Negotiation Techniques, Social Negotiations – Frédéric Bonneton

France and Negotiation: a Cultural Problem

Frédéric immediately delivers a stark diagnosis: “In France, we don’t like to negotiate and we are very poorly trained to do so”. Our educational system conditions us for 24 years to a culture of merit: if you work hard, you’ll get good grades, a good job, a good salary “because you deserve it”.

This logic of merit is the opposite of the logic of negotiation. “How many employees tell me: I’m not going to negotiate my raise; if my manager doesn’t see that I deserve it, then he’s not good”, Frédéric illustrates. This approach partly explains why French social negotiations are so tense.

From a Society of Trust to a Society of Distrust

The expert provides us with a striking sociological analysis: we have moved from a society of trust to a society of generalized distrust. The evolution of television series symbolizes this transformation: from the 80s with “ER” (a likeable and reliable George Clooney) to the 2000s with “Dr. House” (brilliant because he distrusts everything).

This distrust directly impacts social relations: “When you tell someone that new frozen lasagna has just been released, you can’t help but think of horse meat”. In this context, the key skill becomes distrust, creating fertile ground for tensions.

The Specifics of Social Negotiations

Social negotiations have unique characteristics that make them particularly complex:

First, the paradigm of class struggle: every social negotiation falls within a Marxist logic of labor versus capital, naturally creating a zero-sum, confrontational approach.

Next, the multiplicity of interlocutors: unlike a classic commercial negotiation, you negotiate with several unions of different affiliations, creating permanent alliances and rivalries.

Finally, the issue of representativeness: social partners must constantly prove their legitimacy to their base, sometimes leading to overbidding so as not to be “overwhelmed by spontaneous movements like the Yellow Vests”.

The Method: Content, Process, and Interactions

Frédéric reveals that in any negotiation, content accounts for only 10% of success, process for 40%, and interactions for 50%. However, most HR teams focus solely on content, neglecting the other two crucial dimensions.

The process includes defining roles: who speaks, who listens, who is the “drafter”, how to intervene according to precise technical roles. It is also necessary to prepare one’s proposals and concession levels, by broadening the scope of negotiation beyond a simple percentage increase.

The example of inflation perfectly illustrates this approach: rather than negotiating on “6% inflation”, it’s better to talk about “maintaining purchasing power”, thus opening up various solutions: mobility, working hours, variable pay, purchasing power bonus, etc.

Broadening the Scope to Create Common Ground

One of the keys revealed by Frédéric is to move away from a logic of position towards a logic of common interest. Instead of fighting over a number, it is necessary to identify the underlying intention and broaden the possible solutions.

“If we agree to preserve purchasing power, then the solutions that will enable this will be solutions everyone can agree on,” he explains. This approach allows us to move beyond simplistic demands to address the real complexity of the issues.

In a nutshell…

• French social negotiations suffer from a cultural deficit: we are conditioned for merit, not for negotiation
• Process and interactions account for 90% of a negotiation’s success, much more than technical content
• Broadening the scope of negotiation towards common interests allows for moving beyond sterile confrontational logics

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