Journalist (Journalism, Printing Arts & Media)

There are few skilled and capable people on the labor market, and personalists are inventing ways to attract the best talents and keep them from the company.

Each company internally evaluates its employees according to their added value for business, leadership, support, relationships, and especially from the point of view of the balance of added value and ROI (return on investment) costs. If I am really a key employee for the company, it is good to know this not only internally, but also to know my total value on the labor market, which is mainly determined externally, outside the company, based on a comparison of my salary in the job position.

Subsequently, it is necessary to combine internal and external knowledge and openly speak to the manager about your idea of salary progress at a regular evaluation interview. If the company does not have established regular frameworks for salary reviews, the appropriate time for such an action step is, for example, after the successful completion of a project, if I significantly helped the company to bring in new clients, or increase sales, save money, streamline processes, increase customer satisfaction, etc.

When communicating our requirements, we are most afraid of the negative reactions of apocytes associated with the fact that we are demanding something from the other party. It's an unpleasant communication that we have to initiate ourselves. We are also afraid of the deterioration of working relations, that the boss will no longer perceive us in a positive light.

A big scare is also the threat of losing our job, that is, we actually inform our supervisor of our dissatisfaction through an interview, while the manager starts looking for a cheaper replacement for us. Here, however, it is necessary to realize that the request for a salary review is a legitimate request, because the labor market develops in the same way as any other market, where the interaction of demand and supply applies. The company has a certain salary range set aside for the position, and in the planning framework, some companies are already counting on an annual increase in salary costs. Nowadays, companies try to meet their employees with interesting incentive packages.

Negotiation costs us a lot of energy, since we have to prepare well for such a meeting with our superior, if we want to succeed in argumentation and communication. We have to get out of our comfort zone and start thinking about what our personal career expectations are, where we want to move further, what are the main reasons for this initiative of ours.

It's good to know how the salary ranges are currently moving in relation to my position, length of experience, education and also the industry and region where I work. After all, I have to bring relevant information to the meeting! There is a personal presentation, where attention is largely focused on my person and my work performance.

Personal issues, such as "I have a mortgage, I want to travel more, or I have 3 children" should not be dragged into such a meeting, even though they are often the main impetus for us to negotiate a fee.

As long as there are no drastic changes in my workload, I will continue to work in the same position, the salary growth I can expect is up to 10 percent, while a completely realistic salary growth is roughly 4 to 6 percent per year.

A more significant increase in salary, which is reviewed regularly, is rare. A higher percentage of the salary increase can be expected if we change the position, the workload will also change, so the level of responsibility and other duties will also increase. Here, a more progressive increase in payment at the level of 15 to 20 percent is also realistic.

It is also necessary to take into account the current position of my employer. If a salary increase is no longer possible within the company, we always have the opportunity to negotiate other things related to our work:

• Non-financial benefits
• Advantages and exceptions
• Length of working time
• Promotion, other job position
• Professional growth
• Mentoring by more experienced colleagues
• More decision-making powers and responsibility

There's nothing worse than seeing a meeting with a manager as a battle I have to win. This attitude already indicates that my manager is my enemy, i.e. I want something from him that he does not want to give me. The overall communication already indicates an offensive mood. However, our goal is to make the boss your ally.

That's why we have to start thinking broadly and think about how the opponent thinks. What real challenges does my supervisor solve? How can I help him? From my position, I have a real chance to influence his decision-making, or the way of solving some tasks at the workplace. What package of solutions can I offer him? The partnership approach in communication has the advantage, in particular, that it offers a cooperative approach, which the manager will appreciate more. The whole interview should be professional and emotions should be kept in check.

A nice formula that can be used in this regard is, for example, the following: "I really enjoy my work, I like the company, it is a promising workplace for me. I would like to continue to perform as well as possible here, so I would like to take over my remuneration system, which would be an advantageous affair for both parties and mainly motivating for the next challenging period that awaits us."