re: Need some advice on how to approach management about recent pay raise

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Thus is why you have to change companies every few years to maximize your pay in 95% of cases. Companies do a terrible Jon valuing current employees and always over value outside talent

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Truth. Longevity and rewarding it went out the window when people started job hopping for raises.

I was part of an interesting discussion as part of some leadership training I was in last year, and someone brought up the question about unequal pay for similar positions and offered first hand evidence of someone who left the company only to come back a short time later, doing basically the same thing with a different title, at a significantly higher pay grade.

The explanation offered was that going elsewhere and gaining experience in a different role, then being able to bring that experience back with them warranted a pay increase. Especially when management saw how valuable of an employee they were.

The questioner then asked how much valuable experience one could actually obtain in 6-9 months somewhere else, and it caught the presenter off guard. He thought they had gone somewhere for 2-3 years and then returned, but was shocked that this was happening. I know each situation is unique, but if you really want to maximize your pay level in today's work force, it actually pays to leave and go somewhere else. It is really hard to get huge raises at your current employer unless it is a significant promotion either into a management role or from management to executive levels.

Honestly, my largest increases in pay have always come with a new employer. That's why you negotiate a good bit at the start, because some companies have policies that you can only give a certain dollar amount or certain percentage as an increase. I negotiated and got about $5k a year more than the offer I was first given, and all of my raises since then are the standard budgeted increase. If I hadn't asked the question, I still wouldn't be making what I started at several years ago.

TL;DR version, managers always overpay for outside talent when compared to internal candidates.