Salary Negotiations

Often, companies will ask you what your desired salary is and you need to be prepared to provide a number. The number should be based on your research of the pay range for the particular job that you have been offered. Also, you should provide a number that is higher than the salary you desire—this gives the opportunity for the company to provide a counter-offer that is still within your desired pay range.

Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that compensation is not only about salary. You will also need to provide requests for benefits that would make the job desirable to you.  Examples include the ability to work from home or flexible hours, a company laptop, profit sharing, stocks or equity, etc.

What kind of benefits would make a job and work situation attractive to you?

Who has done online research, or checked with people you know, to find out how much a salary should be for a particular job you in which you were interested?

If you’ve held a job, did you negotiate for a higher salary when you were offered your first job?

Major issues in the case

·      Compensation considerations

·      Proactivity

·      Interpersonal communication and confrontation

Discussion questions and answers

1.     What are the three parts of compensation?

a.     Wages/salaries

b.     Incentives

c.      Benefits

2.     What are examples of benefits?

a.     Health insurance

b.     Dental insurance

c.      Life insurance

d.     Disability protection

e.     Retirement plans

f.      Holidays off

g.     Accumulated sick days

h.     Accumulated vacation days

i.       Recreation options

j.       Memberships (e.g,, health club)

k.     Family leave

l.       Counseling

m.   Legal advice

n.     Education reimbursement

3.     How can training and development opportunities for employees increase their skills and, ultimately, make them worthy of a bonus, raise, or even a promotion?

a.     Training is a way to increase one’s knowledge and/or skills relevant to their current job.  Through training, an employee can become better at performing their job.

b.     Development is a way to increase one’s knowledge and/or skills relevant to how they will perform their current job differently in the future or to a separate, future job in which they may work.  Through development, an employee can become more prepared to take on additional tasks, take on a new role, or get promoted.