In this episode of Transform Your Workplace, guest Kelli Thompson digs deep into the topic of negotiation. Whether it’s negotiating pay, benefits, workplace location, or PTO, both the employer and employee benefit from clarity and data-based discussion. Discover the significance of proper negotiation from the outset, effective ways to present your case, and insights into acceptable pay ranges for your role.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Kelli Thompson is a career and leadership coach, speaker, and author of Closing the Confidence Gap.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
JUST STARTING OUT
Kelli Thompson’s journey into the banking industry began when she was in her twenties, yet over a decade of her career was irrevocably shaped by an initial job offer she received. You’d think that discussing money in a banking role, where money is the product, would be as “easy as talking about the weather,” she remarked, but Kelli found that negotiating wasn’t that simple.
The bank’s job offer — $8,000 more than what Kelli was making at her previous job — felt like striking gold. So, without a second thought, she embraced it eagerly. Little did she know, this seemingly fortunate decision would later reveal its implications. With the wisdom of hindsight, she revealed that her lack of negotiation from the outset impacted her salary for the remainder of the twelve years that she worked at that bank. Kelli laid out the cumulative effects: a 3% increase would have not only boosted her immediate earnings but also amplified her 401k contributions and every subsequent raise she received. Kelli then learned that proper negotiation, from the very start, has a lasting impact on the financial landscape of a career.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Debunking the Myth
“Some of us have maybe been taught that you shouldn’t ask for more money. That it’s rude. Sometimes it’s kind of like you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right? […] So if the myth is we shouldn’t talk about money or asking for more money is rude, actually, how could the opposite be true? How is negotiating your salary or asking for what you deserve, what you need to be paid, how is it actually helpful? How could it actually be the most polite thing that you can do? How could it be the most […] loving thing that you could do for yourself?”
Sticking to the Data
“Knowing that that’s the decision criteria that organizations are paying on — market equity and skills, talents and experience — that’s the mindset in which you also need to frame your ask. And you can do that. […] Maybe you do have a personal financial situation at home. Maybe you do want your partner to stay home. Maybe you are having some health issues. All of those are valid reasons to ask for a raise. And when you go and ask for the raise, the correct way to do it is to [to say], ‘Hey, here’s the data that I saw in the market of what my job is being paid. Here are all the skills and talents I bring to this job. Here are three big things that I have done for this organization in the last year and the results. And so I think, because of these things, I’m warranted to be bumped up to the next salary band or a 5,000 increase […].’ So you can still get the things that you need personally, but by using language that advocates professionally.”
Finding What’s Fair
“If my client is wondering, ‘How do I negotiate the salary? How do I know if it’s being paid fairly?’ I’m like, let’s check a couple of places. Yes, let’s go out and check glassdoor.com. Let’s check salary.com. Let’s check payscale.com. Those are the widely known ones. And to make sure that we’re accurate, let’s make sure that you’re not just matching the title, but you’re matching the actual work that you do. So make sure you actually read the job description. Let’s drill down by company size. Let’s drill down by location. […] A couple of other places you can go though, as you can start validating those data points, is every state is going to have its Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Oftentimes, it’s called a wage estimate system. […] You can go and look at job titles, and it will give you government-reported data for positions in your city that are doing that job and what they’re being paid.”
Putting It on the Table
“When I was a recruiter doing the screening, I’d say, ‘The pay range that we have slated for this position is X to X. Does that fit inside the range you’re looking for?’ Because that way, if I’m on the call with that person, and they were hoping for 150,000, but I’m only going to pay up to 100,000, let’s just end this. Why am I going to bring you in and sit you in front of managers when we are so far apart money-wise that this is not going to work? And so my philosophy was always let’s be as transparent as possible upfront. That way if we need to fail fast, we’re not wasting our time. And most importantly, we are not wasting your time.”
Other Than Salary…
“What I’ve seen some of my clients negotiate recently is a hybrid work schedule, where they want to work — some organizations are still lenient on that. So that’s one avenue you can take. I’ve seen some individuals work to negotiate PTO, especially as you accelerate into the higher levels of the organization. […] I’ve seen people negotiate just other benefits in terms of the perks that the organization has to offer, not only from flexibility to work at home, […] but I’ve seen folks advocate for tuition reimbursement.”
Narrowing the Gap
“We have to realize that the modern organization was created by men for men at a time when women stayed home. Women couldn’t even sign their own checks or borrow money in their own name until 1974. Women weren’t really in the modern organization and the senior most roles until like the 80s and 90s. That’s when we were little, right? I mean, this is recent. And so when women were in the organization, they were typically hired into lower-paying roles. And there was just still some old legendary systemic thinking that women’s work was not worth as much as a man’s. And it’s just decades of undoing that and undoing that. And I think every generation gets a little bit better.”
LEARN MORE
Download “The Salary Negotiation Guide” or one of Kelli’s other free resources here. You can also connect with Kelli on Instagram or Linkedin.