I need a raise! I'm about to meet with my HR manager and the business owner about it.
Ok so I have to give a bit of background before I really get into it.
I'm 28F, about to be 29F. I have worked as part of a variety of management teams across food, retail, and manufacturing for the last 10 years. Before that, I worked in construction with my father and learned all I could from him. I currently work at a local, small business that makes furniture. We ship out an average of 130,000 USD of product per day and operate Monday -Friday from 7am to 3:30pm with exception to one department and office staff, plus some overtime when available.
I am a lead to the “wood kit” department. Meaning I lead the small team that builds the wooden base that goes inside upholstered chairs. These are anywhere from waiting room chairs to benches, booths, and office chairs. We have contracts with hospitals, schools, restaurants, banks, and government agencies.
I have been with the company for a year, then took 3 months for maternity leave, and just returned. I even worked the day before I delivered my son(5 weeks early and only 12 hours after my shift ended.). During my pregnancy I continued to build furniture, lift heavy fabric rolls, and lead my team. I've been split between 3 departments and trained to run a fourth during this time and have spent 90% of my time in 3 departments at a time. I only got a short, few week reprieve before the person left for a different job and I was back to 3 departments. Those other departments are shipping/Receiving both as a shipper/receiver and as management and also the cut/sew department as a lead.
Now that I have returned to work, it is time for my annual review and raise. I have turned my departments into well oiled machines, improved productivity and happiness among employees, improved quality of the product being put out, and reduced waste. I also documented every piece of furniture we build in my department, including custom parts, step by step instructions, and a comprehensive parts list for each piece of furniture. I call it the “WoodKit Bible.” I've also taken a load of work off of our building handyman by doing most custom builds myself instead of asking him to do it. I also work hand in hand with engineering and vendors to improve our builds.
I need to guarantee a good raise because I would love to stay with the company, but need to feed my 2 kids and help contribute more to the household so my husband doesn't carry so much of the financial burden. (Its crazy how physical my job is and how much less I make than him.)
I make $19.61 an hour (including the cost of living raise I received a few weeks before I had my baby) and need some advice on how to really secure a good raise.