At no time in recent memory as a negotiation skills speaker, has the economy been more fragile than it is now. I make that statement based on my 30-years’ experience as a negotiation skills speaker, negotiation skills consultant and book author.
If the hybrid workplace wasn’t confusing enough, we have inflation (with the looming possibility of recession), supply-chain issues, shortages of everything from computer chips to wheat, and most troubling a trend called “The Great Walkout.” Employees are saying they are sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Why are they walking out?
Of the many hundreds of thousands who have walked out, the number one reason for the exodus is not about money or benefits. Most employees feel invisible and they’ve given up. They don’t see their companies as a place to grow. They see no mentoring. Many of them feel neither valued or wanted. When more money is “thrown at them” as an appeasement, they walk anyway. In fact, recent articles on the topic point out many workers are quitting new jobs before they have even started!
What can be done about this? Where is all of this craziness leading? I don’t know for sure. BUT, as a negotiation skills consultant and speaker I do know that employees (and, by the way, skilled managers as well as unskilled labor) want to be valued. This point is so important that they are willing to quit rather than to keep silent at the next desk or cubicle or talking to companies from behind their computer screens.
The solution, well before anything happens, is to talk to them. How you treat them, how you talk to them in a mindful, sincere, compassionate manner, is crucial.
Ultimately, a negotiation
In my recent talks on negotiation skills, I often make the point that organizations – especially now – spend so much of their time negotiating new hires and almost no time, negotiating with valued employees who are already in place. Why is that?
How often do managers “take the temperatures” of their staffs to determine how they are doing, how they are feeling about their careers, and what it would take to make their overall experience better?
Salary and benefits do not equal job satisfaction. I know this as so many workers who have abruptly quit share their experiences with me. Other, serious considerations include the need for greater mentorship; the need to have a voice; the need to be appreciated; the need to have management stop wasting their time with useless meetings and the strong desire to be heard.
Ultimately managers must negotiate with employees to get a sense of what their people need, what they are experiencing in the workplace and where they plan on going with their careers. In order to negotiate to get people to stay, managers must negotiate through active listening, response rather than reaction, authenticity and a strong sense of concern. This is not a show, but an imperative.
Know that as you are delivering and receiving messages you are negotiating. In that moment you have a choice. Honor that choice. It will have rewards.
To contact Mike Hourigan, Negotiation Skills Speaker, for an in-person or virtual presentation, please call. Contact Mike today at (704) 875-3030 or fill out the form below.
