Are UAE workers justified to expect a pay hike this year?

Current market realities may be a bit dry to make that kind of a deluge possible for one in every two employees.

A recent survey by one of the UAE's popular jobs search portals pointed out that more than half of the country's working professionals expect to receive a raise this year. Now there's no harm in 'expecting' a raise, but given the current economic growth rates (the UAE Central Bank has forecast a 2 per cent GDP growth for this year), how realistic is this expectation? Especially of the 17 per cent who believe that a raise of up to 10 per cent is on its way?
Obviously, the 54 per cent that does look forward to a fatter paycheque sometime this year have their reasons to expect the hike, but current market realities may be a bit dry to make that kind of a deluge possible for one in every two employees. There's no doubt that UAE workers are a hardworking lot - previous surveys have thrown up stats that more than demonstrate this. Like the fact that UAE employees clock up an average of 24 hours of overtime per month, the most in the 10 countries surveyed for that report.
Add the fact that we in the UAE are relatively ahead than the average in adopting new tech, and it means that a substantial proportion of the workforce remains 'available' even after-hours. Whether it is via e-mail or messaging apps, most UAE employees do respond and fulfil their work obligations when they arise during their 'off' hours. So in this light of working hard and working smart - going beyond the conventional - it is natural to expect a payback from the organisation. Then there are, of course, those who believe that they are being underpaid compared with market benchmarks and their peers, and expect a raise to correct that imbalance.
But what happens when the organisation, owing to market conditions and other forces beyond its control, is not necessarily in a position to meet those employee expectations?
Does that make it a 'bad' organisation? What happens in cases where certain divisions within the organisation meet their targets and KPIs (key performance indicators) but the overall revenue still falls short of the budget? Are employees in those (non-revenue-generating) departments that have exceeded their KPIs justified in expecting a raise commensurate to their effort and achievement even if the organisation did not make the profits it expected to? After all, aren't we all here to do a job and do it well - and to get rewarded for the job well-done?
It is, indeed, a nightmare for any human resource department to answer such and related queries that arise during the annual appraisals. But if you're among those 'expecting' a raise despite your organisation going through a rough patch, there are a few steps that you can take to turn that expectation into reality - or at least brighten your prospects of getting a bump in the salary. Like keeping in mind that the timing of asking for a raise is even more critical in tough times. Don't just insist on an exception right after your firm announces a freeze on pay-hikes. There's every chance that it'll be turned down. And when you do go to have that chat with your boss, try and offer tangible evidence of how your efforts contributed to the organisation's progress. Show her/him the value that you bring to the table. After all, 'value' is exactly what any organisation will be looking for when the chips are down.