It’s that time of the year when PR agencies normally round up their employees for the annual pay appraisal. I came across two blogs that listed down some good tips that PR people can use as well. The tips they offered and my interpretation are as below.

Mohammed’s tips include:

1. Understand your goal: Note down your accomplishments in the current year and highlight the goals that have been met. Also note down the challenges that restricted you from meeting some goals.

Know which were the clients given to you. What was your role in the team? Are the clients happy? Are they still with the agency? If not, what were the reasons for their leaving? Besides client servicing or media relations, did your profile also include business development, writing, research, etc.?

2. Track your accomplishments: Create a file or folder and save all those appreciation mails, letters of recommendations or any other awards and certificates you may have received.

Number of clients handled? Number of projects you have handled? Number of events – press conferences, dealer meets, store openings, number of exclusive media interactions you have organised, maybe even press releases, etc.?

3. Develop positive references: If you have been nice to people you work with, you can safely use them as references to validate your professional strengths and accomplishments. Often, it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters.

The corp. comm contacts at your client’s office can be a good reference. What about some journalists?

4. Make a wishlist: Put together a list of things you want to ask your boss during the discussion. This could include a change in job responsibilities, financial rewards, change of location, tools and resources, etc. Most professionals regret not having stated their expectations clearly, thinking that it will go against them. Your wishlist is an opportunity for your boss to understand what will fuel you to give your best to the organisation.

What is it that you contribute to your team currently and what is it that you want to do in the coming months? So you have had enough of dealing with the media or clients only? Maybe you can ask your boss you want to move up to business development or some public affairs thingy.

5. Identify improvement areas: It’s important to be realistic and acknowledge your opportunity areas. Ask a friend at work for candid feedback about how employees perceive you. This will save you from nasty surprises during the discussion.

There’s a lot of camaraderie usually among the employees in PR agencies, so expecting a genuine feedback might not be so difficult at all.

6. Proof read your appraisal document: Once you have jotted down your key accomplishments, strengths, expectations, improvement areas and future goals (in that order), proof read your document at least twice.

Douglas mentions the following:

1. If you think you deserve it, don’t accept the pay raise that you are offered. Managers often have discretion within their budget and can often provide better raises than are actually offered.

This is true of every organisation, including PR agencies. Be aggressive about your expectation but be ready to back up your demands with merit.

2. In your review, be sure to speak to the value that you bring to the company, not the salary expense. It’s important that employers see you as an investment. If you’re a good investment, they won’t mind buying more stock in you.

What is that you want to do with your career in the PR industry? How do you see yourself growing? Good answers to these simple questions can be impressive.

3. Avoid comparing yourself to other employees. It’s not healthy to compare yourself to another employee who may or may not be making more money than you.

Many PR agencies ask their employees not to disclose their salaries to their colleagues. This serves them better as there can be no complaints if they pay one manager better than the other. Also, it depends on the ability, performance, clients handled, etc. of each manager.

4. Know what the cost of living increase is for your region. If you’re offered a 3% increase in a region with a 4% cost of living increase… guess what?! You just got a pay cut!

For instance, if you are relocating to Mumbai from Delhi, remember you need to get a better salary even at the same position as the cost of living is higher there.

5. Get an agreement with every appraisal/pay increase on what your salary range actually is as well as what you must achieve in order to obtain a good increase. If your manager gives you 5 goals to get a 5% increase… then make sure you fulfill those goals and remind him/her of your success – even prior to your next review.

PR agencies rarely provide goals and expectations to their employees in written. While this may sound good, they also may not have a structured approach to a salary increase. The more structured a system becomes, the lesser chances are there for favouritisms, complaints, and dis-satisfactions.

6. Don’t be afraid to ask for a pay increase outside of your normal cycle. If you’ve knocked the socks off of your manager or your company, take advantage of the time to ask them to show their appreciation through a pay increase. If it’s absolutely not allowed, ask for a bonus.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a 50% or a 60% salary increase if you think you have done a great job during the year.

7. Know what your pay scale is for your region and for your job.

Remember the 1st unofficial Indian Public Relations Survey? Maybe the results are not 100% accurate. Still it might be a reference to start with.

8. If you are in a very difficult pay conflict, request a salary survey from your Human Resources department or even invest in one yourself.

PR people know many friends in other agencies, that’s the truth wherever we go. Ask around.

9. Concentrate your efforts at work on goals that affect the bottom line. Additional sales, better customer retention, value-added services, improving processes, cutting budgets… it’s a whole lot easier to request a pay increase when you are providing solid dollars and cents on what you add to the bottom line.

How many clients your are handling? How much each is paying the agency? What is your contribution to the team servicing these clients? If one client pays Rs. 1 lakh per month and you are handling 3 clients as the key team member, you agency is having a ball out of you if they are paying you Rs. 10 thousand monthly, no matter how high the electricity and maintenance bill are. Ok, it depends on other factors too, but think money wise.

10. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where jobs are plenty for qualified, good employees. The largest pay increase you’ll most likely find yourself achieving is the one you get when you leave your employer and find another job. Unfortunate, but true! There is always the long shot that you can get a nice counter-offer before you leave but you should ask yourself why they would decide to offer it to you before leaving instead of giving it to you in the first place, though. It should not take the threat of leaving to get the compensation you deserve.

We know there are many agencies today that will poach you and offer you a better salary. Even though it’s tempting, look at your career goals again and analyse if shifting to another organisation would be worth it.

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