Departure negotiation

departure negotiation

Departure negotiation: how to negotiate your exit

Leaving negotiation

Negotiating your departure from a company is a delicate process which success depends upon implementing a tailored strategy. Whether it is voluntary on your part or being pushed out by your company, the fact remains that, if departure negotiation is not prepared well enough, failure and dissatisfaction are almost certain. Some steps need to be carefully designed, planned and executed to get ready to whatever will happen.

Prepare the negotiation to leave

It is key to understand if a negotiation is possible and who specifically will represent the other party as it is important to limit the number of negotiating individuals to avoid waste of your energy and dilution of the decision-making process. Preparing includes a number of steps on your side such as, among others, understanding quite thoroughly your company’s point of view, not revealing your cards as much as possible and identifying the leverage points for you to rely on.

Prepare, prepare, prepare every meeting!

This is about setting up step-by-step objectives towards your global objective(s). Focus on each and every battle rather than only looking at winning the whole war. Each meeting needs to be prepared and rehearsed to work out your arguments and your overall communication including non-verbal. Never forget you will be facing professionals who will catch and use every detail of your behavior. Polish every aspect of how you show yourself in order to be fit for this hurdle race. Never accept too quickly any proposal and take the time to think, any sense of urgency is a bad adviser. Take your time!

Succeeding in departure negotiation

In a nutshell, succeeding requires you to:

  • Check if a negotiation is possible
  • Prepare yourself adequately every step of the way
  • Polish your verbal and non-verbal communication
  • Setup objectives, strategy and tactics.

If you want to walk through this process of departure negotiation with a specialist’s help, please let us know through our contact form.