Salary Leverage? (1 Viewer)

Kain8

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I got a message this morning on LinkedIn from another office located very far away from where I currently live. (4+ hours highway drive) They're offering me a position, sight unseen, and offered a salary that is a bit more (10 - 15%) than what I currently make.

I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to move my family from where we currently live to this new location. They could offer me way more and I'd still decline. All our loved ones live here and considering everything going on in the world, I'm pretty damn blessed.

Would it be fair or foul play to use the offer I got as a bargaining chip with my current employer? Or is the fact that the offer is in a place so far away from where I live pretty much negate any leverage I could apply to my current position?

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
 
Do you feel like your relationship with your employer requires strongarm tactics? My thought is if you feel you have to threaten them, they aren't going to appreciate it in the long-term, even if they give in to the demand.
 
I got a message this morning on LinkedIn from another office located very far away from where I currently live. (4+ hours highway drive) They're offering me a position, sight unseen, and offered a salary that is a bit more (10 - 15%) than what I currently make.

I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to move my family from where we currently live to this new location. They could offer me way more and I'd still decline. All our loved ones live here and considering everything going on in the world, I'm pretty damn blessed.

Would it be fair or foul play to use the offer I got as a bargaining chip with my current employer? Or is the fact that the offer is in a place so far away from where I live pretty much negate any leverage I could apply to my current position?

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
I've been in this position before. I wouldn't start that conversation unless you are willing to walk, as @Rieguy said above.
 
The first question you should ask yourself is what is your relationship with your current company. I would not mention it if they would take it as a threat or they see you are trying to use leverage. There are way too many people that are looking for work.

If it were me and I had a good open communication with my superior or owner I would mention it in a way to show you are going to be loyal to them. These usually work out good for the employee.

I have had employees tell me they were leaving for more money. I let some explore their option and would invite them back if it did not work out. Other I let walk and the real good ones I would sit with them and explain how valuable they were to our organization and gave them a raise. An employer does not usually like leverage to be applied when discussing wages.

Just my opinion as an employer.
 
Fair play to use as leverage. Depending on the details, the distance between the jobs could be a factor. For example, it's not fair to compare the salary of some jobs in NYC to more rural areas upstate.

As others have said, I wouldn't walk in to the office tomorrow demanding a pay increase. But use it to negotiate during your next review or something like that
 
If it were me and I had a good open communication with my superior or owner I would mention it in a way to show you are going to be loyal to them. These usually work out good for the employee.

I have had employees tell me they were leaving for more money. I let some explore their option and would invite them back if it did not work out. Other I let walk and the real good ones I would sit with them and explain how valuable they were to our organization and gave them a raise. An employer does not usually like leverage to be applied when discussing wages.

My relationship with my workplace is excellent. Very few things to actually complain about and those are petty at best!

I just had my yearly review a few weeks back and it was glowing to say the least (humble brag). Letting them know of the job offer and expressing loyalty seems to be practical and could "inspire" a bigger raise than they were intending to give at end of the fiscal year. Thanks for that insight!
 
My relationship with my workplace is excellent. Very few things to actually complain about and those are petty at best!

I just had my yearly review a few weeks back and it was glowing to say the least (humble brag). Letting them know of the job offer and expressing loyalty seems to be practical and could "inspire" a bigger raise than they were intending to give at end of the fiscal year. Thanks for that insight!
Maybe have a conversation as simple as, "This other place is recruiting me. I love it here and don't want to leave, but I need to explore my options." Leave it at that. I wouldn't press any harder if you really do love your current position.
 
I don’t know your company, but sometimes having another offer can help your manager push a deserved bump through the channels
 
It’s a single data point for your position’s market value. While that’s valuable, if you’re not willing to move you can only use it as a bluff. If you use it you need to be prepared for the call i.e. “that’s a great opportunity, I think you should take it”
If you think you’re underpaid you should ask for a raise. Or keep it in your back pocket to present as data for your next salary increase discussion.
 
If you wont take the offer anyway, i would be careful. Because this can go both ways, your employer could decide that you are not happy with your current job situation and take actions...

Edit: renegotiate your salary because you took on more responsibilities or so, is always better
 
You can use the number as a way to mention that you'd like to move closer to "market rate", but telling them you have an offer or that you've interviewed somewhere else is a risky game. They might cut bait if they think you're not fully committed to their organization, so if you're planning on telling them you have an outside offer then you should be willing to take it in the case that the relationship sours.
 
I think a lot depends on the organization you work for, primarily it's policies and procedures. I work for a mid size multi-national and there is essentially no mechanism for discretionary off-schedule pay increments. So if you come to your boss with something like this, they really have to want to keep you and find some way of promoting you to create the vehicle for pay increments. If you're already at a fair level or the pain of losing you isn't too great this becomes almost impossible so you end up with no increase and a loss of trust.

At a smaller organizations, where there are no such corporate instructions, it's often better just to have an informal chat with your boss. As David said, if you're one of the good ones, they'll try and look after you.
 
Many employers will not offer you a raise unless you specifically ask for one (or will give you the standard 1%/year). Seeing that you just completed a glowing performance review, you might be within bounds to use that as a conversation opener...

Hey boss - You just told me that I am performing at a very high level, and that you are very happy with my work. I would like to ask you to consider giving me a pay raise of (x)%. I feel that I am worth it, and apparently so do others, becuase I was recently offered another job at 15% more than I am now getting paid. I really like my job here, so I did not accept their offer, but it does indicate that my skills are worth a bit more than you are currently paying. I'm hoping that you see it the same way!
 
I got a message this morning on LinkedIn from another office located very far away from where I currently live. (4+ hours highway drive) They're offering me a position, sight unseen, and offered a salary that is a bit more (10 - 15%) than what I currently make.

I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to move my family from where we currently live to this new location. They could offer me way more and I'd still decline. All our loved ones live here and considering everything going on in the world, I'm pretty damn blessed.

Would it be fair or foul play to use the offer I got as a bargaining chip with my current employer? Or is the fact that the offer is in a place so far away from where I live pretty much negate any leverage I could apply to my current position?

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts!
There are a ton of factors to consider when you renegotiate salary, or talk about a bump. some of these factors are:

- how long ago was your last bump?
- relative to others in your position, do you make more or less?
- have you had a review recently that did or did not result in a salary bump.
- How vital or expendable are you?

The other thing to consider is how your boss / decision maker reacts to conversations like these. So, not knowing any of those answers, my vanilla suggestion is the following:

Have an open, honest conversation with your boss about the offer, and let him or her know that while you’re not considering it, you feel like it brings to light the fact that you could be making more, and you’d like to discuss a pathway for you to do that. Let them know you’re open to feedback and options that will get you to a higher salary, like the one you were offered, sight unseen.

That’s my $0.02, for what it’s worth.
 
My 2 cents, if you need to use these tactics to get a salary you are happy with the problem is much larger than you think. Needing to strongarm acceptable pay is not a problem with your salary, it is a problem with your employer. If you think it is time to negotiate a better salary, it is actually time to plan your exit strategy.
 
I was in a similar situation not too long ago. I asked my manager if he thought my position was secure and if they were happy with my performance. He said they were pleased and asked why I was enquiring so I told him that I had been contacted by a few different employers asking if I was interested in working for them. I also told him that since they were happy with me I could now turn down the other companies. A week later I got a nice raise and I didn't even ask or push for it.

Just thought I'd share my personal experience.
 
Have an open, honest conversation with your boss about the offer, and let him or her know that while you’re not considering it, you feel like it brings to light the fact that you could be making more, and you’d like to discuss a pathway for you to do that. Let them know you’re open to feedback and options that will get you to a higher salary, like the one you were offered, sight unseen.
Do this.

I own a small business. I’ve given a couple of my staff a rise because they deserved it. They didn’t ask for it but I believe in paying people what they’re worth.

If someone approached me for a raise I’d either

A - agree to it
B - tell them what they need to be doing to merit a raise
C - have them removed by security and UNLEASH THE HOUNDS :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:

(on a serious note, a lot of companies have seen their profits take a huge hit because of covid so there might not be any money in the pot to give you a rise)
 
It should always be a positive and mutually beneficial conversation. Some companies won’t budge, some might.
 
If you 're generally happy, don't ruin the relationship with the employer.
Just refer to the "funny incident" to just make the point you are sought-after, still supposedly taking for granted that you 're staying where you are, out of loyalty and love.
In the very same way you would mention to your wife that another woman has flirted you today (granted you 're not supposedly going to do anything with that or any other woman), just to earn a royal BJ in the evening.
 
I don’t want to hijack this thread, but would y’all mind providing some thoughts on leverage as it applies to job applicants seeking an employee position at a new company (rather than an established employee).
 
Its a topic you want to handle gingerly. You don't want to leave your employer with the impression you aren't happy there or that you are actively looking for other work. These conversations leave a lot of room for misunderstandings and serious fallout (potentially getting let go in the future).

I would try and find a way to bring the information into the conversation at the appropriate time while being very clear that you aren't looking to move anywhere else and are happy where you are but would like to be more fairly compensated.
 
Experiencing something similar right now. A new opportunity presented itself to me the week I returned to regular, weekly work. Wasn’t looking to leave my current job but with a decently significant pay bump and a better benefits package I had to set up an interview.

Spoke to my current boss about it the next day to see if there might be a possible counter offer forthcoming, there wasn’t. I was open and honest about not initially looking to leave, he told me of a situation where he went through the same thing and was very understanding.

TL;DR it all depends on your relationship with your immediate boss/supervisor
 
I don’t want to hijack this thread, but would y’all mind providing some thoughts on leverage as it applies to job applicants seeking an employee position at a new company (rather than an established employee).
As in the job is advertised at a certain salary but you want more?

I’d tell you to fuck off. That kind of behaviour just set alarm bells off for me. When I’m advertising a job it’s not as a starting point for haggling.

Happened to me last week. Guy accepted the job offer then tried to renegotiate the salary. I wished him all the best for the future

I’ve taken people on before and told them I’d increase their salary if they hit certain objectives after 6 months and again after a year.
 
10-15% doesn't scream that you are out of market at current pay. And unless you have a written offer it's not necessarily "real" - recruiters regularly toss out high sides of the range to generate interest.

Also it is a different city - 4 hours away. Is it higher or lower cost of living than where you are at?

If higher, this effectively is a lateral offer and most employers will view it as such.

I spent 20 years in corporate HR in various functions before moving into my current job so happy to answer any questions you have. As with others, unless you are paid significantly under market there is likely more risk here than reward.
 
I get offers from time to time on Linkedin. My indirect way of letting people know about them is with making it a joke. Ill usually just talk about it in a passing way kind of like "hey can you believe xyz down the street wants to hire me lol". This lets my colleagues and bosses know I am not taking outside offers seriously but also kind of puts them on notice that I do have other options available.
 
As in the job is advertised at a certain salary but you want more?

I’d tell you to fuck off. That kind of behaviour just set alarm bells off for me. When I’m advertising a job it’s not as a starting point for haggling.

Happened to me last week. Guy accepted the job offer then tried to renegotiate the salary. I wished him all the best for the future

I’ve taken people on before and told them I’d increase their salary if they hit certain objectives after 6 months and again after a year.
Agreed. You need to talk about salary expectations up front, not at the end.

I just had a recruiter reach out with an interesting offer. I looked up the job and salary info on Glassdoor and mentioned that I was concerned the salary range was too low. We had a conversation, passed numbers around, and moved forward. At multiple steps as we progressed, we danced around salary, but knowing we were in the same ZIP code and not wasting anyone’s time, we continued. In the end, they made an offer that was within what we discussed and I accepted.

PS. As @Lemonzest indicated, keep your LinkedIn profile updated. :)
 
I think my question was more geared towards negotiating a contract before signing @BonScot.

The situation would be something like this....As an unemployed applicant you're considering jobs at two separate employers (same area, same cost of living, same benefits). Both have offered contracts, but you haven't accepted anything. You like job X more than job Y (for whatever non-tangible reason), but it pays 15% less.

Does the fact that you do not yet have an employee-employer relationship at this time impact your willingness to use leverage?
 

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