Shark Tank star Janine Allis shares the one piece of career advice you need to be successful.

There are two little words that can strike fear into any employee.

Worse than “another meeting”.

More heart-palpitating than “no coffee”.

More frightening than “God, why can’t people FLUSH properly, you savages” which is not exactly two words but needs to be addressed, quite frankly.

These words are “Performance Review”.

Also known as “performance appraisal”, “performance evaluation” “development discussion” and in one place I worked a “blue-sky-imagination-think-fest” .This is the yearly discussion you have with your boss where you look at how well you are…….well, performing in your job.

Sometimes, in some workplaces, it’s also a time to discuss cash money, and that’s when the conversation can get a bit weird

Thankfully, Janine Allis, star of Channel Ten’s Shark Tank, where she suffers no fools, has told us exactly what makes you look good in front of the boss.

She has shared what stops you from getting a pay rise, how you can open the conversation about money, and most importantly, how you can close the deal.

Swim into the Shark infested waters of your career and listen to her advice here: 

She says, basically, you need to add value to your workplace. And it’s not always monetary value, you can add value in so many other ways.

The says the best way to be a shining example to your boss, is don’t be a V.E.R.B.

It stands for

V- Victim

E – Entitled

R – Rescued

B – Blame

Let’s start with being the victim. If you act the victim in work situations, you always have excuses.

The dog ate your report. You couldn’t get your work done on time because there was a drama. It’s never the victim’s fault, they are helpless.  Victims avoid taking responsibility and blame others for the unfortunate circumstances at work. Acting like a victim is very tiring and reflects poorly on your skills.

Acting entitled is another no-no. You might think because you have a fancy job title or you’ve been at the same company for ten years that you are entitled to a fat pay rise. Janine says no one is entitled to anything.

All these things, she says, are no reason for extra moolah. You have to prove your value to a company, not just act like you can sit back and let the rewards flow in.

Do you have to be rescued all the time? If you immediately palm off all your problems and stuff-ups to your bosses and ask them to fix them, you’re a drain. Instead, when you have problems, don’t run straight to the boss.

Try working the problem through, and coming up with solutions, so that when you approach management you can show you’ve thought about ways forward.

B is for Blame. If you point the finger at everyone around you, at the technology you are dealing with, and if everything is everyone else’s’ fault, there is a problem.

It’s you. Janine says when people can recognise mistakes, and take responsibility for them, it shows there’s learning that takes place.

To 7 or 10. Take back your power pic.twitter.com/uWbi1sMHHR

— Janine Allis (@Janineboost) January 14, 2016

So now that you’re not a VERB, how should you open the discussion around pay?

She says springing it on your boss isn’t helpful. Instead, send an email ahead of time, setting a meeting, with an agenda of items you’d like to discuss.

“Then everyone is going into the meeting going in with the expectation that they’re going to discuss those items…Let everyone have time to think about it” she says. “So no one has any surprises both ways.”

And as closing the conversation? Make sure you “close the loop”.

“You always make sure you leave knowing you have the answer. So you have this conversation, and the employer might go “thank you for that, we will consider it, we will get back to you” and what I would be saying is ‘when would that be’? It’s completely reasonable to know what date they will get back to you.” she says.

“Then I would go back to my desk and say ‘Thank you very much for the meeting, look forward to speaking to you on Tuesday, and then make a time for it…so it’s never left hanging.”

Mamamia Out Loud is the weekly podcast with what women are talking about. Listen in the free podcast app, or here:

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