullet points lists out there that purport to describe the right situation to ask for a raise.

They were a pretty tight knit team in a company of about 150. Money was tight because the founder had big plans that would need investments and because he was a happy scientologist, which he interpreted as license to get a Ferrari as soon as possible.

No one was quite sure where the boundary between prudent business decisions and "Ferrari soon" was, and there were those who would always blame the price of a Ferrari when a few hours were chopped off a project to increase the profit margin.

M., the team's manager, had started his tenure with the belief that measurable success would eventually lead to better salaries for the team. The team went from profitable project to profitable project, only to see the money go somewhere else.

M. threw up his hands, apologized to his team, and started to put out feelers to find another job.

One morning, team member P. came to see M. "I'd like to try something and wanted to give you a heads up."

What's the plan, then?

I'll be wearing a suit to work on Monday, and I'll need to leave a couple of hours early. I'm not going to an interview, P. reassured M., it'll just look like I might. Can I ask you to cover for me? 

P. had judged M.'s reaction correctly: So, if they ask, all I would need to say is, yes, you'll be leaving early, no, you did not tell me why you are leaving early? Are you really going for an interview?

No, I'm not going for an interview, I might if they don't give me a raise.

They agreed on a couple of other details, and each of them looked forward to the coming week.
On Monday, P. came to work in suit and tie. Their offices having glass walls and being next to each other, M. could see all the comings and goings and soon found that this Monday was different.

Less than an hour after M.'s manager K., an old companion of the founder, came in, he saw P. leave his office after a phone call. Not long after, P. returned with a big smile and went straight to M.: Got the raise!

Congratulations, are you going to try again next week? they both laughed.

That day, K. brought up the subject of P. in suit and tie in a conversation with M., and M. responded in accordance with the script. M. later recounted the events and said, "And the fact that K. did not tell me they had given P. a raise solidified my decision to find another job. I never talked to K. about the suit maneuver, obviously, because P. was staying on, and I did not want to make his life difficult. But the whole situation also illustrates the frequent gap between claims of trust and openness and dirty little daily machinations".