Negotiating expert and founder of Sheer Negotiations, Noa Sheer, joins Nadine Higgins to share her advice on how to handle everything from salary reviews to buying a house.
Employees worried about the rising cost of living are being warned not to undermine themselves in pay discussions by negotiating poorly.
Negotiation expert Noa Sheer, founder of Sheer Negotiations, told Nadine Higgins on The Prosperity Project podcast that many people – particularly women – undervalue themselves.
“It isincredibly risky to appear to the employer as undervaluing yourself, because if you don’t value yourself, no one else will value you.”
Sheer says too many employees become so focused on not appearing greedy or difficult that they weaken their position before the conversation even starts. “Try to avoid looking like a pushover.”
She says one of the most important parts of preparing for a salary negotiation is understanding the specific value you bring to an employer – not just what you think you deserve.
“Create a value statement for yourself,” Sheer says. “To what problem are you the solution – and what is that worth to them?”
Noa Sheer is a negotiations expert and founder of Sheer Negotiations.
Rather than walking into a negotiation armed only with a list of achievements or KPIs, Sheer says employees should think more strategically about what the employer needs and how they help solve those problems.
“You come in and explain why it’s in everybody’s best interest that you get what you want.”
Sheer says you shouldn’t conclude that you’re not a good negotiator just because you don’t enjoy confrontation. “I don’t think that the two align,” she says and, in fact, “strong-arming” is often the least successful form of negotiation.
When you hit a brick wall on salary, she says there may be other ways to build a better package.
“You’ll be able to creatively create a deal that gives me some value in other things, and maybe it means more value than just the salary.”
That could include extra leave, flexible working arrangements, earlier salary reviews or clearer pathways to promotion.
Sheer says women often benefit from thinking more broadly about who they are negotiating on behalf of. “One mistake that we make ... is that we go in representing just ourselves,” she says.
Instead, she says women should think about the wider impact – whether that’s financial security for their family or “the next generation of women in this firm, to set a precedent”.
