Hello desk directors, cubicle chieftains, open space superintendents, corner office overseers, home den honchos and coffee shop comptrollers. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… not the Workplace Hero. That’s actually you! You see, the goal of this podcast is to make you into a Workplace Hero. I am merely your virtual assistant on this journey. Think of me as your workplace Jeeves.

To earn a bigger paycheck, you’ll need to do more than just a top-rate job. An effective strategy for obtaining a raise also requires documenting your accomplishments, understanding your boss’s expectations and researching your employer’s financial health.

Over at Monster.com they list four of the most common reasons that people don’t get a raise. They are: You Don’t Know the Going Rate, You Don’t Know Your Value, You Can’t Justify Your Value, and You Never Ask.

The last one is the reason that I have seen the most often. So may great employees, busting the butt, day in and day out for years on end silently wondering “when am I going to get a raise?” Or worse yet, thinking that they aren’t doing as good of a job as they are because if they were “surely I would have gotten a raise by now, right?”

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Now back to getting that raise you so greatly deserve.

The thing is, if you don’t ask for a raise and instead you wait for your boss or the company to offer you a raise, without ever raising (no pun intended) the issue yourself, you may never get one. Face it, no one has time in their busy day to keep track of exactly how far above and beyond you are going. And If you don’t have a contract that addresses raises and you don’t ask for one when you feel you can justify it, it’s extremely unlikely that your employer will just make an offer.

Of course, business being business, you’re not always going to get the raise you want. When that happens, politely and respectfully ask your boss if you can sit down together and determine what specifically you need to do in order to earn the raise in the future. Try to work out deliverables that are as specific as possible and try to pin down a time frame as well.

Take notes, let your boss see that you’re taking notes, and if possible work up something in writing you can both agree to. Ask for her help in achieving those deliverables. Then report your progress regularly. Once you’ve met those specific goals, it will be very difficult for your boss not to grant your raise or at the very least fight for it.

Next, identify ways your past work has added value to your employer’s bottom line. Continuing keeping track of this information going forward. More and more, raises are becoming tied directly to performance.

Once you’ve established your accomplishments on paper – but before you talk to your boss – find out how your employer is performing. And I mean finically. Many organizations have published data that you can read to gauge their financial health. If your employer is in the red and mass layoffs abound, you should probably put off your request for more money until business begins to stabilize. But if you decide now is a safe time to pursue a raise, go ahead and make your case.

Clearly most companies are not looking for opportunities to hand out money. During the boom era of the late ’90s when talent was scarce and retention was top of mind, nearly the opposite was true. While the corporate landscape is different now, you shouldn’t sit idly by and feel dissatisfied in silence. If you have the evidence that your salary is at sub-market levels, you should speak up.

Your organization has invested time and money in you. Savvy bosses understand that unhappy and underpaid employees are under-performing employees, which helps no one. It’s also a drain on their time to have to re-hire and train a replacement that fits the corporate culture. So if you have a legitimate request, you do have a certain amount of leverage here.

I think it’s always a good idea to ask for a raise, even when employers are not handing them out, but only when that discussion is tied to performance. Employees should keep careful records of how their actions helped the bottom line of their company, or helped other team members improve the bottom line of the company. The fact is that no one is going to hold your hand and remind you of the great things you did all year. So keep track and share them with your manager at the appropriate time.

So on that note, here are even more helpful suggestions that I found over at Forbes.com

1. Know your value. Do the proper research to figure out what you’re worth, even if it means going on interviews or using resources like Getraised.com, Payscale.com, or Glassdoor.com. If you find out you’re underpaid, you can use that to negotiate an increase. Simply present what the field generally pays, and why you believe your performance is at the top of your field.

2. Know the number. Once you do the research, figure out what you think is a fair amount of money to ask for and have that number in your head when you ask for a raise.

3. Schedule a meeting. Find a time that works best for you and your boss and give your boss a head’s up that you want to chat about your career growth so that you both have ample time to prepare. No one wants to talk about this stuff on a whim.

4. Practice salary negotiations. This can be a difficult or awkward conversation so I recommend that you practice with a friend who can be a tough negotiator. Subconsciously when you have the real talk, your brain will fall back on the tactics you prepared.

5. Start on a positive note. Kicking off the conversation with something like, “I really enjoy working here and find my projects very challenging. In the last year, I’ve been feeling that the scope of my work has expanded quite a bit. I believe my roles and responsibilities, and my contributions have risen. I’d like to discuss with you the possibilities of reviewing my compensation.” Or, “I’d like to discuss my career and how I can do my best work.”

6. State your case, and then pause. Listen to what your manager has to say. Depending on the response, gauge how much detail you now need and how much back up support you require. You may be surprised with very little resistance but it’s still best to be prepared for a lot.

7. Be specific. Give your boss a range for the raise you want, and explain why. Be prepared to say, ‘After a lot of research, which I have here, and how I feel I have contributed to the company, I would ask for you to consider an increase of $5,000 to $7,000. It has been X amount of time since my salary was last reviewed. I greatly appreciate your consideration.’

8. Bring your personal kudos file. Bring a list of your key achievements, and focus specifically on the areas of accomplishment that are important to your manager. Bring up your strengths and talents, your accomplishments, your desire to do even more, and your ideas and plans for the future in your role at the organization. If you put enough consideration into this, they can’t help but consider your request.

9. Don’t be aggressive. Be diplomatic, well-prepared and assertive, but ...