How to successfully renegotiate your salary

Inflation in Germany is still at a high level and is eating away at income. For many people it means: renegotiate your salary! A Yougov survey from November 2021 shows that one in five employees (21 percent) sometimes even uses the argument of inflation compensation during salary negotiations.

A contribution from our topic special “New Finance”.

Cornelia Topf is an expert in success communication and career development. She has been working internationally as a consultant, seminar leader, trainer and speaker for over 20 years. As an author, she has also imparted her knowledge in guidebooks. Numerous books have been translated into other languages. What matters in salary negotiations and how employees are most likely to get their desired salary was the subject of our conversation.

t3n: Ms. Topf, when was the last time you negotiated your salary?

Cornelia Pot: That was a while ago because I’ve been successfully self-employed with my own company since 1988. Of course, I always negotiate fees for coaching, training, seminars and books.

t3n: How do you proceed?

That depends on whether it is a new customer or an existing business relationship. For new customers, the first thing I think about is my desired fee. Then come the questions I ask myself. How realistic is it that I can achieve that? What is my current market value? How is the competition? If so, how much room for negotiation do I have? And if I still feel insecure, I ask good friends in the network what they would ask if I were me. For existing customers, I first check how long it has been since the last fee negotiation and what percentage of the surcharge is reasonable. This is not so different from the salary negotiation of a new or existing employment relationship.

t3n: What other ways are there of negotiating the salary?

There are almost always several ways. For example, there are actually people who are offered such lavish increases, bonuses, shares and other perks that they say: “I’ve never had to negotiate my salary.” In my experience, this is rather the exception and is often used as a distinguishing feature deployed. There are also different ways in the time horizon. There is the possibility of renegotiating salary at regular intervals, about every two years, or after particularly good performance and improved qualifications. There are also different ways I negotiate: monetary or non-monetary benefits, i.e. cash benefits in the narrower or broader sense or more vacation days, shorter working hours, a sabbatical or expanded qualifications.

t3n: How high can an employee set the new desired salary?

There are different recommendations. It should be at least five percent above the previous level, otherwise all the effort is not worth it, also due to inflation. Ten to 15 percent more is not bad, then you still have enough negotiating ground down. Before doing so, you should of course use your network and the Internet to check what is actually paid for comparable positions on the labor market and where you place yourself. Then you can better assess whether you should approach it more cautiously or more offensively.

t3n: How does a manager try to push the salary down?

First of all, you have to be clear: A supervisor is never paid to spend as much money as possible on employees. On the contrary. They will try to buy the skills they need as cheaply as possible and thus reduce the costs and thus the salary. In fact, there are a number of standard arguments that an employee must always reckon with in a salary negotiation. These can be personal reasons, for example: a mistake you recently made, a failed project or goals that were not achieved. However, general reasons are also given: the poor order situation, the restructuring, the bad economy, the falling share price.

t3n: Are the reasons sometimes also sought in the employment relationship itself?

In any case. Under certain circumstances, this can also be the fact that an employee has switched to a part-time job. Then it is often said: “You are now only available to us to a limited extent.” Or that he or she had a longer break in the job, for example due to parental leave. Then it says: “After such a long absence, you have to get used to it again.”

t3n: It is understandable to mention a bad order situation, but I personally find it very daring to name parental leave as a reason. Especially if you’ve only been away for half a year. How can employees react to such arguments?

I would advise that in the event of any justified absence, you should still maintain and maintain contact with work colleagues as far as possible. Then you can possibly even surprise the manager with insider knowledge and quickly invalidate the “training argument”. Or bring in the increased motivation during the break. Or mention an online course you have completed on the side. These tend to be factual arguments that work. On an emotional level, however, one can also express surprise at such an argument by saying, for example: “It doesn’t seem particularly family-friendly to me. I would have thought that given the shortage of skilled workers, you would rather promote the willingness to return.”

t3n: It is often said that women negotiate differently than men. Is that true?

no Women often go into the conversation more modestly, i.e. with fewer demands. The saying: “A woman who doesn’t ask for anything gets exactly what she asks for, namely nothing” is no coincidence. Women often show their achievements and successes less offensively than men and are therefore often mistakenly considered by men to be less achievement-oriented or less successful. This is then reflected in a lower salary.

t3n: Which sentences or arguments should employees definitely not start a conversation with?

Whining and sympathy tour do not work at all. Threatening to be fired is extremely dangerous, unless you already have a watertight job offer from another employer at home. The reference to other employers along the lines of “But at xy you get more for a comparable service” is rather awkward. An answer like “Well, then hire them there” is usually not long in coming.

t3n: Would you advise practicing the salary interview with someone beforehand?

In any case. Even if you feel stupid at first or find such role-playing games stupid. In any case, practice always gives security. And if you go into a salary interview with more self-confidence, you will achieve more. Even if the conversation goes very differently than practiced – by the way, it would be a funny coincidence if it went exactly as practiced – practice makes argumentation easier and easier because it gives the feeling: “I’m well prepared!”. Every student practices before class work until they have the material, every actor practices their role, every television show is practiced. It is important to find a sparring partner who, on the one hand, is not too soft and too friendly in the role-playing game, but on the other hand does not tackle you unnecessarily hard. By the way, practicing more often is more useful. As the saying goes: “Seamed twice is better.”

t3n: Thank you for the talk!