We are introducing a new monthly column, “Ask Julia,” hosted by one of the C-Store Women’s Event’s (CSW) founding partners and the educational content provider for CSW, Leading NOW. Julia Lazzara (pictured above), Leading NOW’s president, will be responding to the difficult questions that women in the C-Store Industry want answered, and in so doing, will help women address tough topics pertaining to career goals, challenges and trajectory.
Each month, Julia will be answering one or two of your most pressing questions, providing you with insights and guidance that you can put into practice immediately to keep your career moving in the right direction.
We are kicking off “Ask Julia” with this question:
What are some of the best practices for asking for a higher salary or promotion?
Julia: This is a question we get asked frequently, regardless of industry. It’s really about advocating for something more for yourself, whether that is money, benefits, a promotion, stretch assignments, resources or an opportunity. And the answer is two-fold.
First, it is essential that you ground your request in outcomes for the business. Last year, at CSW 2023, one of the sessions Leading NOW delivered was titled “Think Like a CEO™.” In this session, we introduced and discussed the four key business outcomes that executives monitor and track—Cash, Growth, Return, and Customer/Consumer. As an employee, you need to understand these business outcomes, and more importantly, understand the impact your work has on the organization relative to these outcomes. This will enable you to more powerfully demonstrate your value in the organization.
I want to stress how important it is to intentionally tie your work to outcomes (moving beyond activities or outputs), and communicate frequently and consistently about how your work contributes positively to the key business outcomes of your organization. Think about using emails, meetings, presentations, regular check-ins, elevator speeches and performance reviews to advocate for the work you are doing and how it is benefitting the overall organization.
Once you have a clear, consistent, and frequent message about the value your work brings to the organization (i.e., the impact your work has on key business outcomes), those making the decisions on salary, promotion or other resource allocations now have the data about why your contributions should be recognized and rewarded. It moves the conversation away from “I feel I have been doing a good job” or “I’ve been working really hard,” and moves it toward “my contributions had X (fill in the blank) impact on cash, growth, return or customer/consumer for this organization, which is solid criteria for a higher level of compensation or recognition.”
Second, think strategically about who can help you build the business case for your request. At CSW 2023, we also presented “Strategic Relationships for Business Success” which ties into this question as well. It is important to remember that others in both your internal and external networks can help you advocate for yourself.
Internally, your HR team has a wealth of information about your position, the expectations associated with it, and salary/benefits benchmarks to other positions within the company or the same position in the industry. They may not be able to share everything with you for purposes of confidentiality, but they should be able to provide you with the salary range for your position and where you fall within it.
Externally, you can gather information from network contacts at peer companies within your industry. You probably would not ask directly about salary, but you could get an idea of job responsibilities at similar levels for comparison points. You could also learn about what benefits, stretch assignments or cross-functional opportunities other organizations are providing for their talent base.
All of this research helps you formulate a clear, appropriate request. When you ask for what you want, be specific, direct, confident and ready with your business case. You will have consistently demonstrated your value to your organization by linking your work to its outcomes and discussing it in those terms, and you have knowledge of the landscape to ensure your request is well-informed and realistic. Good luck!
I’m looking forward to receiving your questions for future columns–please keep them coming!
To Submit a Question:
If you have a question for Julia, simply submit your question to julia.lazzara@leadingnow.biz. While we can’t promise she will be able to answer all of the questions she receives, our goal is to provide you with the insights and advice you need to have a successful career.
Look for responses at CSPDailyNews.com and in our monthly CSW e-newsletter, which you can sign up for here.
About Julia
Julia joined Leading NOW after a distinguished, more than 20-year career leading B2B sales teams across diverse channels in the consumer products industry. A proven results-oriented leader, Julia is passionate about forging mutually beneficial and lasting partnerships with her clients. With expertise in strategy and business development, Julia, as president, oversees Leading NOW’s growth, and the expansion of our impact globally. She is a sought-after speaker on leadership development and has been featured at Restaurant Leadership Conference (RLC), Outlook CSP and CSW 2024. Julia’s life and career has been defined by her deepest passion—unlocking potential. Whether for her customers, employees, family, community or herself, Julia’s greatest joys and proudest achievements have come in seeing potential met through inspired goal setting, hard work and high support.
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