Tips for Individual Bargaining

 When it comes to bargaining on an individual basis, there is no “proper” or standard way to ask for a raise or salary increase. People use various approaches. They can:

• Write.
• Discuss informally.
• Discuss with colleagues and hope the boss gets to hear.
• Drop hints to test the water.
• Ask the boss politely.
• Demand firmly. 
• Go over the boss's head to a higher authority.
• Maybe even threaten to resign, secure another job offer, or simply resign. 

Market Forces

But it is important to note that salary levels are largely dictated by market forces (notably the cost of replacing the employee), and the contribution that the employee makes to organisational performance (which is particularly relevant for roles which directly impact on profitability). 

Therefore, when you acknowledge this principle you begin to take control of your earnings by:

• Focusing on developing your value to the employer and the market-place, rather than simply trying to achieve a higher reward for what you are already doing.
• Being positive in your approach, such as asking for extra work and responsibility and then linking this to a pay raise, if not immediately then in the future. (This is a grown-up approach that employers respond to better than simply asking for more pay for doing the same job).
• Asking for a performance-related bonus or pay increase subject to achieving more, based on standards or output greater than current or expected levels.
• Discussing with your boss how you can improve your performance and contribution to the organisation, in a way that will enable promotion and grading and pay improvement.
• It is also important to ask for a face-to-face meeting rather than try to present your case in a letter, which is just a one-way communication and doesn't allow you to develop a mutual understanding of the situation and what to do about it.
• Stay positive and constructive - look for opportunities to make your boss's task in dealing with your approach as easy as possible.
• As an employee, at any grade, it's important to understand the company's position, and to understand your own properly. Taking an instinctive or emotional approach rarely works, and will often lead to conflict and early rejection.
• Needless to say, threats of any kind (resigning or reducing commitment or effort) are likely to provoke the boss and the company. 

Information provided by Silvia Chimpampwe, National Women’s chairperson, Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied workers.

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