Let’s face it. One of the reasons why many of us dislike salary
\nnegotiations is the feeling that we are rarely in a powerful position.
\nIt often seems as if we have little leverage as we deal with our
\nemployers who have more information and the final say in whether we get
\nwhat we want.<\/p>\n
However, one of the benefits of advancing in a career is that the
\nbalance of power can change. Your leverage in salary negotiations can
\nincrease as you gain knowledge, expertise and experience. All of a
\nsudden, you realize that you are now quite valuable to the company, and
\nirreplaceable should you decide to leave for one of those great offers
\nyou keep receiving.<\/p>\n
When you are sitting in that position, your negotiation will likely
\nfeel much different than it has before. You may feel great temptation to
\nuse your leverage to exact revenge for the numerous slights (real or
\nimagined) that were inflicted upon you in the past. Still, most people
\ndo not want to gain a reputation for being greedy, tyrannical or
\nexploitative. Therefore, instead of flaunting your power and doing unto
\nthem as they have done unto you, why not focus on your long-term goals
\nand negotiate in a way that enables you to get what you deserve and
\nenhance your status as a leader and loyal team player. Consider the
\nfollowing advice:<\/p>\n
Focus on getting the best deal for yourself that is still good for
\nthem, too.<\/p>\n
Begin with the realization that this is your opportunity to maximise
\nyour compensation. Now is not the time to sell yourself short or leave
\nitems on the table. Instead, focus on what you feel you need and ought
\nto have, and then negotiate for it. Many employers will provide their
\nmost valuable executives generous packages of stock options,
\nprofit-sharing bonuses, generous severance packages, along with
\nnon-financial compensation like paid sabbaticals.<\/p>\n
At the same time, unless your proposal helps the company satisfy its
\ninterests (e.g. retaining your services, maintaining internal equity
\namong executives and establishing good precedents for the future) your
\nnegotiations will go nowhere. For that reason, you must make sure that
\nyour agreement benefits the company and helps it achieve its objectives.
\nTry connecting some of your compensation to the achievement of key
\nstrategic objectives. Or, make part of your bonus contingent on
\nreceiving good feedback on your ability to personally lead your team. If
\nyour compensation richly rewards you for acting in the company’s best
\ninterest, you have struck a good deal for them and for you.<\/p>\n
Make sure you have a fair deal.<\/p>\n
Just because you have more leverage does not mean you have to be
\ngreedy. Asking for an unreasonable package or item may jeopardise the
\nprocess and will likely upset the other negotiator, causing her or him
\nto fight much harder on other issues. It will also cause resentment
\namong your co-workers and staff (remember them – they help you look
\ngood). If you do your research on what other star performers receive
\n(both in your company and at its competitors) you will be able to stake
\nout terms that are quite beneficial to you and justifiable as
\nappropriate given the value you provide.<\/p>\n
Refer to your ‘BATNA’ – Your Best Alternative to a Negotiated
\nAgreement when you have to, but use it as a warning, not as a threat.<\/p>\n
There may come a time in your negotiation when you have to consider
\nwalking away. Perhaps the company is not appreciating the value you
\nbring or does not realize that you have a great offer somewhere else. If
\nyou want to continue the negotiations, you may find it advantageous to
\nlet the company know that you have other opportunities and that they
\nwill suffer negative consequences if you leave. That dose of reality may
\nbring them to their senses, and alert them to the fact that you do have
\nleverage here. However, how you raise these opportunities is critical.
\nUse it as a warning, for example, saying “I would prefer to work
\nsomething out, but I just want to be clear about what I think will
\nhappen if I leave …” or “As you may know, I have an outstanding offer
\nfrom another leading firm …”. Making threats like “If you do not give
\nme this point, I will work for …” only tends to inflame the situation.
\nIn many ways, negotiating your compensation package is a form of
\nleadership. When you have the power to lead, you will want to act
\nhonourably and effectively. You should not act differently when you
\nnegotiate and you hold most of the cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let’s face it. One of the reasons why many of us dislike salary negotiations is the feeling that we are rarely in a powerful position. It often seems as if we have little leverage as we deal with our employers who have more information and the final say in whether we get what we want. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-salary-negotiation"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11749,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/11749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}