Executive salary negotiation
By Paul Edwards | thebigchair.com.au | 01 February
Image: Louise Kennerley
Popular workplace wisdom has it that naming a high price is the key to winning a better job - even if you'd be happy to accept less than you're quoting.
Bad move, say recruitment and management professionals. Being aggressive and unrealistic in your demands can backfire and ruin your chances of landing that dream position.
Scott Stacey, general manager Victoria for the Hudson Highland Group, urges candidates to be careful when discussing what they want from a prospective new employer or even their current boss.
"Naming your price is not necessarily a vital step in being selected for a more senior position. Every employer has a budget for every role and market conditions generally dictate what that budget is.
"If your skills and experience are right, most employers will be happy to pay market rates to bring these skills in to their business. But if you don't gauge market conditions correctly you may find you rule yourself out.
"Market conditions will generally determine the worth of your skills, although employers often reward staff with incentives and benefits that push the value of an employee's package ahead of its true worth.
"However, when another employer rates that person's skills against the market the salary on offer may actually be reduced."
Carmen Parnos, head of leadership development firm Australian Coaching Academy, agrees, saying it's not just about money.
"Senior executives should look at the bigger picture and see if the moves they make in their career is the appropriate next step to their dream job," she says.
"People with a solid track record of overachievement know their market worth and usually price themselves above that for any headhunter who is seriously knocking on their door to sell them a possible career advancement opportunity."
While money can be a motivator to look at other opportunities, career advisers say there are many other considerations:
* Candidates should analyse what risks are involved: whether the role's expectations are unrealistic and - not uncommon - whether they are setting themselves up for failure.
* They should also research how the new role might impact family and lifestyle, particularly if it involves more travel and more hours.
Ms Parnos says switching companies can be a good move if there's an opportunity to make a difference quickly, perhaps within the first year.
"For instance, a significant bonus scheme might compensate for aggressive KPIs. An example of this is a colleague of mine who has moved his career forward so aggressively he went from sales executive to Asia Pacific vice-president for sales in just five years."
"He held the vision, invested in his own professional development, worked hard and made sure he was networking in all the right circles to win maximum exposure. In the last 12 months, he tripled his income by positioning himself for his dream job."
A central question is how the move would benefit career and professional growth. Would someone working in banking and finance find sufficient challenges in a move to information technology?
Mr Stacey says there are many pitfalls in the ascent of the corporate ladder, and a significant challenge is finding the right balance in personal relationships with staff and knowing where to draw the line socially.
"Having a personal touch is important but trying to be everyone's friend, or one of the boys, can be a pitfall when you're looking to progress your career."
Often _ if you earn a high profile within an organisation - you might not need to go seeking promotion. Headhunters will come to you. But what if you say no?
"The vice-president I mentioned thought about that one," says Ms Parnos.
"He learned to say no to anything that veered him away from his dream job even if it meant a more than significant package."
Saying no doesn't mean you'll never get another offer.
"If you use the recruitment process to simply shop around, or get more money from your current employer, then you will be unlikely to see a second offer from the same quarter," he says. But if you turn down an offer because the package wasn't good
enough or the career options were not what you expected, you should find the door will remain open in the future."
