What are the key steps to negotiating a promotion?

Never put your employer in a situation of YES or NO - My advice is go to your boss/HR in the middle of this continuum ‘’ I have worked here for two and a half years. I’ve been here through high times and low times. You know I’m loyal and my aspiration is to stay here and grow with the organization. Can you help me figure out a path that gets me to this salary. It’s no more a yes or no then. Try it :)

Keeping a log of your best achievements since your hire, setting others up for success, delivering with excellence, and never compromise on well-being of your team! Eventually your experience counts to your promotion, yet there are aspects of developing others and overall alignment to the mission and vision that lead to great success in career.

Before you reach out to HR or your superior, better make sure you prepare a data-backed proposal with what you've accomplished, how it helped the company reached their target, how what you contributed to company's vision. That will give you leverage on the discussion.

Know your additional responsibilities and duties. Be ready for various unexpected scenarios. You have to understand the counterpart.

Promoting the development is much more important than promoting the growth. Many people believe the development is going to take time: better a career step although. This is false and in long term, will impact the future of our work life.

Researching the landscape includes not just your role and industry but also asking yourself - Am I open to moving? Am I in a relationship that allows us to make this decision and live with the risks/upsides? Am I clear on my own values and beliefs that I can speak to and clearly articulate? Once you answer these questions your research becomes more targeted and informed.

Sometimes we rush to make a proposition for our promotion. You need to know the right time to place your proposition and from my experience, when there are changes occurring in the organization, a well drafted proposal that has solutions on how to reduce the effects of the change is most welcome and can be used for your negotiations.

You must be ready with the proper justification so that you can ask for the best. This can be achieved by preparing in advance e.g. whenever you are doing some good things just keep a track of those and present them at the time of promotion and accordingly you can negotiate better.

Come fully prepared to defend your position. Be ready with a plan with what-if scenarios played out. Failing to plan leads to planning to fail.

I think promotion proposals need more than personal achievements. Depending on the promotion scheme applied in the institution, long term impact on both core business and capacity building shall be weighed. In general, promotion is a kind of recognition that set examples or role models to the rest of employee. So the proposal needs also to justify the positive impact on culture, values, and motivation. It is important to look at the proposal from a critical thinking lens to balance between eligibility and returns for the team and institution. There is a need for effective guidelines for evaluation where relevance, impact, and future benefits are considered. It is not to showcase negotiation skills, it about proving that you deserve it.

One way to approach this conversation is to be READY: -Use specifics: Achievements, Improvements, Gaps you have closed. -Be flexible: Suggest but Negotiate what is that you will like to accomplish

Prepare not only the details around your own individual successes but also the benefits of you over an external hire. Use data in a way which shows them continuing improvement of your and your department / team. Ask for feedback and acknowledge gaps!

Scheduling the meeting: Know time, place and situation matter as much as the actual discussion itself. Don’t take that lightly. Unless you are in a time crunch or are forced to move quickly, think through this smartly. - If you have a trusted internal resource run your approach by them. Get another perspective. - Discover when a good time is to meet with the decision maker. Some people are more relaxed on Friday or morning or late in the day. Office or Zoom or conference room or over coffee. Take time to know your audience.

The meeting timing and place says a lot about you as an individual and your intentions. A less formally scheduled meeting may give the wrong impression to the person receiving your message compared to a formal setup within business hours. Send a meeting request email well in advance with a brief agenda to help the person you are meeting to prepare for the meeting.

Some ways to start - Layout your expectations based on an informed approach (internal/external assessments as I mentioned before) - Share areas you have grown as an employee/leader and also where you want to develop and grow personally and professionally. - Provide any external research you can point to that connects the dots on your salary/compensation expectations. - I would try to have this conversation before the “normal” raises or evaluations are done (if possible. Likely 2 months ahead so they can incorporate it into their budgeting as it plants the seed for them. It also helps you know if this is possible or not and you can prepare also.

Yes, approach the situation with curiosity rather than being defensive and imagine as if you're working in partnership with your manager. Remember, they will probably have to take your case to their manager for the final sign off so make it easy for them to do so. Try to imagine what objections they'll have about you and your case and have good counter arguments to all them. Always send an email follow up after the meeting so they have it in writing.

Actively listen to understand their viewpoint and demonstrate that you value their feedback. Approach the negotiation as a collaborative effort to find a win-win solution. By working together, you can address any barriers or challenges that may arise and reach a mutually beneficial outcome. Anticipate potential objections or counteroffers and prepare well-thought-out responses in advance. Provide evidence, data, or examples to back up your arguments and alleviate any doubts your boss may have. Lastly remember to stay calm and positive.

Actively listen to understand their viewpoint and demonstrate that you value their feedback. Approach the negotiation as a collaborative effort to find a win-win solution. By working together, you can address any barriers or challenges that may arise and reach a mutually beneficial outcome. Anticipate potential objections or counteroffers and prepare well-thought-out responses in advance. Provide evidence, data, or examples to back up your arguments and alleviate any doubts your boss may have. Lastly remember to stay calm and positive.

When it comes to negotiating a promotion, I recommend people always be prepared for what you’re going to do if you don’t get it. No matter how much hard work you put into it, you can’t ignore the possibility you won’t get it. Not being prepared for this is one of the worst mistakes you can make going into negotiations. And, to be clear, this doesn’t mean you go in making threats. Instead, you need to have a plan of what’s next if it doesn’t go how you want, and be honest. Don’t set yourself up to quit if you know full well you won’t. Instead, be objective about how much you’re willing to carry forward without a promotion. This will help you not get emotional and set back if it doesn’t happen since you’ll already have a plan of attack.

Consider that NOT taking a decision could be more costly rather a bad one. How many decisions we took each day? Count them and we will be surprised ??

In negotiating a promotion, it's crucial to understand your value and articulate it effectively. Beyond assessing the situation and preparing your proposal, consider the timing of your request in relation to business cycles. Familiarize yourself with industry standards for the position you're targeting. Anticipate counter-offers and have a clear but flexible goal. Demonstrate your commitment to the company's future, and be prepared to take on new responsibilities. Remember to listen actively during the negotiation and be open to creative solutions that benefit both you and the company. After the negotiation, regardless of the outcome, seek feedback to improve and prepare for future discussions.

The first thing to do is have really clear both parties target. Without this a negotiation IMHO should never start because will immediately become a political party Then a win win attitude will help.

If you are aiming for a promotion, make sure that you are absolutely ready for the next step. However: everyone has gotten the chance one, no one was born ready. Make sure you have a holistic approach.