We live in a constantly changing
business world, filled with mergers,
takeovers, downsizing and layoffs,
with little control over changes in job
responsibilities, companies or bosses.
What can be controlled, however, is how
you might negotiate the best compensation
package for yourself when those
inevitable changes occur and you seek
a new position.
Negotiating one’s own compensation
package is a whole different game than
negotiating a business deal for a company.
The most obvious difference is you’re
often negotiating with your future boss.
It’s a delicate balancing act: how do you
demonstrate your bargaining ability and
get the offer you deserve without appearing
too aggressive? Lee E. Miller, in his
book Get More Money on Your Next
Job...in Any Economy [McGraw-Hill
2009], offers practical advice for negotiating
compensation in a tough economy,
even if you are unemployed. In his book,
Miller offers his 11 commandments of
employment negotiations and follows
them with 25 proven strategies for getting
more money, better benefits and greater
job security.
In this exclusive ExecuNet interview,
ExecuNet Editor Will Flammé asks the
author to share some of his views on
employment negotiating. Here is some
of what he had to say:
Q. There are currently many unemployed
executives who are afraid
negotiating too hard could cost them
an offer they cannot afford to lose.
What advice can you offer them?
A. The only difference between being
employed and being unemployed is your
self-confidence. You are the same person
when you are unemployed as you were
when you were working. You have the
same skills and same experience. The
value you can bring to an employer
doesn’t change just because you don’t have
a job. If you exhibit confidence, you can
not only negotiate effectively when you
are not employed, it will also help you
land the job you want.
Competition for your services will
make you seem more valuable in the eyes
of a prospective employer. Talking with
several prospective employers at the same
time will not only increase your confidence
but will enhance your bargaining
leverage. When you are negotiating, ask,
don’t demand. If you do it in the right
way you may not get everything you ask
for, but you run very little risk of having
the offer withdrawn.
Q. What suggestions do have for
employed executives seeking to obtain
a raise from their employers?
A. Provide your employer a reason for
wanting to give you a raise. Wait to ask
for a raise until you have done something
to deserve one. Time your request to
coincide with the successful completion
of a project or favorable financial results.
Show how you have gone above and
beyond what was expected of you in
terms of results, or how you have “added
value” by taking on additional responsibilities.
Take job-related courses and learn
new skills that are important to your
employer. Offer to take on additional
work if you are given a raise. Choosing
the right words and couching your
request as a good business decision will
facilitate gaining your employer’s support
for increasing your salary. Finally, having
another job offer always increases your
bargaining leverage as long as you don’t
threaten and make it clear that you really
want to stay at your current employer.
Q. Why is it important for an executive
to defer compensation discussions until
after a decision to hire him/her has
been made?
A. By avoiding talking about money, or
at least being vague about what it will
take to hire you, until the employer is
ready to make you an offer, you maximize
your bargaining power. Before an
employer has decided that you are the
right candidate for the job, if the
employer thinks you are asking for too
much money you may not ever be given
the opportunity to show why you are
worth what you are seeking. When the
people hiring you recognize that you can
help with something important to them,
they are willing to pay more. So make
sure you sell your candidacy in terms of
whatever the employer cares most about.
Once they recognize that you fill a
real need that they have, their focus
becomes one of “recruiting” you and
making you feel good about the opportunity
rather than “negotiating” with you to
save a few dollars on your salary. When
employers view the situation in that light,
they will not only give you more, they
will do so gladly. It is your responsibility
to make sure that they never forget they
are trying to recruit you. Once an
employer is convinced that you are the
right person for the job in terms of what
is most important to them, you are well-positioned
to get what you want.
Q. What role does preparation play in
such strategies?
A. Preparation is critical. In order to convince someone to hire you, you need to
know everything you can about that
employer and the critical issues they are
facing. The more you know about the
company, the job and your future boss, the
easier it will be to show why you are the
best person to fill that position. Also, the
more you know about what the job is
worth in the market and how that
employer structures its compensation
packages, the more effective you will be
negotiating because you will know what to
ask for and how to justify your requests.
Q. What are the differences, and why
do you think they exist, between men
and women when it comes to negotiating
their own compensation?
A. When I wrote A Woman’s Guide to
Successful Negotiating [McGraw-Hill,
2002] with my daughter Jessica, we interviewed
more than 50 very successful
women as to why they were effective
negotiators and what was different for
them than for men when they negotiated.
Two issues were consistently mentioned,
and both play major roles in negotiating
compensation and often result from girls
not being taught to negotiate when they
are growing up.
First, women often don’t see situations
as opportunities to negotiate. When they
are offered a job they often view it as a
choice: “Do I accept the offer or not?”
Men, on the other hand, typically view an
offer as the starting point for negotiations.
Understanding that there is usually an
opportunity to negotiate some aspect of
an employment offer enables women to
negotiate better deals. Moreover, even
when women are good negotiators on
behalf of others, they still often have
difficulty negotiating for themselves.
Once women recognize that they are
expected to negotiate and that if they
don’t negotiate for themselves no one else
will, they are frequently able to improve their compensation significantly.
Q. How does one get around the all
too common, “It’s company policy” as
a reason for being told “no” when
attempting to negotiate?
A. Show why that policy either doesn’t
specifically apply to the situation at hand
or why it was not meant to apply in this
type of situation even if it literally can be
read to. Remember that compensation is
fungible. If an employer can’t give you
something because of company policy,
for example a higher base salary, you
can always ask for something else like
a signing bonus.
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