"If he says, "but you must do both," you are in negotiation mode"

How to Negotiate When Your Company Piles New Tasks on You for No Extra Pay

Gary NorthAug. 22, 2011

A site member is getting squeezed. His boss has added a lot of extra work on him for no extra pay. He describes his situation here.

I'm 27 years old and I work at a company that sells check printing supplies, b2b document management software, electronic health records software, and billing software. Kind of a hodge podge, but I work on marketing and online sales.

I started working on their eCommerce online store to boost sales of check printing supplies 6 months ago on salary + commission. After some of my marketing efforts, the total sales volume has not gone up, even though one product significantly increased in sales while the other continued to steadily decline. Oddly enough this is not stopping any initiates to improve the site and add a whole new set of products on there, and have me handle those projects all by myself. This means I'm getting more of a workload on salary but not any commission because total sales have not increased.

But here's the other thing. A month or two ago they also started assigning me to handle all the competitive research for every product and software we sell for the company. I started by researching our top five major competitors on two of our major products and latest industry trends (using google alerts, social media, RSS feeds etc) and filtering it down for a bi weekly newsletter that goes out to all the executives and management. Well they loved the newsletters, and want those along with deep competitive research for all our products, and a monthly newsletter for each of them. A side intention my boss wanted was that I become so knowledgeable about every product we sell that I become the sort of "go-to-guy" for sales, marketing, and the execs about our product and industry trends, and I'll use that knowledge to do some more marketing projects also (copywriting, marketing videos, etc) while helping the rest of my marketing team.

And on top of that my boss wants to spearhead more PPC campaigns, along with all the eCommerce projects and competitive research I'm doing. The executive team and sales are really pushing for more competitive research information.

Now my thing is I'm getting all these new non-commission responsibilities at no increase in salary, and barely fit it all into a 40 hour work week. The executive team says the newsletters I send out really saves them time in filtering out their own research, and the sales team uses my competitive research in their sales meetings, so I know they see it's valuable.

So I'll soon know every product the company sells in more detail, while delivering valuable info to the sales and exec team, but I didn't increase overall sales on their one eCommerce site. Yet there are projects coming at me. So how I can negotiate for a proper raise to meet my new responsibilities?

http://www.garynorth.com/members/forum/openthread.cfm?forum=21&ThreadID=23975

What if this were happening to you? Maybe it has happened. If so, add your comments to the forum.
There are several factors to consider. First, the basic rule: 40 hours a week for your employer -- no more. The other time is devoted to your own business. The earlier you make this clear to your employer, the better.

Second, can the extra work be shifted over to a personal Website/blog? The idea here is to do the research, but post your findings on your own site. The information you use is public. It can be posted publicly. Instead of supplying it free to your company, give it to the world. Use this to build your reputation in the industry. A lot of people in the industry would like to see it.

Do this on your own time. This way, the extra time that you are investing builds your independent reputation.

Third, mail a link to your site to the people in your company. Tell your boss: "I am doing this on my own time. I am sure this will make me a better employee during normal hours."

If he says, "but we want exclusive rights," you now in a position to negotiate. He wants to get your spare time. Do not sell it to him. The limit: 40 hours a week. That's it. No more. No overtime, except in true emergencies.

If he tries to get it for free, you must then decide what to sell him: swap time for time or else ask for more money. I would take this position: "I need all my office hours for the commissioned projects. The website is where I want to spend my spare time. If you want me to abandon it, you will have to let me do this research instead of other tasks." I do not recommend adding hours to your job. That's for your side business/career.

If you have your own site, you are making it easier to move to a better position, either in your company or at a new firm. When your boss sees that you are in a position to move out on your terms, you will be in a good negotiating position.

He thinks he can squeeze you. Play his game to your advantage. It takes longer this way. You must devote extra time to research. Do this on your time, so your company cannot establish a proprietary claim on your published results.

If he says, "we're paying you for this information," reply, "you are paying me for what I was assigned before last month. I still do it. I like to do it. But to a good job in research, I must work at home." If he says, "but you must do both," you are in negotiation mode. Ask at least 30% more. Settle for 25%. If he says, "no raise. You must do it for free," tell him you want this in writing from the CEO of the firm. Now you've got him. He is being unreasonable. He must get the CEO to back him up in writing.

He is now in all-or-nothing mode. That puts the pressure on him. Will he unilaterally fire you? If he does, post this fact on your blog.

If he is the CEO, tell him that he must decide which he really wants: your research or the commissioned work. This makes it all-or-nothing for both of you.

If he fires you, start sending out your resumé. http://www.garynorth.com/members/8391.cfm.
Always negotiate from this position: "I will not do extra work for free." Let him decide what to do. Make it all-or-nothing on his part. Let him feel the pressure.

If he fires you, the world will know. It will be on your blog. He does not want that. If his is not the CEO, his boss may say, "Why did you fire that man? He was an up-and-comer."

Make him sweat. That is the first rule of negotiating. Make him afraid to lose you. Until your boss is afraid of losing you, you are not in a strong bargaining position.

When he faces pressure if he loses you, ask for significantly more money. Don't settle for 5% when he is afraid. A 5% request means you are afraid. It says, "I know I'm marginal to this firm." Never let them think this.

Negotiation takes time and planning. Invest time in a blog strategy. Then wait for him to come to you. Never go to him.