After some time comes the moment when asking for an increase in salary becomes instinctive, not only for economic reasons but also to respond to a desire for personal satisfaction. Unfortunately, getting the increase in your salary is not so easy, as it is equally difficult to make the request. However, to have any chance of success, you need to study the moment, the tone and the words, know how to sell with elegance and not appear too pretentious. Obviously, despite all the precautions, it can not be excluded that the increase in salary is refused.
You need to study the moment, the tone and the words, know how to sell with elegance and not appear too pretentious
First of all, when you decide to ask for an increase, it is very important to express yourself with professionalism and education, addressing the request to your employer, to the manager or manager of reference, as if it were a potential buyer to whom to propose a service. An increase in salary for a company is an investment and must be motivated by valid arguments; it is rarely granted without the certainty of a certain advantage, for example better quality of services or greater responsibilities. In an increase request, it is necessary to make the most of one’s strengths, skills and ability to make useful innovations to the company.
Express yourself with professionalism and education
Expressing a request aggressively, almost in the form of a complaint or even blackmail, perhaps intimating the intention to leave the company, is certainly not the ideal basis from which to start and often the cause of a denial. Another strategy to avoid is to compare yourself with colleagues because it is a behavior that produces no result other than that of seriously compromising relationships. with other workers and with the company itself. Criticizing the work of others is counterproductive and leads to a loss of trust and credibility on the part of colleagues and managers.
A strategy to avoid is to compare yourself with colleagues
An increase in salary, on average, can consist of an increase of 10%, however you can even dare a 15%, or accept a 5% increase. Request too much elevated not only will not be taken into consideration, but risk seriously compromising the outcome. It is easier to receive a vague answer, an invitation to wait for better periods or to demonstrate with greater determination their skills and competences, or even a dry refusal. This does not mean that it is not possible to try to convince the employer to accept, at least in part, his proposal.
One way to make the request to increase more motivated and valid is to propose a trial period, committing to support more responsibilities or to reach certain objectives, in order to demonstrate their competence and contribution in increasing company productivity.
Tips
Negotiation is both an art and a science and can be learned. Here are 10 tips:
-
Study the salaries
The importance of research in a negotiation should not be underestimated. You must have as much information as possible: these days there is no excuse for not being. Use websites that allow you to analyze and compare your salary with that of those who cover your own position and talk to people in the company, if possible. This should give you a fairly accurate idea of what people in similar roles are getting.
-
Know your worth
Once you’ve done your research, you need to know what to bring to the table. What skills, training experiences, attributes or personality traits do you have that would be hard to find for an employer? How much would it cost them to find another candidate like you?
Once you have an idea of your “market value”, calculate what you need. You must know the bare minimum you would like to accept, otherwise negotiating would be a waste of time. For the right combination of benefits and experience, you may be willing to go below the market rate, but you’ll have to decide if it’s right for you.In negotiation, it may not hurt to mention that you have other offers (if it’s true), and this will be your biggest lever. A scarce resource is always rated higher than that which is readily available and the employer has already invested time and resources to recruit or train you.
-
Reinforce confidence in yourself
It can be really easy not to be quiet in a stressful situation. If you are inclined to give in to the nerves, try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Show in your mind the figure of someone who represents a skilled negotiator for you before starting your negotiation.
-
Focus in the first 5 minutes
The first 5 minutes are crucial in every negotiation, so bring out your most assertive and sociable yourself. Use your confident and strong alter ego to drive the discussion. Frame your discussion in terms of performance and remember that the bottom line will be the focus on the company, not your financial constraints or how much you “deserve”. Be pleasant and friendly, but assertive. Stay positive and say how much you like (or would like) to work in the company and what you bring (or brought) on the negotiation table.
-
Think of a specific amount
After doing your research, you should have a specific amount in mind starting from the top. This allows you to allow space to go down, and even the other party will feel like he has won. I suggest thinking about a precise amount, rather than rounding, to make your proposal even more powerful (for example, € 63,500 instead of € 60,000 / € 65,000), because it emphasizes that you have done a research.
-
Be aware of prejudices
It is well known that women receive a fee that is on average lower than that of male colleagues.
-
Get a cup of coffee with your boss
Caffeine consumption leads to a greater likelihood of reaching an agreement during a negotiation. This means that you are more open to the ideas of others after drinking a coffee. So offering a coffe to your boss will help you have more generous feelings towards you.
-
The right moment
Try to keep the money demand at the last possible moment. Remember that you are not there to earn money but to bring your value to the company. Get to know your market value, industry conditions and document your tangible results (a new customer, cost improvement) and less tangible (training new employees, improving workflows). This will help you anticipate potential objections and demonstrate that you have a business sense, which is invaluable to any organization.
-
Active listening
The best way to succeed in a negotiation is to actively listen to the other party, to empathize with another’s point of view, to build a relationship, to influence behavior. Empathizes!
-
Plan B
What happens if despite all your preparation, the employer does not agree with the idea of the negotiation?
They are trained to do just that, so be prepared to hear no answer at least once. If you’re not satisfied with the reasons they gave you, be sure to ask many questions to fully understand the situation, so you’ll be even more prepared next time.
Conclusion
If you leave with nothing more than what you came into the room, congratulate anyway. Before entering into a wage negotiation, you know the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. You can consider accepting an alternative offer or even changing jobs. Negotiating is like flexing a muscle: the more you do it, the easier it will be to get.
Negotiating is like flexing a muscle: the more you do it, the easier it will be to get.
Remember that your goal is to achieve a mutually satisfying goal, so you have to be willing to make some concessions and look for creative solutions to find a win-win situation.
