{"id":2222,"date":"2015-03-23t09:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-23t09:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/?p=2222"},"modified":"2015-03-23t09:00:08","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23t09:00:08","slug":"why-we-dont-negotiate-salary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/blog\/why-we-dont-negotiate-salary\/","title":{"rendered":"why we don\u2019t negotiate salary and neither should you"},"content":{"rendered":"

i\u2019m bhavin parikh, the ceo of magoosh, and i don\u2019t negotiate salaries.<\/strong><\/p>\n

non-negotiable salaries aren\u2019t about selfishness; they\u2019re not about being a greedy, money-hoarding ceo. they\u2019re about setting a tone for your business and your relationships with employees, maintaining a culture of fairness and respect, and ultimately contributing to the well-being of your company for the long term.<\/p>\n

magoosh is proof of that. our company maintains a healthy and happy culture; we have had zero employee turnover in our five-year lifetime<\/del>. (update: we have had some turnover, and while i would have loved for those employees to continue working at magoosh, they’ve made the right decision for their careers. that said, we still have a healthy culture that i’m proud of!)<\/em>
\nwe\u2019ve also been quite successful with an acceptance rate of over 90% on more than 30 job offers. my employees and i are constantly learning, collaborating, and growing together to build our company. we were even named the 2015 happiest company in education<\/a> by tinypulse<\/a>.<\/p>\n

taking a hard stance and saying no to salary negotiation was a scary decision for me, as it would be for any founder or ceo. but ultimately, i knew our company culture would be better for it. in this article, i\u2019ll explain why i disagree with negotiating salaries, what we do instead at magoosh, and why your company would benefit from taking the same approach.<\/p>\n

what\u2019s the problem with negotiating?<\/h3>\n

first, let\u2019s be clear. negotiation in general isn\u2019t bad. in many negotiations you can expand the pie<\/a> or create win-win scenarios. however, we\u2019re talking strictly about salary<\/em> negotiation, and negotiating individual salaries can be a dangerous game.<\/p>\n

as a ceo, i often find myself in positions where i could negotiate salaries for a quick win, especially when it comes to starting pay. i\u2019ve extended offers to promising candidates before, and they\u2019ve come back to negotiate for a few thousand dollars. if i don\u2019t budge in those situations, i risk losing the candidate and having to go through the time-consuming and expensive hiring process<\/a> all over again. it would be easier (and less stressful) for me to concede. and in a growing startup, it\u2019s easy to think: what\u2019s a few thousand dollars per year in the grand scheme of things?<\/p>\n

however, even seemingly small negotiations on starting pay\u2014or on bonuses and raises down the road\u2014open the door to a subjective and unfair compensation process, creating harmful long-term effects. consider these consequences:<\/p>\n