In the last half of the year, I came across situations where employees were mistakenly asked to negotiate for a better salary. When practicing corporate law, it is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of negotiation techniques in order to provide the best possible advice to clients. In my case, working on behalf of business owners, I have seen that employees are often unaware of the techniques used to negotiate their salary increase, which can cause damage to the employment relationship and even lead to the relationship being terminated. This article serves to encourage employees to apply real negotiating techniques to these claims, without causing any stress in the workplace and so that both parties can find a win-win scenario.
The first step is to try to identify alternative ways of earning the salary you want, for the benefit of the organization you're in. Knowing how to value small victories and opportunities is extremely important in a salary negotiation, but this must always be linked to thinking on behalf of the community. It is crucial to be prepared to be flexible when weaknesses are elucidated, but to highlight the organization's abilities and gains.
After a good preparation, gathering information about the market and the company, you need to think about the value. Your boss will probably ask you about your salary increase. There is a value negotiation technique that suggests that you should "anchor" the negotiation first, indicating a value that is close to your interests. Once you have anchored the value, it is more difficult to close a deal on an amount that is further away from it.
Some experts even suggest that information about the employee's last salary should not reach the employer, since it serves as a "pre-anchor" in the negotiation, meaning that the salary offered is at a level close to the previous one. This, in theory, would explain the social difficulty of equalizing salaries between men and women, given that the history of salary discrepancy and the system of anchoring negotiating value would act as an obstacle to the egalitarian process that is constantly being sought.
However, you should avoid making demands in salary negotiations. One suggestion is to use the phrase: "if I'm not mistaken, the average salary for this position in this market segment is around R$6,000.00, which would be compatible with the activities of x, y and z". In this way, the employee doesn't impose his claim.
Leading experts indicate that the main pitfalls in a salary negotiation are not recognizing opportunities to negotiate, focusing more on one's own weaknesses and making the first concessions before the employer has even had a chance to express its positions.
The issue is delicate and all parties involved must give it due importance. If you intend to ask for a raise in your job, try to gather as much information as possible, find the best opportunity to have a conversation, wait for the negotiation to begin in order to anchor a "value range" of salary claims, avoid confrontation, be aware of possible alternatives in order to make concessions (especially those that do not imply a net financial loss for the organization) and take on responsibilities for the benefit of the organization. All this, of course, taking into account that the work you have done so far involves your ability to work, good performance, responsibility and collaboration.
In any case, preparing in advance is always the best way forward for any negotiation, be it salary or otherwise.
