Missed out on a pay rise? Here’s how to guarantee one next year

August 23, 2026 — 3:01am

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Every time a new financial year rolls around, most of us are hoping for a pay rise. Whether we’ve worked especially hard and are hoping to have those efforts recognised, want our loyalty to our company rewarded, or simply need more money to keep up with the cost of living, there are many valid reasons to be hoping for a salary bump come July.

Though many people think that pay rises are only accessible via a promotion or through taking on extra responsibilities, that’s certainly not true of all industries. Often, pay rises are offered for doing the job you have exceptionally well, going beyond the remit of the position or when the company has had a successful year.

But just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, pay rises aren’t awarded on a whim. So if you were among those lucky enough to score a pay rise recently, congratulations. If you weren’t, I’m genuinely very sorry.

Getting turned down for a raise can really knock the wind out of your sails and sour how you feel about your job and your workplace. But with that disappointment comes three primary options: you can stay in the same job but change your behaviour, you can look for another job, or you can start laying the groundwork for next year’s promotion now.

For fairly self-explanatory reasons, I don’t recommend the first option. Over the years, I’ve seen many people respond to pay rise rejection by emotionally checking out and doing only the bare minimum as a form of protest.

The logic is that if the company hasn’t financially rewarded your hard work and efforts, why should you go........

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