Worst Mistakes When Negotiating Your Salary

Aiming too high or accepting an offer too quickly are just a few examples of mistakes made when negotiating your salary. Here are 10 more to avoid if you don’t want an aftertaste of defeat walking out of your boss’s office.

1. Overvalue yourself

A little introspection is required before setting foot in the office of his boss. “Performance appraisals and comments from colleagues are good clues to knowing what you are worth,” explains Paul-Olivier Salvail, CRIA and principal consultant at Optima. Thus, if we often exceed the objectives, we are more justified in asking for an increase than if we have not “performed”.

1. Mistime

If the company is facing financial difficulties or if it is a super busy time, the payday meeting is a lost cause. You have to trust your sixth sense.

1. Addressing the wrong person

Some people go through human resources first because they are uncomfortable discussing the matter with their boss. However, as soon as you leave the office, the HR department may call your boss to find out more, which wastes time and could create some discomfort. Use the direct route.

1. Speaking of “increase” instead of “revision”

Words are powerful and can take on a pejorative connotation. This is the case with the word “increase”, which gives the impression that you are not earning enough. “Talking about review is fairer and includes other possible forms of negotiation, such as vacations and other social benefits,” says CRIA.

1. Wait too long

If you consider yourself to be underpaid for a very long time and have not taken action to change the situation, you might be impatient when you walk into the office and not make a logical speech as to why. would justify your increase. Speak up as soon as you feel your situation is unfair.

1. Not to prepare

Rest assured that your boss knows when you are doing a good job and knows your value. To convince him, focus on what you plan to bring to the company in the future by relying on your achievements to date and on comparisons on the labor market against your responsibilities.

1. Using blackmail

Threats to leave if you don’t have what you want do not find a listening ear on the employer’s side. “If the employee has received a better offer elsewhere, he must show that he prefers to stay in the company and ask if the latter intends to make some progress in terms of salary,” said Paul-Olivier Salvail.

1. Demand an immediate response

When an employee intends to stay, they won’t be backing their bosses to the wall by demanding an immediate change to their pay. Sometimes an increase is not possible until six months later, for various reasons. Patience!

1. Denigrate his colleagues

Such behavior suggests that you are not a team player. Better to focus on how you help your colleagues in their work.

1. Think only about your needs

It’s all well and good to think about all the positive things that a raise will have in your life, but you also have to think about the business, in a give and take spirit. In return for my raise, what more can I offer the company?

Source : Workopolis