V Skill HF-D2.3-002 transversal 10 skills
Negotiating
Reaching an agreement with one or more parties by exploring interests, using trade offs and consciously holding agreed limits.
How hrmforce measures this
- Assessment method
- Assessment centre · rho 0.29 (SD 0.09)
- hrmforce instrument
- Conflict Styles, Competency Check
- Competency (50-framework)
- Negotiation
- Trainability
- medium
- Demand outlook 2026 to 2030
- stable
Multiple exercises, multiple assessors, dimension-wise scoring.
Behavioural anchors
| Level | Behaviour at this level |
|---|---|
| N1 Guided | Negotiates delivery time or price within fixed margins and refers any deviation to the manager. works under supervision and follows instruction · routine, one variable at a time · own task |
| N3 Proficient | Prepares a range and a fallback option beforehand, trades points of unequal weight and closes with written confirmation. sets own approach and seeks input proactively · several variables, some ambiguity · own team or process |
| N5 Leading | Leads negotiations on multi year contracts or employment terms, sets the mandate and defines the negotiating line for the organisation. sets the standard and the policy · strategic, under high uncertainty · organisation, value chain or profession |
N2 and N4 are deliberately not anchored. Raters place them between the anchors, following the O*NET convention.
Underlying skills
These skills inherit the assessment route and the behavioural anchors of this construct.
| T | Skill | Definition | Demand outlook 2026 to 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|
| V | Exploring interests behind positions Exploring interests · Interests versus positions | Uncovers through questioning which underlying interest a party wants to protect with its position. | stable |
| V | Determining the BATNA BATNA · Best alternative to agreement | Determines in advance the best alternative if the negotiation fails and uses it as a floor. | stable |
| V | Setting the bargaining range ZOPA · Bargaining range | Determines own target and limit and estimates the counterparty's range. | stable |
| V | Setting the opening offer Opening offer · First offer anchoring | Sets a first offer that is ambitious yet defensible and supports it with a norm or comparison. | stable |
| V | Using trade offs Trade offs · Log rolling | Trades points of little cost to own side against points of high value to the other party. | stable |
| V | Pacing concessions Concession management · Pacing concessions | Gives concessions step by step, always in exchange for something, and records the state after each step. | stable |
| V | Applying principled negotiation Principled negotiation · Harvard method | Negotiates on interests and objective criteria and separates the person from the problem. | stable |
| V | Conducting a price negotiation Price negotiation · Commercial bargaining | Negotiates price, volume tiers and terms with knowledge of market prices and own margin. | stable |
| V | Negotiating with suppliers Supplier negotiation · Procurement negotiation | Negotiates with suppliers on price, lead time, warranty and penalty clauses within procurement policy. | stable |
| V | Recording the negotiated outcome Recording agreements · Term sheet | Records the agreements reached at once in a memo or contract amendment and has them confirmed. | stable |