We understand HR has never been more commercial
From our deep-rooted foundations built 50 years ago at the tough tables of trade union negotiations, Scotwork continues to help organisations and HR and IR professionals across the globe improve their negotiating outcomes.
Today’s HR teams are expected to attract and retain talent, negotiate with unions, manage enterprise bargaining, resolve workplace disputes, influence executives, support major organisational change and protect culture… all while balancing legal obligations and commercial performance.
Every one of these responsibilities relies on your ability to negotiate effectively. To set your team up for success and support them in the negotiation.
Are you in damage limitation?
If your enterprise bargaining strategy begins with the question “What’s the smallest pay increase we can offer without triggering protected industrial action?”
…you’re probably not negotiating, instead you are in ‘damage limitation’ mode, and that is rarely a winning business strategy because it assumes the organisation will take a hit. The only question is how big?
Scotwork negotiators start somewhere very different.
At Scotwork, we help HR teams move from reactive and positional bargaining (which can sometimes look like slow surrender!) to strategic negotiation, equipping them to protect relationships while achieving improved commercial and organisational outcomes.
Internal alignment: the negotiation before the negotiation
The most important negotiation often happens before you meet the other side.
HR is frequently responsible for bringing together executives, finance, operations, legal and business leaders who each have different priorities, risks and measures of success.
Without internal alignment, mixed messages emerge, authority becomes unclear, concessions are made inconsistently and negotiations become harder than they need to be.
Scotwork equips HR professionals with the tools to build consensus, challenge assumptions, surface competing interests and create a clear negotiating strategy before external discussions begin.
When everyone enters the negotiation with shared objectives and a common plan, your organisation negotiates with greater confidence, consistency and impact.
Negotiation skills & strategies built for HR
For more than 50 years, Scotwork has helped organisations prepare for their most important negotiations.
Our programs are highly practical, using realistic workplace negotiations that reflect the conversations HR professionals face every day.
Participants learn how to:
- Prepare strategically before difficult conversations
- Align internally and negotiate as a team
- Surface interests instead of arguing positions
- Manage difficult behaviours and emotional conversations
- Achieve difficult positions while protecting relationships
- Surface and deploy negotiating power collaboratively
- Avoid protected industrial action (handle deadlock constructively)
- Instead of eroding profit, deliver improved commercial outcomes
- Negotiate confidently under pressure
More than 80% of the program is practical negotiation, supported by personalised coaching and video feedback.
More than just a course!
Scotwork doesn’t just develop better negotiators, we help organisations execute better.
Alongside our internationally recognised skills programs, we work with leadership teams to pressure test negotiation strategies, challenge assumptions, identify hidden sources of leverage and prepare for high-stakes negotiations before they begin.
We’ve helped large listed companies reshape their negotiation strategy for enterprise bargaining, supplier negotiations, major customer contracts and organisational change.
Because sometimes the biggest improvement doesn’t come from teaching people how to negotiate better, it comes from helping them execute the strategy right.
BENCHMARK YOUR TEAM
See how much further your negotiators can go
Ever wondered how effectively your team or organisation negotiates? Are they above or below proven best practice? Where do they lose value or risk valuable relationships? What are their priorities – what needs fixing first?
Our online Negotiation Skills Capability Survey tells you how to immediately and consistently maximise negotiator performance.
BEHAVIOURAL STYLE
Unlock your full negotiation potential
What’s your natural negotiating style? This style influences how we negotiate, making some aspects feel natural and others more challenging.
Our profiling model highlights your preferred approach to allow you to adapt to become a more versatile negotiator.