Every employee wants a higher salary, either when he is offered a new job or when he has been working for a company for a certain duration. But should we negotiate for a higher salary? The answer is Yes for both cases:
- 58% of hiring managers say they leave some negotiating room when extending initial job offers.
- Many hiring managers agree to a candidate’s request for a higher salary.
- People who routinely negotiate salary increases will earn over $1 million more by retirement than people who accept an initial offer every time without asking for more.
- The fact that an employee is doing a good job does not mean he will automatically get a raise because his boss may believe the employee is satisfied with what he is getting.
So, research supports the idea that you should negotiate for a higher salary if you think that you deserve it, either with the new job or the existing one. Here are the tips suggested by Bauer and Erdogan (2009) that you can use when negotiating salary:
- Overcome your fear: Don’t be afraid of angering the boss if you think you deserve a higher salary. The boss may not know your contribution or he believe you are satisfied with your current salary.
- Get the facts: Do some background research before the negotiation. Check within your company or the market to see if your expected salary is appropriate or not.
- Build your case: Make a list of your contributions to the company and be sure to focus on the contributions that your boss values most. If another company has shown interest in you, mention that as a fact but do not use this as a threat unless you are prepared to take the other offer.
- Know what you want: Set your expected salary based on your research and figure out:
- What will happen if you can not get the expected salary? Will you quit or take offer from the other company?
- What are the alternatives (such as higher title, more vacation, training …) that you can accept besides salary raise?
- Begin assertively: Start the negotiation with your boss friendly with the list of your contributions to the company.
- Don’t make the first offer: Instead, let’s your boss name the figure first. If your boss offer a range then ask for the high end. In case you are insisted to provide the figure, ask for the most that you can reasonably expect to get. This will leave some room for negotiation.
- Listen more than talk: The more you listen, the better the boss will feel about you. People tend to like and trust people who listen to them.
- Look for the future: If you can’t get a raise now, get your boss to agree to one in a few months if you meet agreed-upon objectives.
Reference:
Bauer, T. and Erdogan, B., 2009. Organizational Behavior. 1st ed. Flat World Knowledge, Inc.
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