Clarify your objectives before negotiating your departure from your company

Clarify your objectives before negotiating your departure from your company

Clarify your objectives before negotiating your departure from your company

Introduction

When you’ve got a rough idea of what you want globally, when the right time has come, when you see on what grounds opening the dialogue, it’s key to detail what you want to obtain from this negotiation before engaging the process, set up priorities, define the show stoppers and imagine plan B’s.

Don’t think there will be time to prepare all this when the other party will make proposals as one can only get what one has imagined beforehand specially when you’ve initiated he negotiation.

So, what do you want to get? Here are some useful questions:

  • What’s an objective as part of this negotiation?
  • What must notbe an objective?
  • Change problems into objectives
  • Don’t confuse your objectives and your rights, your needs and your rights, your desires and the satisfaction of these desires.
  • How what you’ve got a right to can be an objective?
  • Transform a problem into an opportunity
  • How can you be sure that your objectives fit you?
  • How can you know if these objectives are realistic?
  • Why prioritize your objectives?
  • How to get Plan Bs and being creative?

Coaching to negotiate your exit from your company

So many questions! Let’s get a glance on the first 2 for the purpose of this article.

What’s an objective as part of this negotiation?

An objective addresses the What? question.The How? is strategy. Let’s have a look into 2 of the many aspects that can come into play.

Financial aspects:

In the case of a departure, objectives can be: an undone but paid notice period, the services of an outplacement agency, some help into setting up a business, a severance package that goes beyond common practice …

In the case of a recruitment, the financial package is of course key as it must reflect your know-how, experience, market standards, company policy … and is also somehow limiting as considering this aspectonlywould prevent or distract you from reaching other objectives such as reducing / covering risks.

Risk assessment / covering:

He vast majority of all negotiations are about the $/€ package (fixed, variable, bonuses, benefits, golden parachute, shares …) but very few target its durability.

For example (this mostly applies to the French market):

  • Stretching the notice period from 3 to 6 months covers the risk of not finding a new job quickly enough and gives you time to bounce back.
  • Reduce or suppress the trial period is a risk reduction specially when you’re hunted and are about to quit your current job, meaning take an important risk for your career. This is clearly not the usual ways in France but a win/win deal is a balance point in which risks are fairly shared.

Now all this assumes that risks have been analyzed beforehand and that you’ll be able to present yours legitimately for the other party to accept their share. Please refer to this other article “Legitimate all your requests”.

So, defining something as an objective in the first place is a prerequisite to obtain it.

What must not be an objective?

  • Revenge or grudge.
  • The desire to hurt.
  • The desire to harm individual(s) or a company.

Now these feelings may understandably be there in case of difficult negotiations or as a response to unacceptable behaviors which unfortunately may be found. But if these dynamics are what animate you, the negotiation will not be beneficial to you.

As a matter of fact, the “I’m right, you’re wrong” dynamic is by essence a logic of conflict. This may be, though, a deliberate choice as part of a strategy to use the conflict (or the fear of) as a leverage on the other party but you’ve got to know what you’re doing.

Conclusion

Be clear on what you want to obtain beforeengaging into an important negotiation is the best way to get it.

To know more on the topic of clarify your objectives before negotiating your departure from your company or to contact a coach specialized in departure negotiation please use the enclosed contact form.

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