The Money Translation Method for Raises
Every role makes or saves the company money — quantify yours or don't ask.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 90%
Johnson's raise framework rests on a blunt premise: if you're employed, you are either making the company money or saving it money, or you'd be fired. The work is translating what you already do into that currency. Compliments, effort, and tenure don't move a raise conversation because they're inputs; the employer needs the output. So each accomplishment gets chained to a consequence and then to a number — a client compliment led to retention, which was worth $100,000; cutting time-to-hire from six months to three saved $10,000 a month, so $30,000. She dismisses the 'my department has no revenue attached' objection outright and suggests using ChatGPT to work out the chain if you can't see it yourself.
Origin
Johnson coaches people who insist there is no way they made or saved the company any money. Her response is that they absolutely did, or they would have been fired — the link exists, they just haven't traced it. The method is the tracing procedure.
Core principles
- 01You either make the company money or save the company money — or you wouldn't have a job.
- 02Every department has revenue attached to it, including the ones that look like they don't.
- 03Work ethic, tenure, and compliments are inputs; money is the only output that lands.
- 04Compliments and outcomes must be chained to a number before they count.
How to run it
- 1
Classify your role: make or save
Determine whether you primarily bring in money — revenue, users — or save it, by mitigating risk, cutting cost, or retaining clients.
Watch out Don't accept 'my department has no revenue attached.' Everything has revenue attached, or you would not work there.
- 2
Inventory what you actually did
List accomplishments, client compliments, above-and-beyond moments, and outcomes over the period.
- 3
Chain each item to a money consequence
A compliment led to retention. A faster hire cut cost. Trace each item to what it caused financially.
Pro tip Have a conversation with ChatGPT: give it your role and what you've done, and ask it to help you see how you're saving or making the company money.
- 4
Attach a number
Quantify it: retention worth $100,000; time-to-hire halved at $10,000/month for three months, so $30,000 saved.
- 5
Lead the raise conversation with the money
Tie everything back to the money. Honestly, nothing else really matters in that conversation.
Watch out Leading with 'I worked hard and went above and beyond' shows work ethic but gives your employer nothing to price.
In the wild
An HR professional cut time-to-hire from six months to three. Instead of presenting that as an efficiency win, they price it: time-to-hire costs the company roughly $10,000 a month.
→ Three months saved at $10,000/month = $30,000 saved — a number the company can put against a raise.
Rather than telling your boss 'a client said something nice about me,' you trace the chain: the compliment reflected a relationship that led to the client retaining.
→ The retention is worth an extra $100,000 — which converts an unpriceable nicety into the actual basis of a raise argument.
Common mistakes
Arguing effort instead of impact
Compliments, tenure, and going above and beyond demonstrate work ethic but not value. What the company wants to know is the dollar consequence.
Believing your department has no revenue link
Johnson rejects this flat: everything has revenue attached or you wouldn't work there. You may be mitigating risk, retaining clients, or saving cost — the link exists and needs tracing, not conceding.
Is it for you?
Best for
Employees in support, HR, ops, or any function that feels non-revenue and therefore hard to argue for.
Not ideal for
Organisations with rigid banded pay where individual cases don't move the number.
From the transcript
“Most of the times you're either making the company more money or you're saving the company money. If you're not doing one of those things,…”
“You want to really have a raise conversation of tying it back into the money because honestly, nothing else really matters.”
“They might say, 'Well, there's there's no way. Like, I didn't do anything to make or save the company money.' And you absolutely did or…”
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