Negotiate your salary

One of the most common pieces of advice around job offers is to never accept the first salary you’re presented. This is bad advice. There’s often an opportunity to negotiate, but some hiring managers genuinely give you what they can offer. The best way to find out whether your salary is negotiable is to ask. But don’t just say, “Is that number negotiable?” Dig into what went into calculating the figure — for example: “Where did the number come from? What did you count as my years of experience?” And don’t negotiate just to prove that you’re a great negotiator. If something is important to you, absolutely negotiate, but don’t haggle over every little thing. Fighting to get just a bit more can rub people the wrong way - and limit your ability to negotiate later, when it might matter more.

(Adapted from Setting the Record Straight on Negotiating Your Salary, by Amy Gallo)

Don’t overlook your long-tenured staff

Somewhere along the way, workers can lose the motivation to make a difference and create value for their employers. That’s why the employees with the longest tenures in your company are also the least likely to be engaged. Retaining long-tenured, highly capable employees might be challenging, but minimising their turnover is more practical than churning through new hires. Plus, experience is a strong driver of performance. So how can you increase engagement among these workers? For starters, give them managers who understand them and put them in roles where they can do what they do best every day. Make sure managers are helping them find ways to do more of what they’re good at. This means asking about their interests during regular check-ins and giving them more autonomy, stretch assignments and the ability to learn new skills.

(Adapted from Engage Your Long-Time Employees to Improve Performance, by James Harter)

Use ‘We’ not ‘I’

If you’re trying to rise in your organisation and become a leader, it’s important to show that you’re focused on others, not yourself. Pronouns can help. They’re small but potent signals that communicate a speaker’s focus of attention. When people feel insecure, they are more likely to focus their thoughts and behaviours inward and use more first-person singular pronouns (e.g., ‘I,’ ‘my,’ ‘me’) when speaking. By contrast, first-person plural and second-person pronouns (such as ‘we,’ ‘us’ or ‘you’) are used when considering the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of others. So try using ‘we’ more often when speaking to your team. It will show that you are more focused on what you can achieve together than on what you need from them. It can also help shift your perspective and make you more aware of what others need. As you work to meet those expectations, you’ll become a better leader.

(Adapted from If You Want to Be the Boss, Say ‘We’ Not ‘I’, by David Burkus)

Ask for ideas

When asking employees to speak up, be careful to not open the floodgates to a river of ideas that aren’t particularly thoughtful or useful. You want to encourage people to give input that is informed and constructive. Ask employees to think about issues from your perspective, factoring in potential constraints, obstacles and multiple stakeholders. One way to do this is by creating targeted campaigns where, for a limited period of time, you encourage people to come up with ideas that address a particular strategic imperative or challenge. For example, if your organisation wants customers to go to the website rather than call the toll-free number, you can clearly define the problem, along with any constraints or issues that need to be considered. Once employees understand the problem and the context, you can invite them to submit ideas, and then after three weeks let them vote on the best proposals.

(Adapted from Get Your Employees to Make Better Suggestions, by David A. Hofmann and John J. Sumanth)

Be less autocratic

Trying to lead a seasoned, highly skilled team through command-and-control won’t work. These groups need leaders who are emotionally and intellectually agile, and able to modulate styles as needed. To be less autocratic, try shifting:

• From self-awareness to social awareness. It’s not enough to know your own strengths and weaknesses. You have to know how your behaviour affects people. Ask: What is the impact of your management style on others? How do you know what others are feeling?

• From directive to inquisitive. When you’re trying to foster creativity, you need to be less declarative and more curious. Ask: How much time do you spend listening rather than speaking? How do you leverage diverse perspectives?

(Adapted from Learn to Become a Less Autocratic Manager, by Jeffrey W. Hull)

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 29th, 2015

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