up your game up your pay - salary negotiation

Copyright 2011 © Position Ignition - Up Your Game, Up Your Pay – 85 Tips in Salary Negotiation

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Up Your Game, Up Your Pay! 85 Tips in Salary Negotiation



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Are you waiting for your employer to offer you a pay rise? If you are, you shouldn’t be. Even if they do offer you one, it’s likely to lead to you making a compromise and agreeing to terms you’re not necessarily going to be happy with. To get the rise that your value to the organisation deserves, you should request a pay rise yourself; so that you can negotiate on your own terms. Of course, bringing up the subject of money is always challenging and can seem very awkward - due to the sensitive nature of the issue. Even more difficult can be the actual process of negotiating. You want to maintain a good relationship with the employer, but at the same time you need to stand your ground in order to get a raise that reflects your true worth.

With these issues in mind, we’ve created this eBook especially for anyone who believes they’re due a pay rise and wants to go about opening and handling negotiations in a way that will get them a result. The areas we’ll cover include:

• Knowing what you want

• Knowing the right time to ask for a rise

• Building a business case

• Understanding what your boss’ position will be during negotiations

• What to do just before negotiations start

• Negotiating smartly.



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Knowing What You Want Before beginning the process of negotiation for a salary increase, it is crucial that you are clear in your own mind about what it is that you want. This means understanding what it is you want from this process, what a good result and outcome is for you, what you will be happy with or not happy with.

Like most things in life, preparation is the key to a good negotiation strategy. Get clear on your objectives and do some market research to ensure you enter negotiations really knowing your ground. If you prepare properly and go in with a plan, you will understand your negotiating position and will know when to walk away if it’s clearly not going to work out, thereby keeping your credibility in an unemotional and mature way. If the decision-makers actually see how seriously you’ve thought this through and how thoroughly you’ve prepared for these negotiations, it may well turn their minds towards being more flexible than they originally intended to be.

1. Before getting into a negotiation to try and improve your salary level, it’s important to think about what you want from this process as a whole. Is it just about money or is it about something else?

2. Ask yourself why you want a pay rise? Get to the bottom of what it is that is making you want more. This is an opportunity for you to bring together all of your concerns, desires and needs and to initiate some changes for the better, so you need to understand what is making you unhappy and what changes will improve your world.

3. If you are going to open up this “box” of negotiation – which most of us find very challenging, sometimes embarrassing to bring up and often awkward – you may as well do it with 100% clarity of what it is that you want to achieve from it. Use your time wisely to think and plan before moving forwards.



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4. If you achieve a pay rise, will you be happy? Will that solve all of your issues? Will it be worth the effort and time taken to make this negotiation happen? If not, then think about what will. Make sure that you are going into this potentially tough situation for the right reasons.

5. Establish your ultimate goals and needs for the short and longer term. What is it that you are seeking through this pay rise? Are you trying to move up the career ladder? Are you seeking further growth and hence is it a stepping-stone onto greater things? Are you in need of the money for your own needs such as wanting to buy a house, having a mortgage, getting married or something else?

6. Get clear about your boundaries. What is acceptable for you and what is not? Is anything interchangeable? Are there a variety of options and scenarios that could work and that you are willing to consider or is there only one?

7. Think also about how far you are willing to go? How far will you push this? Are you prepared to walk away if you do not get what you want? If not, then how far are you going to take it? Know your own limits.

8. Use this process as an opportunity to help you build the lifestyle that you want and deserve. Think about all the possibilities of what you might like to have, then narrow it down to the fundamentals and establish what it is that you want to focus on and go after – whether it’s more money, more holidays, flexible hours, options/equity or something else.



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Knowing When to Ask for a Raise

Although you should take the initiative, don’t go storming in asking for a pay rise at any old time. Timing is key here. You do not want to be seen as a prima donna. You don’t want to be seen as attracting attention to money issues, because doing so leaves you with a label. Whether you realise it or not, the leadership and management within the company see you as a marked person if you get the tone wrong. But this doesn’t have to happen so long as you get the timing right.

9. If you can, wait until your company’s next pay structure review to ask for a rise. This is the time of year when money matters will be discussed anyway within the organisation.

10. In terms of what time of day to bring it up, after lunch and in the early to mid-part of the afternoon is a great time to talk to your boss about it, because everyone’s blood sugar levels are up and this makes it easier to have potentially tough conversations.

11. If it is ages to go until the next pay review but you believe your salary really needs to be discussed in the very near future, a good time may be when you’re discussing current projects or reviewing performance with your boss.

12. Try not to make the request just before you take annual leave or the company closes for Christmas. You want negotiations to open as soon as possible after you make the initial request—if everyone has to wait until you return to work before beginning the process, the issue will just hang in the air.



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13. Unless you absolutely have to, it’s also not ideal to ask for more money if you know your company is currently trying to cut costs. If you do go ahead with your request, be particularly sensitive with it and be ready to justify why you’re due a pay increase at this particular moment.

14. Conversely, if you know for a fact that your organisation is trying to expand and has big plans for the future, this is potentially a good time to ask the question. This is a time when the employer should be desperate to retain the critical talent it already has and, hopefully, you’re one of those critical employees that they need to keep happy.

15. If you don’t know whether your company is expanding or shrinking, look for information on this. Search for press releases and company data online and look out for any articles about the organisation in newspapers or industry magazines.

16. Think about whom you are going to take this issue up with and what’s going on for them. Think about approaching them at a time when they will be open to talking to you and to your ideas. If they are in a bad mood, stressed out over a deadline or in a rush, these are not great times to bring the subject up. Wait for a more opportune time where things are calmer.

17. Also think about the rapport you have with the person who will be making the decisions or negotiating with you. The better your



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rapport and the more you are in their good books, the better. So, if you haven’t built up this strong relationship you may want to spend a bit of time on this before bringing up the subject of a pay rise.

18. It can be helpful to set things up so that when you bring up the issue of pay, it doesn’t feel completely out of the blue to the person you are speaking to. Work your way gradually up to it perhaps by dropping a few hints which imply that you are thinking about your career progression, your next steps, what you’ll need in your professional and personal life and that you will be looking to achieve these goals. Subtle hints can go a long way.



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Building a Business Case Building a business case is all about bringing firm, hard evidence of your value to the negotiation table. You’re trying to convince the employer that they’ll actually be helping themselves if they acknowledge and nurture your value to the company by giving you a raise. Look at yourself as a return on investment. If the employer was to invest in you by paying you more, what return would you be able to give them? Communicate the answer to this question to your bosses in negotiations.

19. Think about both what you’re contributing to the organisation now and what you will contribute in the future.

20. You need to understand what your real value is and what your market worth is before going into a negotiating and to help you build your business case. Think about:

• What is your USP? What are you best at?

• What can you do that others cannot do?

• Where have you shown yourself to be of great value and a real asset to your organisation?

• Where have you done work or achieved results beyond what is expected of your current role?

21. Prepare as evidence some examples of your contribution by thinking about the responsibilities that you have and the tasks you’ve completed.

22. As pay negotiations are essentially about cold, hard figures, include some figures in your business case. Show how your actions and initiative have saved the business money and drawn in extra revenue.



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23. When building a business case, it’s important to be aware of what the company already thinks of you. Find out by asking people within the organisation who know you, but aren’t friends who are going to sugar-coat the truth to spare your feelings.

24. If you have a mentor within the business and they’re of a senior enough position to regularly sit in on meetings where your performance is discussed, they’ll be able to tell you whether or not it sounds like you’re doing well.

25. In addition to colleagues, you could even ask a client or someone within the supply chain who you know will be mature and objective about it.

26. It’s also useful to recall what your manager has said about you during your last performance review. Even better if you have a written appraisal from the review that you can re-read.

27. Once you’ve found out what your bosses think about you, you’ll know what their areas of concern regarding you are. Deal with these areas in your business case by addressing how you’re working on improving them, complete with examples.

28. It’s useful to confide in people about the construction of your business case, but it’s key to choose those you can trust – so, people in your career who have meant something to you and given you meaningful and valuable support at various times in your working life.

29. Consider people outside of your current organisation,



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as well as those within it.

30. Avoid picking anyone in a HR capacity within your present company, because they’d have to be really circumspect in what they say to you.

31. Use a career guide if you have access to one; the best people will give you external and objective feedback and insight once they’ve taken the time to get to know you.

32. To get an idea of how much you should be asking for, speak to people doing similar roles to you within your company, in the same sector or in similar organisations. Try to talk to people you know really well so you can comfortably ask them how much they’re currently getting paid and how much they’re planning to ask for at their next pay review.

33. Think about how valuable you are in your team and in your organisation at the moment and also in the future, in relation to where the business is going. If you were to leave now, how much impact would this have on the company and how difficult would it be to replace you?

34. Make sure that you know what market value you hold as an asset. Research your market and understand what the normal salary levels are for your industry and for your role both inside and outside of your sector. It is important that you have a sense of how the market



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values your skill set.

35. Check out the salaries offered in job adverts and compare them with your current wage to find out how close you are to the market rate for your position.

36. Think about how your company compares to its competitors and why it is in the position it is in.

37. Remember that knowledge is power, knowledge is king. Do your research and make sure you know as much as you can in order to build a strong and confident case.

38. The first person that you need to convince that you really deserve a pay rise is yourself. Think about how you would react and what you would think if you had read and heard your own business case. Is it convincing enough? Does it put forward a clear case that shows you are deserving of a salary increase?

39. Create your business case as a document that you’ll be able to take into negotiations with you. Make extra copies to hand out to your boss and everyone else at the meeting so that the evidence of your value will literally be in front of them.



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Understanding your Boss As well as creating a business case, another thing it’s important to do before negotiations start is to make sure you understand your immediate boss and where they’ll fit in during the process. If you can understand the position that your manager is in, you have a far greater chance of success when it comes to negotiating for anything; but particularly pay rises and associated rewards and bonuses.

40. Try and see things from your boss’ perspective. It’s important to understand where she or he will be coming from in order to get them onside and to ‘speak’ the same language. Ask yourself:

• What’s in it for him/her? What is motivating him/her?

• What is your boss interested in and what do they care about?

• Is it their reputation? Is it money?

• Do they have other concerns you haven’t noticed before that you could help them with?

• Do they need to build the business in a certain way and could they use your help in doing that?



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41. It’s important to remember that the person who will be making the decisions is a fellow human being. They have needs, wants, desires, ambitions and responsibilities. Try to understand what makes them tick and hence how to push their buttons in a positive way.

42. When you decide to approach them and talk to them – ask them for help. Don’t tell them that you want a pay rise; ask them to help you with your situation and with this challenge. Asking for someone’s advice and help is a much more effective approach than demanding something from them. Look for collaboration so that you may be on the same ‘team’ helping you each achieve your goals.

43. Think about how much leverage your line manager actually has in pay negotiations. Do they hold the purse strings or is it HR? This will determine the level of evidence you need to give your boss in order to make a strong business case for a pay rise. Your manager needs the evidence not just to satisfy their own questions about you, but to act as an effective advocate for you to their own superiors, depending upon who’s doing the decision-making.

44. If your manager does need to appeal big time to their superiors on your behalf, the kind of evidence he or she will need from you is the amount of goals you’ve accomplished in the past year and what you’ve been doing to make your performance more efficient.

45. Find out what your boss’ plans are for the team or department in the future. Where do you fit in and what value do you bring to those future projects? Your boss needs to be thinking that they can’t afford to lose you, so once you know what they’re planning, let them know what you can offer to help them achieve their goal.



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46. Your boss might agree that your salary grade is too low yet they aren’t doing anything about it. Deal with this by showing them in as clear a way as possible why it is that you’re earning too little. Link your output to what it is that you’re there to do and what it is that’s making a difference to your boss, your team and your organisation.

47. Further demonstrate your worth to your boss by helping them out in any way you can. Look out for things they seem to be concerned about and politely offer your assistance.

48. Try to understand your boss’ world as much as you can. Get inside their head, inside their world and try to appreciate what they must be going through so that you can find ways to be as helpful to them as possible. Become their “helper” and their “problem solver” so that you can both help each other to move to where you want to be.



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Just before Negotiations Start As well as long-term preparations such as developing a business case and finding out where your boss stands, there are a number of short-term measures you can take in the days and hours before negotiations open in order to enhance your chances of getting what you deserve.

49. Practice asking for the raise. Maybe in the mirror or to a close friend. Listen to whether what you say flows or not. Be aware of your body language and work on making it as positive as possible, i.e. looking yourself in the eye in the mirror and sitting up straight. Do you prefer to be standing – with no barriers like a desk or table between you?

50. Once you’ve practised by yourself enough, get someone to enact role plays with you. Act out different potential scenarios so you can prepare and practice your response to each possible situation.

51. Think about what you might do in different situations or with different offers. What will you accept? What might you go back and negotiate for? What alternative option is there, that may be worth exploring?

52. You may want to ask some of your friends, or to go to your network, to see if you might be able to talk through how other people have approached their salary negotiations. Find out what has worked for them and what hasn’t. Learn from their experiences, mistakes and successes.

53. The day before the meeting, clear your plate of anything weighing on your mind. If you go into negotiations thinking about other issues you need to resolve, this will distract you, so resolve those issues beforehand.



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54. Have confidence in yourself and the preparation that you have done. You have done your research, you are clear about what you want and you have thought through the various scenarios, so have faith in your ability to move onto the next step of this process and to see it through.

55. A good way to clear your head of other concerns is to go for a walk or light jog in the park, or to go for a swim at the local pool.

56. You may prefer to relax by staying in and playing your favourite music or curling up on the sofa with a good book. Do whatever suits you.

57. Get plenty of sleep. To perform at your best and present yourself well to the negotiators, you need to be alert and lively, so make sure you get your full 8 hours of shut-eye.

58. On the day of the meeting, dress smartly, but in something you feel comfortable in. Wearing uncomfortable clothes during negotiations will just make you feel awkward with the whole situation and you’ll be unable to focus.

59. Arrive at work early so you can go through your business case and other preparations one more time.

60. Drink plenty of water before the meeting. It’s important to be well hydrated so you don’t get sluggish and unable to think



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clearly in the conversation.

61. It’s also important to eat something shortly before the meeting. Not only will this keep your blood sugar levels up, you also won’t be distracted by your growling stomach!

62. Turn your phone off before you get in the room. If it rings during a meeting as important as this, it’ll undermine your image as someone who reflects and represents the professionalism of the company.



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Negotiating Smartly

Once you’ve put in the request to open pay rise negotiations and you’ve prepared your business case, it’s time for the really meaty part of the process - the actual negotiating. By following these tips you’ll be able to come to the table with confidence, set the correct tone without being overpowering and represent your interests in the best possible way whilst maintaining your relationship with your employer.

63. Begin negotiations with the end in mind. When you enter that room, make sure you already know what it is you want and deserve.

64. Also be clear with yourself on what your boundaries are. How much scope for flexibility are you going to allow? What are you willing to accept or not accept?

65. Getting more reward for your work doesn’t necessarily have to be about money. Think creatively about alternative forms of compensation you could negotiate for if needs be. These might include fewer hours or more annual leave for the same money, shares, options or travel perks.

66. If you’re not currently getting paid expenses for things like travel and you believe you should be, remember to also bring this up in the meeting.

67. The people you’re negotiating with are human beings. Be respectful and polite at all times. Also although negotiating around issues of pay can be



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emotional, try to keep emotions out of it. Stick with logic and rational thinking as much as you can.

68. Don’t be greedy by asking for more than you know you’re worth. Use as much reason, logic and rationale as possible to ask for a pay increase that reflects your value.

69. Try not to be timid and apologetic in negotiations. You’re at this meeting because you believe you deserve more. The company isn’t doing you a favour by hearing you out—it’s in its best interests to reward its employees according to their true worth.

70. It’s equally important, however, not to get overly confident. Some organisations are set up to treat people as ‘dispensable’ resources, so if you get on your ‘high horse’ it could be easier for them to get rid of you than keep you.

71. If you feel that you’re starting to lose your patience during the meeting, excuse yourself from the room for a few minutes. Go and drink some water or close your eyes and count to ten. Re-enter the room only when you’re calm again.

72. This may come as a surprise, but it’s not only acceptable to inject some humour into pay rise negotiations, it can even be quite useful. Money is typically seen as a serious and awkward subject to talk about, so if you can make a joke about the situation,



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this will get everyone to relax and it’ll be easier to discuss things openly. You could try saying something like, ‘if I get a raise, I promise to stop eating all the biscuits in the office’.

73. Even though you should be aware of what you’re looking for, let the employer name a price first. If you show your hand too quickly you might inadvertently let on what the minimum raise you’re willing to accept is. Once the organisation knows this, this is what it’ll offer you, even if you’re worth more.

74. If you’re asked directly to name a figure first and can’t get out of it, at least avoid picking a round number. It’s too easy for the negotiators to shave off, say, 5 grand in order to get to another round number. Instead, choose a figure that doesn’t end in 0 or 5.

75. Be sure to listen smartly as well as talk smartly. Really listen to what the negotiators are telling you as opposed to just hearing what you think they’re saying. If you need them to repeat something, simply ask them to repeat it.

76. The first offer the employer makes is unlikely to be what you’re looking for. Just because it’s the first offer doesn’t mean you have to accept it. When you hear the offer, don’t say anything. If you’ve named a top figure, repeat this number and then don’t say anything else. Silence is likely to lead to an improved offer.

77. Even with subsequent offers, don’t say anything right away. This not only puts pressure on the negotiators to raise it again but also gives you time to consider the offer.

78. Remember that you’re within your rights to make a counter offer. Make the counter offer based on the evidence presented in your business case and what you know about your company’s position and plans.



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79. You’re also within your rights not to give an answer there and then. If you feel you need time and space away from the room to consider the offer, say that you need a few days to think about it.

80. If the negotiators still try to pressure you into giving an instant response, hold your ground. This decision is too important to rush.

81. Think about the implications of not getting what you want and be prepared to walk. In a world where there’s a war for talent, if you’re good, there’s somebody who will buy you.

82. Don’t expect everything to be agreed in one meeting. Salary negotiations can take time and it can be in your interest to take it slowly, to think hard about what you want and to help the organisation to slowly appreciate your situation and to swing towards giving you what you want. You need to be patient and understanding of their position.

83. If you do manage to reach an agreement, summarize what you believe it to be before the meeting ends. You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re assuming the agreement means one thing but the employer thinks it means something else altogether. Confirm what your new compensation package consists of, the date from which it’ll take effect and any other implications of this improved financial contract.

84. Show your appreciation that an agreement’s been reached. You can do this by simply sending a ‘thank you’ email to your boss and everyone else involved in the negotiation process.



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85. Celebrate! Once you’ve reached an agreement, you should also show yourself some appreciation. You’ve gotten what you deserve through thorough preparation and hard work. Mark the achievement by treating yourself to a small gift, going on a day trip with the family at the weekend or going out for a meal with friends. It’s time to give yourself a pat on the back!



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Further Reading

Give Me More Money! – Smart Salary Negotiation Tips for Getting What You’re Really Worth by Ron L Krannich Salary Tutor: Learn the Salary Negotiation Secrets No One Ever Taught You by Jim Hopkinson The Ultimate Guide to Salary Negotiations by Jack Van Minden Salary Negotiation Tips for Professionals: Compensation That Reflects Your Value by Ron L. Krannich How to Negotiate your Salary – by Alan Jones Six Figure Salary Negotiation: Industry Insiders Show You How to Get the Money You Deserve by Michael Zwell The Negotiation Phase Book: Words You Should Say to Get What You Want by Angelique Pinet



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Contact Us Position Ignition Ltd is one of the UK’s leading career consulting and career management companies. Founded towards the end of 2009 by Simon North and Nisa Chitakasem, they have brought together some of the best career guides in the industry, providing much needed high quality career support and guidance to professional working men and women. Position Ignition helps working professionals to identify where they would like to go next, what roles they will find fulfilling and how to go about getting it. Their focus is on helping people to make successful career changes, establish smart job search strategies, find focus and direction in their careers and take control of their own career development.

Position Ignition offers support through a variety of ways including one on one career support, programmes, workshops, career courses, seminars, webinars, ebooks and through their popular Career Advice Blog. They regularly offer expert advice in the media, press and in places like the Guardian Careers Clinics. They offer a free initial phone consultation via their website if you’d like to find out more or explore how they can help you.

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up your game up your pay - salary negotiation

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