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The Negotiation

Negotiating is a normal part of life.

Everybody negotiates. Obviously, some people do it better than others. In any household, when people are deciding how to spend the amount of money they have available, there will be negotiations on at least two sides. If two people are watching television, there will probably be negotiations around which show is viewed when. Some of us have become pretty good at negotiations, haven't we?

There are several approaches that can be taken to the negotiation. Many people erroneously believe that to be a good negotiator, you have to be hardnosed, mean, and take advantage of the other person. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The best negotiators always aim for a win/win settlement. Only if both sides of the negotiating table come away with a substantial amount of what they need, will be agreed settlement likely to be beneficial and long lasting. Whenever the resulting agreement is a win/lose arrangement, the one who feels that he has lost the negotiation will probably be angry, resentful, and participate minimally, looking for the first opportunity to exit the relationship entirely.

The negotiation of employment factors such as wage, hours, and fringe benefits successfully, neither party can feel they have lost the negotiation. In order to negotiate a win/win agreement, you must understand the other person's priorities, needs and wants, as well as your own. You also must understand how strong your position is to negotiate each factor you wished discussed. Under-estimating or over-estimating the strength of your position could sour the entire employment opportunity that you were just offered.

Be sure to read my Key Concepts section on the motivating factors for why an employer hires who they hire and promotes who they promote. (It is NOT who does the most or best work! Until you know the two most important things an employer wants [yes, more than lots of good work!], you cannot negotiate effectively! GET THE BOOK!)

You will want to take a detailed inventory of the skills, talents, and experience that you bring to the workplace and compare it with the employer's list of minimum requirements. Every time your abilities exceed the employer's minimum requirements, there is a reason to request special consideration (negotiate).

Wage is the single item that most employees want to negotiate, while employers want to keep this as low possible, especially to start. It is important to understand what the employer's fears are about starting someone at a wage that is higher than average. What do you think the employer's concerns could be? How would the decision they are making now about your wage affect them? How would it affect the company? What would it do to other people's morale if they find out that you started at a higher wage than they did? Keep in mind that some of the negotiations could be to agree to a change in the near future (select a specific time frame, for example two weeks, 30 days, or two months) and the salary/wage increase may be tied to your performance.