Q & A Table of Contents
Negotiating a Permanent Salary
From: Louisiana
Question: I have been employed as a contractor for 6 months and the time has come to negotiate a permanent salary. I am afraid they will offer me less than I am being paid now to do the same job and I don't know which approaches to use aside from this is what I make now and this is all I have accomplished for you/this is what I will accomplish for the same price. Please help me with some ideas and creative ways to negotiate the salary, title change and assistant that I want and need. Thank you.
Response: Why do you think the company will offer you less than your current pay? When you calculate your compensation package, are you including all benefits: insurance, vacation, etc.? In your preparation for your negotiation, you should get everything down on paper: the total dollar value of what you have been getting, the benefits you and the company offer each other by changing you to permanent, etc.
You need to figure out what trade-offs are worth considering: benefits versus salary level, an assistant versus stress level, how much the company gains by giving you a 'good' title to give you greater credibility inside and outside, etc. and how much that title's boost to your ego might be worth in dollars.
What are your best alternatives to what you fear you may be offered? Can you stay a contract employee with no changes? Are there other attractive jobs out there? Could it be worth accepting a less than perfect deal to get a permanent position as part of your long-term career strategy?
As should be obvious by now, your first job is to ask yourself lots of questions. Try to figure out what assumptions you are making about yourself and the company -- remembering all the time that when you 'assume' you run the risk of making an 'ass' of 'u' and 'me'. If you take that attitude about assumptions, then it can be less threatening to abandon them during negotiations when it becomes clear that one or more of those assumptions was not valid.
How well do you know the decision-maker(s) involved with your transition?
What have been the experiences of others who have moved from contract to permanent? Again, questions to ask.
When you negotiate, you need to use non-threatening ways to let the company know that you are prepared to assert your rights, that you have a good sense of self-worth that they should share if they realize how good you really are.
You need to look at the goals you had when you arrived on the job; which you have achieved, and how much more you could have achieved with additional tools (e.g. an assistant).
You will be negotiating about salary, title, and the availability of an assistant. Prioritize them both in terms of relative importance to you and in terms of which answers you need first. If they pay you more than a million dollars a week, will you still need an assistant? If you have an assistant, do you care what your title is? What if they offer you a nicer office? Try to put yourself in their shoes, thinking of which issues they may want to settle first.
Go into the negotiations well-prepared, but with an open mind. Listen carefully to what they say and what they don't say. Don't feel compelled to respond immediately to every question or every point with which you may happen to disagree. Give yourself time to think. Don't be afraid to take a minute or two to collect your thoughts. Don't feel compelled to rush to a decision.
Above all, remember that you are negotiating your relationship with the company. That relationship will determine a great deal of your mutual satisfaction with each other. This is not a conflict, but rather an opportunity to collaborate to give the company a loyal, productive permanent employee and to give you the rewards you deserve. You are on the same team. Negotiation is the way people trade things of value in a civilized manner; not a way to 'zap' the bad guys.
Good luck and good negotiating, Steve.
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