Scenario 2A: Salary Negotiation at Lawson & Co

1. Organise participants into groups of 3 and allocate roles (new employee named Amara, HR manager named Zola, observer)
2. Each role has a separate role-play brief. Ensure participants only read their role brief
3. Suggested role-play time is 50 minutes
   • Preparation time: 10 minutes
   • Role-play time: 20 minutes
   • Debrief time (observer to also provide feedback to role players): 10 minutes
   • Group debrief time: 10 minutes

This brief should only be read by the person playing the role of Amara.

Read through the following brief to provide context to the scenario you are role-playing as Amara.

You are Amara. A 30-year-old finance professional who has been looking for a new job after wanting a change from your current organisation. You are keen to continue working in the finance industry in a similar role but want the opportunity to tackle new challenges in a different environment. In terms of your preferred working style, you thrive on working in an office environment but also like to mix up the working location by working from home and different cafes every so often.

You were very excited to learn that a job opening had become available at Lawson & Co in a similar role to the one you had before, however, with a few additional leadership responsibilities. You have heard about many good experiences from others who work there and were particularly keen to learn about their career development opportunities, which were lacking in your previous organisation. After a lengthy recruitment process, you are thrilled that you were successful, and you are now at the stage where you are reviewing your contract details and the all-important salary. A good salary is important to you as you are saving for a house and looking to invest in your future self. You have arranged to meet with the HR manager Zola to negotiate your salary. Whilst you have good negotiation skills, you are feeling a little nervous approaching the discussion with Zola. You know that preparation before the negotiation is key and there are many factors to consider when determining your strategy to approach the negotiation. For example, what is your desired salary amount? What is the lowest you are willing to accept? In contemplating your desired salary, you consider your worth and the experience you bring to the role. After some reflection and researching similar jobs advertised, you establish that your desired salary amount is $100,000 with the lowest you are willing to accept is $90,000. However, depending on what benefits might be included in the salary package, you would be willing to compromise and accept $85,000.

You are now going to meet with Zola to negotiate your salary. All the best with your negotiation!

This brief should only be read by the person playing the role of Zola.  

Read through the following brief to provide context to the scenario you are role-playing as Zola.

You are Zola. The HR manager at Lawson & Co. You have been working at Lawson & Co for 10 years. After the departure of one of your finance employees, you have been undertaking an extensive recruitment process to find a suitable replacement. This is the second recruitment round you have conducted after the first one did not yield a strong candidate. This time was a success and you were happy to offer Amara the role. Amara has the experience and desire required to excel in the role. You have recently emailed Amara the letter of offer that contains the contract details, with the salary to be negotiated. The maximum you can offer Amara is $90,000 and you are keen to initially offer her $85,000. The market rate is currently within the $85,000 to $90,000 range. After a lengthy recruitment process, you know how hard it is to find suitable candidates so you don’t want to lose Amara based on not meeting her salary expectations. So, you are able to include some benefits such as share options, wellness programs, flexible work schedules, and additional weeks of leave (5 weeks annual leave) if needed to assist with the negotiation.

You now going to meet with Amara to discuss her salary. All the best with your negotiation!

As the observer, your role in the scenario is to observe the relationship and conversation between the two players in the negotiation. Part of your role is not to make judgments or interrupt the role play, but rather take notes on the negotiation. Taking observation notes will be a critical part of the debrief, where you are able to provide the role players with your perspective on how the negotiation went. To assist with taking observational notes, here are some questions to consider:

1. Were non-verbal cues utilised? If so, what and by whom?
2. What was the negotiation salary range?
3. Were any negotiation tactics utilised? If so, what and how did the other party respond?
4. What negotiation skills were evident?
5. Did one/both parties need to compromise and if so, explain what and how?
6. Was an agreement reached? What was it?
7. What could the role players do differently in the negotiation?

At the conclusion of the role-play, it is imperative that the participants are given the opportunity to debrief with each other and other role-playing groups. It is also important for the observer to provide the role players with feedback on what they observed in the relationship and conversation between the two players in the negotiation. The debrief should be prefaced by first outlining the importance of feedback in the spirit of learning through action and reflection and not seen as the opportunity to highlight weaknesses or communicate criticism. The following questions can be utilised to guide the debrief process, with the ability to include further content-specific questions on the negotiation process and/or skills in accordance with your curriculum.

1. How did you find the role-play exercise?
2. What did you find difficult about the role-play?
3. What would have helped improve your experience in the role-play?
4. Thinking about your salary negotiation role-play, what would you do differently next time you negotiate?
5. What skills were evident in the role-play?