How to influence your salary development
You should be able to influence your salary through your work. When you do a good job and help your organisation to achieve its goals, this should be reflected in a higher salary. Saco-S, of which SULF is a member, has produced a short film about the importance of preparing for your salary-setting dialogue, which you can find by scrolling down this page.
If you would like to see the latest salary statistics, you are welcome to contact your local Saco-S association. You can find the contact details for the association at your higher education institution here. You can also use the Saco-S salary database, Saco lönesök or salary statistics from SULF. To access SULF salary statistics and Saco lönesök (in Swedish) you have to log in with BankID and click on Salary statistics. Below is a light version of Saco lönesök (in Swedish) that is open to everyone.
Preparation, the meeting itself and follow-up
How to prepare for your salary-setting dialogue
1. Be proactive
Contact your head of department to arrange a time for your dialogue meeting. Do not wait for your head of department to get in touch with you.
2. Assess yourself
- Assess your performance against set targets. What have you done to improve your skills for your own benefit and for the benefit of the department over the past year? How much overtime do you work? Don’t forget all the ad hoc tasks – referrals that need responding to, unexpected teaching duties etc.
- Assess the nature and content of your work, for example budget responsibility, staff management, project management, course development, IT skills, leadership/supervision training, research activities, work on integrating a gender equality perspective and so on.
- Assess your personal qualifications in terms of qualities such as initiative, teamwork and leadership skills.
- Assess your skills in relation to the role you hold or have applied for. What is your level of education? What other qualifications do you have? Often, the employer will have already assessed these when they offered you the position. Use this to your advantage.
3. Assess your ‘market value’
Compare your pay level and salary development with others. You can find information on salary statistics here. You can also contact your local union representative. Take your experience into account as well. How sought-after are your knowledge, skills and experience at other workplaces?
4. Summarise your assessment
Write your own salary analysis, highlighting your strengths and weaknesses. Then use your analysis as a starting point for the dialogue with your head of department.
How to conduct a salary-setting dialogue
1. Present your demands
Share your summary salary analysis with your line manager, preferably in writing. Remember – the salary-setting dialogue is just a dialogue, not a negotiation.
2. Link your demands to your performance
Start with the targets you set during your preparations for the meeting, or the requirements of your role. Describe how well you believe you have met these targets/requirements. Also mention any changes – in terms of skills and responsibilities – that have impacted your work. Discuss the future as well: requests for changes to your duties, competence development etc. Follow up on the preceding development dialogue without entering into a new discussion about the future.
3. Summarise the meeting
Write down what you and your line manager agree on and what you disagree on. It is best to summarise this in writing. It will then be useful for future salary dialogues. Be as specific as possible – avoid generalisations.
How to follow up your salary-setting dialogue
1. Analyse the meeting
Identify what distinguishes your own assessment from your manager’s. Is there scope for positive development? In which areas do you need to develop your skills further?
2. Evaluate your performance
Carefully note down the arguments against your demands. You can then focus on these in your preparation for the next round of salary-setting dialogues. Also, try to assess your own preparations: were you sufficiently prepared? Write down your thoughts and keep them for future reference.
3. Inform your local trade union association
Your salary-setting dialogue and those of your colleagues provide local negotiators with background information, statistics and arguments that can support the negotiation process. It is therefore important that you share your experiences.
4. Once your new salary has been decided, your manager should be able to justify it
Questions and answers about inflation
In your salary-setting dialogue, you should focus on your achievements and refer back to what you agreed in your development dialogue. Your goals and your performance provide the basis for your salary development.
Arguments such as “my electricity bill is really high” or “food prices have gone up so much” are not relevant, as these are not salary criteria that should be part of the basis for your salary review.
The agreements that make up the Swedish salary model are not linked to inflation. This means that during periods of low inflation, you may see better salary growth. In the past 10 years, members of the Saco-S collective, (which includes SULF), have received an average salary increase of 17 per cent above inflation.
You can find more information on inflation and salary growth here (in Swedish).