‘Underselling’ yourself is detrimental to your career and can be as damaging as ‘overselling’.

I recently spoke about the truisms in the professional job market, and the skills you need to develop to navigate effectively. Today, I want to give you some practical insights that will enable you to succeed in gaining promotion, receiving a pay rise, or being offered a new job,

Most employees do not know their worth and are too afraid to ask for it, especially women. In her book “Women Don’t Ask”, Professor Linda Babcock notes that when women MBAs got an offer, only 7% of them would attempt to negotiate, as opposed to 57% of men. Research also shows that when women do negotiate, they tend to negotiate 30% less than their male counterparts.

In my experience, (I was a head-hunter for over two decades), most professional employees – both men and women - do not realise the true value they add to their company. I displayed this behaviour during my own career, until I applied my negotiation ability (that I practiced every day for clients!) to myself.

To own your career direction, knowing your worth in the external marketplace is very useful. You don’t need to be actively looking for the next role, yet if you are a high performer, I believe you have ‘earned the right’ to have a bolder conversation at annual review time. Always remember you have created significant value by performing at your current level; it’s an invitation to ask for ‘appropriate reward’.

Here is a simple guide to bring confidence, before you enter a negotiation. Start from a well-defined plan, position yourself as a premium employee, create options, and re-evaluate.

I want to share a story of one of my clients who was due to have an annual review in early 2021.

He was significantly over sales target in 2020.

He is a multiplier who mentors many people within his company.

He is happy at the company and enjoys the culture.

He is always looking to add value to his line manager and colleagues across the globe.

Yet did not feel appropriately rewarded for the value he adds.

He did not want to go down an aggressive route (and high energy investment) of gaining an external offer to justify a pay increase.

So, he asked for an early review in December.

He positioned his individual and companywide value to the key decision makers.

A significant (21% increase) in pay was agreed and confirmed before the new year.

I know this figure and timescale might look unrealistic or unreasonable, yet this is what is achievable when we take a relationship and campaign approach to negotiation. Too many people view negotiation as a ‘one-off’ big conversation.

Learning how to negotiate effectively is such a worthwhile investment, it is an evergreen skill that you can use on a weekly basis to enhance your career, life and even the lives of your families and loved ones.

This advice is a just a sample of the value I can add. In partnership with Lisa Akesson, a World Class Voice & Presentation Skills Coach, we are offering a two half-day results focused course:

“Impactful Negotiations for Women”.

Where we will be tailoring this methodology to the specific needs of the participants. Why not join us?

We will be exploring:

The power of building rapport in negotiations, the power of pacing and leading others and confidently hold your space to bring your dynamic presence to the table.

Drop a line in the comments section or a personal message ([email protected]) if you would like to learn more.