I currently work for a government agency. The policy here for raises is that a raise can be given when one of two conditions is met:
- A person moves to a new position within the organization
- A person has received an offer from another employer and the raise is for retention
This policy is strange to me, and I'm not sure how to navigate it. I have an interview coming up for a position outside my organization. My intent is to use their offer to request a raise in my current organization. Of course, receiving an offer also means that my employer faces some risk of me leaving.
When should I mention this to my manager? One extreme would be to tell them I am applying for positions. This seems unnecessarily early, but does give them more time to think about my request. On the other hand, the other extreme is only telling them once I have a secured offer. That sounds abrupt.