It is a myth that management 's primary consideration in determining salary increases is worker performance. If you, as a woman in business, do not let go of that myth you have no realistic hope of navigating the process successfully.

Last week's column "So You Want a Raise? How to begin…" set the tone:

"…business is not based on a reward system. Women will not get what they do not demand. And, women will not get what they do demand unless they understand and act upon the dynamics driving business."

There are many powerful forces besides competence and excellence that influence whether you get a raise or a promotion. You have only minimal control over some of these factors, and you have absolutely no control over others. But if you want to be successful you must be aware of them, understand how they work, and understand how they can and do affect your personal situation.

How does management make decisions regarding salary increases or promotions?

From a management perspective raises start with budget and corporate profitability. Most companies have a departmental budget system, which commits the company to earn an agreed upon amount of revenue to sustain that department for an agreed upon period of time. The department in turn agrees to stay within that budget and produce specific results for the company.

Typically, budgets are set in advance (quarterly; bi-annually; annually). Budgets take into consideration, as much as can be reasonably projected, items such as market conditions, growth goals, product development etc., and include defined budget items such as overhead, benefits, salaries etc.

Have your eyes glazed over yet? Well, if they have WAKE UP! Budgets are the single greatest influence over whether or not you get a raise, and how much of a raise you do get.

While actual budgets are confidential in many companies, it is easy to at least find out the budget cycle - how often budgets are revised (ask!); and to find out how budgets influence your own department (ask!). You do not need to be an accountant and pore over numbers; you do not need to understand profit and loss analyses; you do not need to track profitability in minutia. You just have to have common sense about what is going on with the company and how budgets work.

For example, what do you think your success rate will be in seeking a raise if you have absolutely no clue as to whether or not there is any money to give you? Do the facts that you are a very good employee, and that you are underpaid according to industry standards, create any extra money in the budget to pay you more money next Friday, and the Friday after that? I doubt it.

For generations, men typically have managed the money in business. Women have typically deferred, or have chosen to remain unaware of the affect of company budgets on their careers. Money is power and control. Understanding money in business is the route to power and control over your own career.

If you want to do something realistic about being underpaid, no matter what your position, you should learn everything you can about the budget that drives your company and your department. If you plead that you can't control or influence corporate budgets so why bother with it, you and your career will be deferred. Again, budgets are the single greatest influence over whether or not you get a raise, and how much of a raise you do get. You remain ignorant at your own peril.

Budgets are like a pie that has to be cut into enough pieces to go around the table after dinner. If you do not know either the size of the pie or when the slices are going to be cut, you have no influence over the size of your piece of the pie. That may be all right for dinner, but it is no way to be successful in business.

So You Want a Raise? will continue next week. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by D.E. Summerville. All rights reserved.

The advice and suggestions in the Women in Business column are solely those of the author. DC Web Women assumes no responsibility for its content.

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