Negotiation Skills Training Workshops
With
over twenty-five years of proven industry experience, the
Negotiations
Training Institute of America is the recognized leader in negotiations
training, consulting and performance coaching. Through public open
enrollment workshops and private on-session training sessions, we
have helped leading corporations, non-profit organizations and governmental
agencies improve their ability to
negotiate
better outcomes for their constituencies.
First-time
negotiators as well as those with the greatest
competitive
drive and amount of first-hand experience and
negotiations
wisdom can benefit from our time-tested workshops. Whether focusing
on
negotiating
a contract with a vendor or jumping in to the often-stressful
car buying process to
deal
with a dealership, our classes provide useful skills, proven techniques
and various classroom role plays to help you
become
more aware of negotiations that you must face on a daily basis.
For more information on our negotiation skills training workshops please
contact us.
What
If I'm 'Toast' In The Morning?
Negotiating Your Way Through Job Insecurity
Job security isn't what
it used to be. While many companies have gone through several cycles
of down-sizing or 'right-sizing' to be more politically correct
there is no way to be certain that just because you have survived
thus far, your job will be there in the morning.
Since "job security"
became an oxymoron in the English lexicon, many are feeling as if
they have little control over their economic futures. Doing your
homework and researching your options, and exploring your personal
and professional goals will help you regain a sense of having some
say in your destiny.
Negotiating the minefield
of the current job market requires clear vision, self-confidence,
and good preparation. You need to have a good sense of the alternatives
available to you -- or in the parlance of negotiators -- your BATNA,
your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement must be assessed
before you are informed of your employer's creative strategies for
increasing the company's bottom line profits at the expense of your
annual income.
Perhaps the ugliest "offer"
folks are facing in a variety of industries is an "opportunity"
to stay in their present jobs but for lower pay. What, for example,
would you do if your employer demanded that you take a 25 percent
cut in pay if you wanted to keep your job? The day this is question
is posed, is not the day to begin thinking about your alternatives
or wishing you'd monitored your job security when you still believed
you had some.
Just as in any negotiation,
preparation is the key to success.
The first step in preparing
for your future now, even if you are in the middle or end of the
career game, are the same questions you presumably asked yourself
when you were young, inexperienced, and thought the world was your
oyster. And if you didn't do it then, get introspective now by asking
yourself the following questions:
Why am I in my current job? What rewards does it offer that make
it attractive to me? If I had my choice, how would I spend my time?
Is there a way a hobby or other interest could yield financial and
other rewards that look good compared to my present job situation?
If you have thought about
the questions suggested above, you will have a better sense of the
trade-offs you need to consider in deciding whether to accept a
pay cut. Your strategy should be based on your assessment of the
overall situation.
If this pay cut has a
specific duration you may feel the short-term pain is justified
by the likelihood of long-term gain For example, if your original
pay will be restored once the corporation makes a profit or achieves
other benchmarks, and if you feel that is likely to happen within
a reasonable time, a pay cut now may be an acceptable choice. You
may also 'resurrect' your pay through own efforts such as increased
productivity, bringing about a particular deal, or finding other
ways to save the company money.
A pay cut may also be
less painful if you can get your company to agree to such compensation
as flexible work hours, a more attractive set of choices in such
areas as health insurance, retirement plans, vacation options, or
similar compensation elements.
At the same time you
are exploring options within your company, you need to refer back
to your BATNA, one or more alternatives that may become more attractive
when the financial rewards for working at your current job are reduced.
You need to find out what kinds of resources are available for supporting
you if your current job ends. Is the company offering any cash incentives
for leaving? In addition, you ought to find out how your health
insurance coverage and any other company-subsidized insurance
could be impacted by a change in your employment.
If a layoff is what is
going to happen, you need to make sure it is structured so that
you are eligible for unemployment compensation. Since this costs
your company money in most instances; perhaps they can offer you
an incentive to convince you to leave your job rather than be treated
as a firing. If such incentives exist, there may be ways to protect
yourself get a more attractive severance package or negotiate
other continuing benefits so that you and your employer part company
more even-handedly.
You should be in a constant
state of readiness for a job change. Learn what you can about the
job market in your profession both in your local market and
in other places to which you could move. Being a 'techie' in Silicon
Valley is far less saleable than having technical skills to offer
where they are scarce. If you maintain a constant state of preparedness
for tough times, you will be better able to cope with the decision-making
involved when offered a choice between less pay or no job. Thus
you need to keep your eye on the job market both within your current
field and your current geographic area as well as other fields
and locales.
Since an increasing number
of people change the direction of their careers during their working
life, remember it is a normal thing to do and does not carry a stigma.
As long as you know there's butter to soften the blow, being toast
may not be such a bad thing.
Steven P.
Cohen
For Negotiation
Skills Seminar information please
contact
us.
Related:
Negotiation Course
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