Not how many people pay heed to what I say, but I know 4 people who have, and have benefited a lot by listening to one simple thing.

I encourage people to maintain a diary or notebook to keep track of what they do. This notebook helps in 2 ways at least. First of all YOU know what you have done. For example this friend who joined as a business head – cum branch manager with a brokerage firm had all of this written down in a book.

So when the HR called him for his annual appraisal he went with a few pages (again my suggestion, do not let your employer see your notebook, summarize it for discussion).

He could say the following:

In May I got back Kapila as a client. They were contributing Rs.1 L as brokerage per week, so I got about Rs. 45L of annual revenue. In June I got back 3 more sub-brokers as clients. In the month of June I could settle lotsa lost clients and bring them back into the fold as clients, they are now contributing.

At the top line: apart from maintaining (and growing) the existing clients by 28%, I have added about Rs. 80 lakhs – completely unexpected by you. This happened because of MY relationships which I brought to the table.

I have reduced the attrition to almost NIL in the services team (there are 13 of them now, down from 14 at the beginning of the year – one girl got married and shifted out of Mumbai). This versus you losing 3 people from the 15 member team last year – remember I got back one of your ex employees too.

I saved….admin costs etc. worth….

Now imagine being in HR or having this guy as your subordinate. How will you ignore these compelling figures? More importantly, what data do YOU have to counter this? Even assuming you have some hunch, do you have it so well documented? If no, this employee wins hands down.

AS an employee keep talking to your boss on a regular basis so that he does not spring a surprise at the annual appraisal table. Keep giving him all the credit. Send him emails saying “as per our discussion….I have made this change…and…it has resulted in saving Rs. 45,000 per month for the company”. Remember no figure is too small or too big for keeping track! It could even be Rs. 4500.

At some stage ask your HR and your boss – what percentage of the increased revenue will become a part of the ctc. The figure for sales could be different from the percentage they are willing to pay you for reducing expenses. Do not argue, keep the figure at the back of your mind. When you are within hearing distance of your boss’s boss, make sure you say nice things about your boss (it does not cost much to be nice, and civil).

Go to websites like www.glassdoor.com etc. and find out whether you are being competitively paid. Some industries (like BFSI) pay better than pharma (assuming your skills are transferable). So keep checking your market rate too. Some bosses are more liberal in raises than others. Make sure you are in the optimum location. Of course you cannot change jobs regularly, but there is no harm in trying to compare yourself.

Attending interviews also keeps you grounded and finding out whether you are over-paid. In case you think you are over-paid, cut down your life-style and dramatically increase your SIP amounts. It is always nice to build cash reserves – just in case!!