Salary Negotiations: Avoid the Common Pitfalls

You have done your homework, tuned into the office grapevine and been through all the required due diligence. The evidence is overwhelming in your favor. You are underpaid and deserve a raise. Industry benchmarks, your recent stellar performance and the fact that your last salary increase was 3 years ago all support your case. Walk into your salary negotiations with your head held high and your eyes firmly set on the finishing line. Be wary however of committing any of the following key negotiations mistakes as outlined by the career experts at the Middle East's #1 job site bayt.comm

1. Don't walk in unprepared

Your success at the negotiating table will be directly correlated to how well you have prepared your case and the strength of the evidence you bring to the table to support it. Your preparations should include getting a firm grasp of what your position is worth based on your performance and industry benchmarks. You should also have contingency plans for every scenario in the form of what well-backed counterargument you will give to every objection thrown your way.

2. Don't reveal all your cards

Uncertainty works to your favor in negotiations. Revealing your bottom line too soon will almost always result in limiting your upside. Listen more than you speak and make sure when you do speak it is to articulate a set of very carefully pre-prepared arguments that support your cause. With careful preparation you should have been able to anticipate all the concerns/ objections your boss may throw your way and have tailored counterarguments backed by solid facts and based on objective criteria. Rambling on outside of these parameters may reveal weaknesses and sensitivities that do not further your cause and only give your boss ammunition to use against you.

3. Don't get emotional

There is no room for the personal and the emotional in work negotiations. Keep your emotions in check and the details of your personal life out of the way. Do not include histrionics or personal banter as part of your negotiating repertoire. Aim for a friendly but professional tone and keep the end goal in sight at all times. In the event your boss acts hostile maintain a calm, cordial and detached air and refuse to get drawn in to the hostility.

4. Don't issue an ultimatum

Ultimatums are a clear indication that your negotiating skills are lacking, a deficiency in any role, and that your judgment may be somewhat impaired. Do not use them as a weapon of first resort, aim instead for a fertile playing field in which you can brainstorm and bargain and balance your interests with the needs and interests of your boss.

5. Don't forget your backup plan

Be clear on what your options are of the negotiations fail. Will you stay on in the company and try to get a raise at a later date? Perhaps you can get a firm commitment on this at this stage, in terms of both timing and quantity. Will you try to get a job in a different division? In a different firm? Perhaps you will simply ask to work on a different project with more responsibilities, visibility and room for growth? Look into all the possibilities and educate yourself on what the different alternatives are. Make sure if you do decide to quit in the event that negotiations do not produce any fruit that you are financially, psychologically and logistically prepared to do so and that the timing is right.

6. Don't leave matters open-ended

Do not walk into the negotiations looking for a "raise, any raise." Be very specific in defining the salary range that is acceptable to you and all other aspects of the package including the trade-offs that you are willing to consider such as added perks, benefits and bonuses in lieu of increases in fixed salary. Be clear when you or your boss ask for time to think things over that you define the date at which agreement will be reached. Similarly, if you incorporate future performance reviews, title changes and salary increments into your agreement make sure the dates are firmly specified and that you get this in writing.

7. Don't circumvent the chain of command

Too many hapless employees, tired of chronically low salaries will walk into the office of the Head of HR or as close as they can get to the company's top honcho to angle for a raise. Your boss will inevitably find out and will only get infuriated. The last thing you want to lose is your boss's trust. Whoever the final decision-maker is, your first discussions regarding a raise should be with your immediate boss. Your boss can then make any decisions he needs to and refer the matter to the appropriate parties.

8. Don't be adversarial

Adopt a cordial but assertive tone and refuse to get drawn into any hostilities. Listen attentively, smiling and showing respect for your negotiating partner will take you a lot further than an aggressively confrontational posture. At the end of the process you want to secure the desired raise while making your boss feel you have arrived there as a result of a cooperative consultative mutually beneficial process.

9. Don't lie

The world is small and news travel fast, so even if he doesn't actually go out and verify the data, any lies about alternative job offers, industry benchmark salaries, peer packages or your own performance will inevitably be found out by your boss. Without in any way downplaying your own achievements, past and expected, be as accurate as you can about any figures you use to support your case.

10. Don't aim too low

Remember that even if you are uncomfortable and amateur at the negotiating table, your boss is not, and he will seek to further his own interests and the company's, while you must seek to further yours. Aim as high as you can without being too unrealistic in order to leave yourself plenty of bargaining room and be very enthusiastic, confident and persuasive in presenting your case to justify the salary. Whatever figure you aim for, make sure you have supporting facts and arguments. The more convinced you are that you firmly deserve the raise and that the company will ultimately gain from retaining you at the higher salary the more successful you will be in convincing your boss.