China HR strains and falling sales make for volatile negotiations.
Bob walks into his boss’ office to discuss compensation. Boss turns conversation into an impromptu performance evaluation and an on-the-spot change of job description. Tensions ensue and escalate. Bob quits. Cost to keep Bob? A bump of rmb 3,000 and 2 extra days off a month. Cost to replace Bob? We’ll let you know when they finally find someone.
Some things in life require bold, spontaneous action. For everything else, there is negotiation training.
Managing smart means taking advantage of every opportunity to boost productivity and build a more efficient team. Old school management platitudes like “raises come faster to those who don’t ask for them” or “show me what you can do – then I’ll think about promoting you” make a lot more sense back home in the US then in Shanghai. Remember – you are fighting two HR trends simultaneously. On the one hand, you want to retain good people so that they can help you grow your operation. On the other hand, you need to control costs. Good managers will treat every negotiation as an opportunity to strike a balance between these two competing goals.
Five useful tactics for internal negotiation:
1) Listen
I know – this may be a radical departure from the norm for some of you out there, but this can really save you money, time and bad feelings. Just because the guy across the table is talking about money or compensation doesn’t necessarily mean he is jumping ship or demanding a 50% pay raise. It might be that – but you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Sometimes people just want to talk, other times they want reassurance or have legitimate questions. What is his goal? Until you know, you aren’t negotiating – you’re just arguing.
2) Choose your battles
This is one of those great rules that make complete sense after it’s already too late. Over-scheduled senior managers try to take care of many outstanding issues at one time. Middle managers might introduce their request for a raise or promotion with a laundry list of organizational problems or extra work they have had to do to correct them. If you turn this into a point-by-point debate, then you should expect your conversation to be long, painful and hostile.
3) Linkages get messy
The guy asking for a raise or a promotion has come in late twice in the last quarter and completely blew what you though was going to be an easy sale back in June. Now you’re feeling clever by delaying action until you see progress in those areas. The good news is that you’ll succeed in delaying the raise. The bad news is that you have turned the process into a disciplinary hearing and not an opportunity to set goals or discuss the future. You should also not be surprised if this tack results in mutual accusations, fault-finding and retribution.
4) Watch the power imbalance
You say “honest and constructive dialogue”. He says, “arrogant bullying”. This is particularly important when managing cross-cultural negotiations – especially when an American boss is negotiating with a Chinese. Europeans can also be sensitive to this. And Canadians. Come to think of it, this warning applies to just about everyone but New Yorkers. You may see yourself as the “cool, with-it team leader”, but your team might see you as “cruel, wicked Dear Leader” – at least some of the time. Negotiations tend to be one of those times. This is a perfect opportunity it try out some of that ’sensitivity’ nonsense that you’re always hearing about.
5) Have a goal.
That goal probably shouldn’t be getting your employees to feel sorry for you for working so hard. First question – what do you want to do with the guy across the table ? Do you want to expand his role, maintain the status quo, or ease him out of the picture? Decide carefully. It’s ok to schedule another meeting – but be clear on your own goals for the meeting. Hint: thwarting his request is a pretty weak goal.