The secret to getting a pay rise? Don't ask for anything, says expert

The best way to boost your pay is to ask your employer for nothing at all, one man has claimed.

Brooke Allen says he hit upon a formula that 'goes beyond win-win' when he successfully negotiated the best deal of his life by asking for a salary of precisely nothing.

                                     Give-give: Mr Allen claims typical negotiations start from acts of 'selfishness and distrust'

 

His 'give-give' approach - which he says encourages employees and employers to 'care about each other' - involves a starting point of offering the most and asking for the least.

Mr Allen, who has spent 30 years working as a trader and hedge fund manager in the securities industry, described in an article on Qz.com how he decided to take a new approach to negotiating contracts in his efforts to live a debt-free life.

Mr Allen had accepted a job that came with a bonus guarantee working for a unit that was then disbanded almost immediately. He was paid both the guarantee and a severance.

'It was the first time in my career that I was paid more than I delivered, and I felt I was left with a debt I could never repay,' he said.

The typical negotiating approach of both sides demanding something unreasonable and then coming to a compromise 'backfires' because its starting point is 'acts of unreasonableness, selfishness and distrust', Mr Allen said.

Hmmmmmmmmm! I reserve my comments. In Nigeria?