This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

All advice says to "prove your value"...but how?

Olympia23·Jan 11, 2021

Literally every salary negotiation article I've read says to "know your worth" and "prove your value". Great! But none share any detail on how to really do that!For now, I'm mostly interested in getting a new job at a new company than going for an internal promotion.What have y'all done that has worked or not worked? Is there some strategy or formula that I just seem to have been blind to?Thanks!!

Iynna·Jan 11, 2021

You should read these two threads :) https://elpha.com/posts/g698qwfb/what-is-your-salary-negotiation-strategyhttps://elpha.com/posts/gaxipdd3/salary-negotiation

Olympia23·Jan 11, 2021

Thank you!

maggiewolff·Jan 12, 2021

I focus on projects I have worked on (solo or as a group) that have directly resulted in improved outcomes for our company. For example, at my last job, I created integrated dashboards for marketing campaigns, as a result, we were able to quickly identify what drove the best ROI and could shift our marketing spend to improve outcomes. As a result, search marketing drove $xyz more revenue than the previous year. (I forget the exact numbers.) Another example, in my current job, I built a dashboard to identify error rates on our search forms (errors meant the search couldn't go through, and this is the beginning of our conversion funnel), and we could see which actions were resulting in more errors, as a result, development work was prioritized to fix those issues and the search error rate decreased by xyz% and the search-to-conversion rate improved by abc%. (Again, I forget the exact numbers.) Generally, the most effective way to prove value is to directly tie your work to how much money the company makes, the second-best is how much money the company saves, and third would probably be improved efficiency and/or time savings.

maddogS·Jan 12, 2021

first find out how they define "value" or what is "valuable"

cyn·Jan 12, 2021

Definitely echo this as well. When you're new to a company, you also have the unique opportunity and vantage point to be able to see the problems that exist. Often, there are big problems that have been there for a while and everyone knows it but no one either wants to deal with it or they don't know how. Identify what those are, create solutions for them without being asked and then take on the work. That's what I have done many times and I've been able to get promotions, raises and bonuses in every job I've ever been at.

crystalhouston·Jan 12, 2021

Hi there,In my experience you’re right it’s easier to redefine yourself at a new company as you’ll be free of any (or as much) baggage or peculiar and limited biases.Outside of knowing ranges for the roles and whether you can claim you’re a high-performance employee, speaking in terms of tangible things is helpful.Quantifying your contributions so you can talk is sometimes hard for some roles but usually not impossible. Most employees, even indirectly, support efforts to reduce expenses, increase revenue or improve efficiencies that do one or both. Even if you have to guesstimate your impact it helps to translate your skills into impact or yield. Given two resumes, if one lists measurable objective accomplishments that resume stands out as seeming to be validated with support/evidence.Ex: When I was in PR I’d list writing, editing and pitching stories. After resume redo, I listed the results of those activities: percent increase X number of stories, media impressions, growth in users or followers. Even better if you can tie to industry metrics. Last thought. VC leader Arlan Hamilton advises people to “be the money”...to be mindful to always add value and to speak in terms of what your target most cares about and not just tour role. If interviewing with a VP whose chief goal is revenue, speak to them in terms of how your expertise drives revenue and not just tasks. It also makes you sound strategic and memorable. Hope this helps.CH