Manufacturing is still the 1st employer in the EU and 5th in the US. The strength of the industry can be seen in various global reports and companies have revolutionized the way they produce goods and products. And these changes lead to incredible opportunities for professionals who constantly prepare and train themselves. This naturally drives us to other possibilities: better jobs, vertical promotions, and internal salary increases.

But how do you combine digital transformation/data with professional opportunities? This is the intent of this short guide.

Be aware of your company’s main numbers and goals

Having clear information on the numbers that matter most to your plant is critical (outside the plant as well). It will make you reason about the data in your area and in your own work more clearly. In this way, your actions will be focused on generating value for your daily performance, for your sector, and for the company’s objectives. Knowing these numerical details can make all the difference in the next steps of your career.

If you don’t know these numbers yet, ask your boss about them. Simple like that! Show interest and your life is going to be easier, you will see.

Master the main KPIs of your department

Even if your company doesn’t have a strong data culture, mastering the key KPIs in your area will help you gain more and more maturity in what really matters in your day-to-day work. KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. KPIs indicate the key quantitative values that measure your company’s key internal processes, enabling you to track and better manage the level of performance and success of your strategies.

When you get to know, map, manage, and improve the data in your area, your presence in the company’s meetings and decision-making processes will be much more considered. Guaranteed!

Take good care of your data history and your direct participation

It’s simple: see what role your work has played in the major trends mapped in your area and in your company. This will be one of the key factors that will lead you to a salary increase. Compare historical periods that are relevant to the company (weeks, months, years) and see what the numbers can show.

Try to connect, as a line of reasoning, what was the direct participation of your work in these changes.

For example: if you are a shift coordinator in a factory and you have seen the average productivity of your operators improve by 20% in the last year, this is vital information. Now try to see which attitudes on your part and on the part of your team made the result happen.

Evolve the way you measure as challenges increase

You can even start using pen and paper, but at some point, this will not be easy to use and audit the accuracy of your data. But it is a start. It is likely that later you will evolve to excel or an internal dashboard. And that is good, of course.

But at a certain stage, you will need professional tools to validate the data and the correct tracing of the analysis in your area or in your company. Don’t hesitate to use them, because they can make a total difference in your internal power to achieve better results and consequently a salary increase.

Turn it all into Money and ROI

I will be honest with you, in a very strong way. Some companies and managers only care about two things in this world: cost reduction and revenue increase. 

To get your dream increase, you need to make each of these aforementioned metrics, each improvement, end in ROI, fewer expenses, or higher revenue increase for your company.

It can be direct calculations, cross-referencing of information, but you really need to get at the money factor when showing the results your area has achieved. For example, let’s go back to the productivity mentioned in the previous topic. Remember that you achieved a significant increase in productivity on your shift? Then, the ideal is to be able to prove how much the company saved or sold more because of this improvement. And come on, it is not difficult. You are already good with numbers, you know the details of the company and the results you have achieved.

You also might like: How to convince your boss to bet on digital transformation

It’s time to negotiate the raise: present the results correctly and at the appropriate time

If your company has a formal performance appraisal program or promotion cycles, these times are more ideal for all this raise talk to happen. Everything flows more naturally. If not, no worries. Take a look below at other great opportunities to do it:

Salaries are part of the company budget, which is usually set annually. So if your company is organized and works on next year’s budget planning always in October, for example, this might be the best time for the conversation.

The conversation with your boss should be planned. Don’t think that bumping into your boss in the hallway will be a good opportunity to bring up the subject of your salary.

On the day of the conversation, reserve a time in your schedule and choose an appropriate place – without too much noise or disturbance. The important thing is to come with strong arguments that demonstrate your value to the company.

Also, use external data

It is very important that you look around and pay attention to the situation in the business. Asking for a raise when business is bad is not a good idea. Not only is the chance that you will be denied a raise huge, but it also indicates that you are uninformed about what is happening in the market.

Before talking to your boss, do your homework to check how much the market is paying professionals similar to you. Remember to take into account the size of the company you work for, as salaries are often higher in larger companies.

International salary comparison sites can be very helpful, such as Glassdoor or Indeed. In addition, international recruitment and selection companies publish annual industry salary surveys.

I do hope this content helps you.