The foundation of almost every productive team is a strong leader. As a business owner or manager, it is important to establish effective leadership techniques to operate your team well. Your employees will be looking up to you to create boundaries and unify the group.

If you are not acting as a strong leader then it is time that you start! Here are a few leadership techniques to build a great working team.

Stay Consistent

Consistency is key. A consistent leader is more trustworthy and creates clearer expectations for the team to make decisions. To be consistent, you must reward the same behaviors, discourage other behaviors, and treat every team member equally.

Use Thoughtful, Concise, and Accurate Communication

Communication can dictate the success of almost any type of relationship. Make sure that you are using thoughtful, concise, and accurate communication when you relay any type of message with your team. This includes emails, phone calls, and in-person discussions.

Publicly Reward Hard Work

Public acknowledgement reassures employees that their hard work is being noticed. Reward your employee with a bonus, PTO, or gift when they perform superior work. See our article on employee rewards for more ideas.

Be a Good Example

Live by example! I am sure that is a phrase you have heard before. If you want your team to arrive on-time than you must arrive on-time. As a leader or manager, the team is looking at you to set the expectations for the company.

Encourage All Opinions and Ideas

Do not discourage employees from expressing their ideas, concerns, or opinions. Different perspectives can create new ideas that benefit the company.

Establish the Goal of Working as a Team

Setting goals is imperative to evaluate the performance of your team. Your goals should be according to your organization’s needs, such as cut costs, drive skills, or increase revenue. Defining goals can help your team work together toward a common objective.

Use the SMART framework to create achievable goals:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-Bound

Create Ground Rules for the Team

When multiple people spend 40+ hours together, there needs to be ground rules. Your ground rules help create unison and clear expectations for your employees.

Examples of Ground Rules at the Office

• Be on time
• Every team member has the right to make a suggestion
• Dress code

Remain as Transparent as Possible

Your employees want a leader that they can trust. If you withhold information or lie you will jeopardize the relationship with your team.

Show You Care

To be viewed as someone who is a leader they want to follow and be loyal to you need to show that you care about them as well. Spend a little time to get to know the people on your team and what drives them. Once they know you care about them, they will care more about helping you achieve your goals as well.

Leadership habits can determine the success of their team. If you are a manager or business owner, evaluate whether you are practicing strong leadership techniques. A few changes may improve the cohesiveness of your team, therefore helping you reach your company goals.

Meetings are a powerful tool that can increase the productivity of your workplace. However, many managers fail to organize efficient meetings.

If you are a business professional than you probably have experienced a poorly run meeting. After all, the United States holds 11 million formal business meetings per day and $37 billion is wasted in meetings per year. If you are a manager that is organizing meetings, it is important to know how to deliver meetings that benefit your company.

The following tips can help you create more effective meetings in the workplace:

Know the Objective of Your Meeting

A meeting must have a specific goal. Ask yourself these questions:

“What do I intend to accomplish?”
“Are you alerting people to a change in management or a shift in strategy?”
“Are you seeking input from others on a problem facing the company?”
“Are you looking to arrive at a decision on a particular matter?”

Before you arrive at the meeting, know your objective and present it clearly to your employees. If your objective is a status update, consider if it can be sent over email.

Create Written Agenda in Advance

A written agenda is a great method to prevent vague intentions. Provide the written agenda to employees a day in advance. It should include:

• Goal of Meeting
• Topics to be Discussed
• Materials/Documents that Could Give Employees a Better Idea of Meeting Background

Try putting your agenda in a template if you have weekly meetings. Templates can save hours in preparation time.

Stick to a Time Schedule

Time is money. Stick to a time schedule to ensure that you address each topic in a timely manner. Meetings can easily become careless, unfocused, and filled with “small talk” if you do not create a time schedule.

Your timeline should an outline of your agenda with the certain amount of time for each topic. Remember that you are paying your employees for their time so do not waste your own money.

Ban Technology

Engaging your employees will probably be one of the most difficult things to accomplish in your meetings. If people are bringing their smartphones or tablets into meetings then they will not be focused on you. They could be checking their emails, sending texts, and even on Facebook. Eliminate the technology to eliminate the distractions.

Start on Time, End on Time

Time is limited. Your employees will appreciate if you can respect their schedule. Make sure to start and end meetings on time. This way, people will be more respectful of your meetings and make more of an effort to attend.
Tip: Do not schedule meetings longer than an hour. Sixty minutes is generally as long as people can stay engaged on a topic.

Make sure that you are running efficient meetings. Your employees will appreciate it, and you can increase the productivity that a great company requires.

Communication is one of the biggest complaints candidates have throughout the recruiting and interviewing process, and is one of the key reasons you may be missing out on some of the best candidates. It is important to use a recruiter who establishes a strong communication system with employers and candidates and keeps both sides informed at each step of the process. This can prevent you from losing valuable candidates.

Important Steps to Remember

Your recruiter should be following up with candidates after an interview and providing you feedback from the candidate’s perspective.

Many recruiters tell their clients, “I will let you know when I have news,” but that is not good enough. Your candidate should hear from you within 1-2 days to do a debrief of their interview experience. It is respectful to the candidate and keeps them engaged with your position, but also gives you valuable feedback on how your company and interview team are being perceived by candidates. It is also the first chance to identify and clarify any possible “miscommunications” that may have come up during the interviews.

Many recruiters or hiring managers choose to use email to follow up with candidates, and that is certainly a good option and better than no contact with them at all, but you get a much better picture of where things stand by having an actual conversation with the candidate. That is where a good recruiter can use their relationship with the candidate to get honest feedback for you on the interview and also see if they are interviewing elsewhere and if there may be other competitors for this candidate.

If you choose to use an email to follow up with candidates after an interview, here is a template that you can use to follow-up on an interview:

Dear [X],

We would like to thank you for coming in to interview with our team. We are in the process of collecting feedback from all of the interview team members to let you know their decision, and it may take a few more days to hear from everyone, but I didn’t want you to think I had forgotten about you.

You may have questions for me, and I hope you’ll let me know if that is the case. I will be in touch as soon as the interview team’s feedback is complete, but I am always happy to answer your questions in the meantime.

Thanks and have an outstanding day!

Yours,
[X]

This simple email made a positive difference in the candidate’s interview experience.

The stronger the candidate, the stronger the expectations. Make sure you are using a recruiter that builds a strong communication system with your candidates.

Jeff King of RQ Focus follows through with each candidate to make sure you know how the he or she feels about your company and opportunity, and helps you prepare an offer for your chosen candidate that is fair and will be accepted. His professional methodologies help ensure that you hire the highest-quality candidate.

Since Recruiters are paid strictly on a commission basis, we are constantly evaluating our workload to determine where we should be focusing our efforts. We do this for two reasons: 1) to ensure our client company’s needs are being met, and 2) to ensure a placement is made, and a commission is earned.

The elements of a search assignment that we use as a basis of our evaluation are as follows:

• An urgent need to fill the position.
• A well defined and realistic idea of the job candidate you are looking for.
• An open line of communication with the hiring manager.
• A commitment to work as a team to attract and hire top talent.
• Prompt return of phone calls and feedback on job candidates submitted and interviewed.
• A fair and competitive salary is being offered.
• The company is attractive to potential job candidates.
• A fair fee agreement has been signed.

When we receive a job order, we evaluate these elements to categorize the search into one of three classifications:

“A” Search – This classification means the search contains all of these elements. This type of search will get our full attention, meaning we will:

• Conduct a thorough search of our database of current, qualified job candidates.
• Conduct a search of our database of job candidates we know that have the right background, but are not yet qualified job candidates.
• Tap into our networks for referrals to qualified job candidates.
• Cold calling into competitor companies to lure their employees to your opportunity.
• Give weekly updates as the search progresses.

“B” Search – This classification means there are some elements missing, but it’s still a pretty good search. It will still get our attention, but takes a back seat to the A searches. For this type of search we will:

• Conduct a thorough search of our database of current, qualified job candidates.
• Conduct a search of our database of job candidates we know that have the right background, but are not yet qualified job candidates.
• Keep the position in mind as we recruit for our A client companies.
• Submit job candidates only after our A client companies have had first right of refusal for them.

“F” Search – This classification means most or all of the elements are missing. It’s not important to the client company, so it’s not important to us. For this type of search we will:

• Keep the position in mind as we recruit for our A and B client companies.
• Submit possible job candidates only after the A and B client companies have had first right of refusal.

ACTIONS THAT LOWER A CLIENT COMPANY’S CLASSIFICATION

Let’s elaborate on some of the search elements listed above, and how a client company’s actions can reduce the attractiveness of a search assignment.

Prompt Feedback on Job Candidates

If it takes more than 2 or 3 days to get some initial feedback on a job candidate, it can kill the momentum and interest the Recruiter has worked so hard to instill in the job candidate. It also tells the Recruiter that filling this position is not urgent. Also, the better job candidates usually have other options. There is ALWAYS a need for top talent and they will most likely choose to go to a place that shows interest in them and appears more organized during the interviewing process.

Bottlenecks in Communication

If a Recruiter is told “you have to direct all communications through HR”, in most cases that will drop the search to at least a B level search, if not an F. This is not an insult to HR departments, but is more indicative of the problems with this type of approach. The person in HR is usually a lower level person that may not fully understand what a hiring manager is looking for in a job candidate, and probably also has several other open requisitions on their desk, as well as other duties outside of the recruiting process. Often times these people are overworked and outside of their area of expertise. It’s inefficient to ask them to funnel the appropriate job candidates to you when they might not know what that job candidate looks like, or how to select them.

Also, as part of matching a possible job candidate to a company and job, a Recruiter needs to have some contact with the hiring manager to get a feel for personality fits and departmental culture (management style, departmental priorities in the coming months, etc.). HR should certainly by kept in the loop in all communications and activities with the job candidates, but if that is the ONLY communications allowed with a client company, it is extremely rare that that client company will ever get to the “A” priority.

Too Much Authority in the Wrong Hands

In cases where a lower level HR representative is given the authority to review job candidate resumes, or conduct an initial phone interview, and then make the decision of whether or not the hiring manager will even see the job candidate’s resume, we will decline the search 90% of the time. This may seem like a stream lined approach to recruiting, but it often backfires in the following ways:

• VERY few people in the lower levels of HR have a strong enough understanding of the roles of Regulatory, Clinical, and Quality to be able to decide who is a good job candidate and who isn’t.
• An HR employee or contract Recruiter intentionally stalling on a Recruiter’s job candidate to see if they can find someone stronger by themselves to preserve job security.
• An HR employee showing favoritism for a particular search firm’s job candidate because they like that search firm better, or got a nice gift basket from them.

The hiring manager misses out on some very good job candidates and is unaware any of this is going on. The Recruiter can move on to another search assignment, but the client company’s job remains open.

If One Recruiter is Good, Maybe Five Would Be Better

Don’t count on it. You may be thinking that you will have more eyes and ears in the market looking for you, however, there is a limited supply of job candidates in the Regulatory, Clinical, and Quality fields, and even fewer that are considered top talent. If several Recruiters are calling the same people, two things will happen; none of which are good for you.

First – the qualified pool of job candidates will begin to wonder what’s wrong with that company, thinking that they are really desperate needing so many Recruiters because:

1. The opportunity isn’t very appealing.
2. The company must be disorganized.
3. The job opening has an overwhelming workload, and no one else wants to step into that situation.
4. The company is looking for just any “warm body” to fill the position.

Second – the Recruiters will hear that these job candidates are getting calls from several other Recruiters for this position, and they will immediately drop them to a B or F level search.

You may think you have 4, 5, or 10 Recruiters out there working for you when in fact you have 4, 5, or 10 Recruiters that have placed your search on the back burner and have moved on to searches that have a better chance of being filled.

Cutting the Recruiter Out of the Interview Process

This is one that really makes no sense and, luckily, doesn’t happen too often. The Recruiter submits a job candidate you like and you want to interview them. You decide to handle setting up the interviews and contacting the job candidate yourself, without involving the Recruiter. It sends the message you don’t trust the Recruiter. Even more important, you shut yourself off to the inside knowledge the Recruiter has already obtained during their screening process to see if the job candidate is right for your job. For example, we inquire as to whether the job candidate is motivated by salary, title, a new set of responsibilities, etc. Job candidates are less guarded about discussing their concerns with their Recruiter than they would be with a potential employer. If the job candidate gets hired, you still have to pay the Recruiter’s fee – why not get the absolute most for your money? Let the trained Recruiter do their job and earn their fee.

Deteriorating Facilities

You may think this is not very relevant to the decision-making process for a job candidate that is considering an offer from a company, but it’s actually in the top 3 or 4 factors on their list. A job candidate is not only looking for a good opportunity, with a chance to progress in their career, but also a pleasant place to spend 40+ hours a week of their lives. If the building is run down, dimly lit, and depressing, you are fighting an uphill battle in the war for talent.

When we have a job candidate turn down an offer, and the money, title, and scope of responsibilities are all in line with what they are looking for, the next reasons that come up are either the commute, or the facilities. After a job candidate’s first interview, we always ask them if they can picture themselves working for the company. If they say “not without getting a good shrink”, you will have a difficult time getting them on board and offering more money probably won’t do the trick.

Reverse the roles for a minute and consider this. If a job candidate came in to interview for a job wearing ripped jeans and a tee shirt with their favorite band on the front, and had little life to their personality, chances are you would pass on that job candidate. Even if they have the perfect background for the job, and you also have another really good job candidate (but not quite as good as the sloppier job candidate) that is in contention for the job, who showed up dressed much more professionally, you will most likely choose the one that made the better impression. It’s no different for a job candidate considering a new job.

Too Many Decision Makers in the Interview Process

The more people involved in the interviewing process that get to cast a deciding vote, the more likely the job is going to remain open for a very long time, or possibly never get filled. While you will want the job candidate meet with all of the people that are considered critical, and the people they will be working directly with, you should try to limit the number of people that can cast a “deciding” vote to 2 or 3. Any more than that and you significantly decrease your chances of getting a unanimous approval.

If you’ve had some difficulties getting results from recruiters on past searches, maybe you can look back and see where some of these elements may have contributed to the poor results. Or if a recruiter was doing a good job for you and then stopped producing, call them and ask if anything has changed on your search. Sometimes things are going well with the recruiter and the hiring manager, but they keep running into roadblocks or getting different instructions from HR (or vice versa) causing enough confusion and conflict to lower your search ranking.

Of course, it could also be that you were choosing the wrong recruiter for the job. But that’s a discussion for another article.

If you have comments or a story to share, we would love to hear them. And if you have questions, we would love to hear them too.

The following article was written by Paul Hawkinson back in the mid 1990’s and is still very relevant today. Paul was an HR Executive and Executive Recruiter for many years. His experience of being on both sides of the fence gave him a perspective of what happens when counteroffers are extended and accepted. I hope you find it helpful.

– Jeff King

Counteroffer Acceptance: Road to Career Ruin
By: Paul Hawkinson

Mathew Henry, the 17th-century writer said, “Many a dangerous temptation comes to us in fine gay colors that are but skin deep.” The same can be said for counteroffers, those magnetic enticements designed to lure you back into the nest after you’ve decided it’s time to fly away. The litany of horror stories I have come across in my years as an executive recruiter, consultant and publisher, provides a litmus test that clearly indicates counteroffers should never be accepted. EVER!

I define a counter offer simply as an inducement from your current employer to get you to stay after you’ve announced your intention to take another job. We’re not talking about those instances when you receive and offer but don’t tell your boss. Nor are we discussing offers that you never intended to take, yet tell your employer about anyway as a “they-want-me-but- I’m-staying-with you” ploy.

These are merely astute positioning tactics you may choose to use to reinforce your worth by letting your boss know you have other options. Mention of a true counteroffer, however, carries an actual threat to quit.

Interviews with employers who make counteroffers, and employees who accept them, have shown that as tempting as they may be, acceptance may cause career suicide. During the past 20 years, I have seen only isolated incidents in which an accepted counteroffer has benefited the employee. Consider the problem in its proper perspective.

What really goes through a boss’s mind when someone quits:

“This couldn’t be happening at a worse time.”
“This is one of my best people. If I let him quit now, it’ll wreak havoc on the morale of the department.”
“I’ve already got one opening in my department. I don’t need another right now.”
“This will probably screw up the entire vacation schedule.”
“I’m working as hard as I can, and I don’t need to do his work, too.”
“If I lose another good employee, the company might decide to “lose” me too.”
“My review is coming up and this will make me look bad.”
“Maybe I can keep on until I find a suitable replacement.”

What will the boss say to keep you in the nest?
Some of these are common:

“I’m really shocked. I thought you were as happy with us as we were with you. Let’s discuss it before you make your final decision.”
“Aw gee, I’ve been meaning to tell you about the great plans we have for you, but it’s been confidential until now.”
“The VP has you in mind for some exciting and expanding responsibilities.”
“Your raise was scheduled to go into effect next quarter, but we’ll make it effective immediately.”
“You’re going to work for who?”

Let’s face it. When someone quits, it’s a direct reflection on the boss. Unless you’re really incompetent or a destructive thorn in his side, the boss might look bad by “allowing” you to go. His gut reaction is to do what has to be done to keep you from leaving until he’s ready. That’s human nature.

Unfortunately, it’s also human nature to want to stay unless your work life is abject misery. Career change like all ventures into the unknown, is tough. That’s why bosses know they can usually keep you around by pressing the right buttons.

Before you succumb to a tempting counteroffer, consider these universal truths:

1. Any situation in which an employee is forced to get an outside offer before the present employer will suggest a raise, promotion or better working conditions, is suspect.
2. No matter what the company says when making its counteroffer, you will always be considered a fidelity risk. Having once demonstrated your lack of loyalty (for whatever reason), you will lose your status as a “team player” and your place in the inner circle.
3. Counteroffers are usually nothing more than stall devices to give your employer time to replace you.
4. Your reasons for wanting to leave still exist. Conditions are just made a bit more tolerable short term because of the raise, promotion or promises made to keep you.
5. Counteroffers are only made in response to a threat to quit. Will you have to solicit an offer and threaten to quit every time you deserve better working conditions?
6. Decent and well-managed companies don’t make counteroffers. EVER! Their policies are fair and equitable. They will not be subjected to “counteroffer coercion” or what they perceive as blackmail.
7. If the urge to accept a counteroffer hits you, keep on cleaning out your desk as you count your blessings.

Ten Reasons for NOT Accepting a Counter Offer

Where is the money for the Counter Offer coming from? Is it your next raise, early? All companies have strict wage and salary guidelines that must be followed.

You have now made your employer aware that you are unhappy. From this day on, your loyalty will always be in question.

When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who was loyal and who wasn’t.
Once the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with your coworkers will never be the same. You will lose the personal satisfaction of peer-group acceptance.

What type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they give you what you are worth?

1. Your company will immediately start looking for a new person at a lower starting salary.
2. When times get tough, your employer will begin the cutback with you.
3. Accepting a Counter Offer is an insult to your intelligence and a blow to your personal pride; knowing that you were bought.
   The same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change will repeat themselves in the future; even if you accept a Counter Offer.
4. Statistics show that if you accept a Counter Offer, the probability of your voluntarily leaving in six months or being let go within one year is extremely high.

Special Note: When you do resign from your present employer, be sure to do so in writing, retaining a copy for yourself. This procedure is to protect you in the future because future reference checks could record the separation as mutually beneficial. Include any constructive criticism, if any, in order to solidify your position for leaving.

“Beware of the Counter Offer”

(Your whole career is at stake)

If you have accepted an offer from a new employer and on giving your notice to your present company a Counter Offer is made, you should consider the following:

Ask yourself if you were worth “X” dollars yesterday. Why are they suddenly willing to now pay you “Y” dollars today when you were not anticipating a raise for some time. (Consider the fact that your present employer could be merely “buying time” with this raise until he can locate a suitable replacement).

Suppose you were given an annual raise of $3,000.00 as a counter offer. When they find a replacement for you in say 60 days, then the actual cost to them is only $500.00.

Is just more money going to change everything in your present job? Consider the new opportunity you will be giving up that looked so favorable when you accepted it.

The company will probably feel as though they have been “blackmailed” into giving you a raise when you announced your decision to leave.

Realize that you are now a marked man. The possibility of promotion is extremely limited for someone who has “given notice”. The company is vulnerable; they know it and will not risk giving more responsibility to someone who was previously committed to leave.

When economic slow-downs occur, you could be one of the first to go. You indicated your intention to go once before, so it is only natural that your position would be eliminated in a slack period.

You should know that statistics compiled by the National Employment Association confirm the fact that over 80% of those people who elected to accept a Counter Offer and stayed are no longer with their company six months later.

Carefully review in your mind all the reasons you wanted to make a change in the first place. Does the Counter Offer really offset these reasons?

If you intent to seriously consider a Counter Offer, be sure you ask your present employer to confirm all the details of said offer in writing.

WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO CAREFULLY THINK ABOUT ALL OF THESE FACTS BEFORE MAKING A FINAL DECISION. IT IS YOUR CAREER, YOUR LIVELIHOOD. ONE IMPRUDENT MISTAKE AT ANY TIME COULD BE VERY COSTLY IN TERMS OF YOUR PROFESSIONAL GROWTH.

Resigning is never easy, especially when you’ve worked at a position for several years, and have made many connections. Some employers and co-workers take it very personally and may accuse you of abandoning ship. However, handling your resignation as professionally and thoughtfully as you handle your search for a new job can help make your resignation relatively smooth and amicable. This is where an experienced recruiter can really help make the process a lot easier for you.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND:

Before you submit your resignation, you must be clearly committed to leaving, and have a written offer in hand from your new employer. Have you already pursued all avenues for advancement within your firm? If so and you didn’t get the response you hoped for, it’s time to leave. If you need some help with this step, I can help you with how to approach your manager. Since you may be immediately walked out of the building upon giving notice, make sure you have cleared all personal files from your computer and desk.

KEEP RESIGNATIONS SHORT, SIMPLE AND POSITIVE:

Leave your employer on a positive note. Moving on does not have to have negative consequences. After all, you have an opportunity to advance in your career for which you owe your employer sincere thanks. Thank your colleagues for their help in preparing you to move onward and upward. When you resign, keep your conversations simple and concise. Avoid lengthy discussions about your new opportunity. Do not justify your personal goals or your decision to leave. If you feel you may be faced with a hostile environment, resign at the end of the day.

THE ORAL RESIGNATION:

Resigning orally may place you in the compromising position of having to explain your decision on the spot. Words are very powerful. Choose your words with care. Your boss may want to probe for factors which led to your decision. You may be asked for specifics as to whom or what your reason for leaving is, or you may be invited to offer suggestions to help make the organization more effective, and told to “answer candidly”. Do not fall for this trap! Remember, your interrogator is still your boss. Whatever you say will be viewed as biased – and may eventually be used against you. Offer sincere praise for the firm and those with whom you worked. Prepare yourself beforehand by focusing on several positive aspects of your workplace, and mention them liberally when the opportunity arises.

Example: “I need to discuss something with you if you have a moment. I’ve been made an exceptional offer by another firm, and I’ve decided to accept it. My family and I have given this opportunity a lot of thought. As much as I’d like to advance with this company, we feel the new opportunity is in our best long-term interest.
We deeply appreciate all you and the firm have done for us here. I don’t think I would have been presented this exceptional opportunity if not for your support and leadership. I want to thank you. I hope I can leave with your good wishes. You’ve been a friend as well as a boss.”

If probed for more information, you may want to claim that there is nothing else to say right now, or that the new company has asked you to keep this confidential for the time being.

THE WRITTEN RESIGNATION:

A written resignation gives you the time to effectively prepare what you wish to communicate, and gives you greater control over the delivery of your message. A written resignation also reinforces the fact that you are really leaving and are not simply threatening in order to re-negotiate your position or salary.

Example: “I want to thank you for all you have done for me here at (company). It’s been a pleasure working with you, and representing the company as your (job title).
I have accepted an offer with another firm and have decided to tender my resignation as of today, with my last day being (date). This decision has nothing to do with the exceptional opportunity you have provided for me here. You and the company have been more than fair with me, and I genuinely appreciate all of your support.
I wish (company) continued success, and I want to thank you for allowing me to be a part of your team. I hope you will respect my decision. Please feel free to let me know how I can help to make this a smooth transition.”

THE COUNTEROFFER:

Be prepared, you may receive a counteroffer. Do not be disappointed if you do not. In fact, it makes the resignation process easier if you do not. I am happy to help you with this stage of the process as well and can help you plan a strategy on how to deal with it.

LEAVE ON THE RIGHT NOTE:

Before leaving the firm, take time to speak with each of your support staff, peers, executive personnel, and others with whom you have worked. To the extent possible, clear up any unfinished business. Be sensitive to others’ reactions and keep your conversations positive and constructive. Some people may naturally express their own discontentment, and may egg you on to agree with them. Don’t!! Instead, express your appreciation and tell your colleagues you’ll miss them. Also keep in mind that it is professional courtesy to give your employer ample notice to help them prepare for your departure – typically 2 weeks. However, you should try to get out as soon as possible avoiding recurring invitations to tell your story, and having to deal with the frustrations and pressures of the job as the firm adjusts to your leaving.

IF THE SITUATION TURNS SOUR:

In some cases staying the full 2 weeks can become very difficult and hard to tolerate. If you feel you are continually being pressured about details of your new job, or to accept their counter offer, keep in mind that a 2 week notice is a courtesy YOU are extending to them, not a rule! Just as the company has the right to walk you to the door as soon as you resign, or fire you with no notice, you have the right to end your time if the situation becomes intolerable.

This is another emotionally difficult part of the job change process, but it’s a very important part to get right both for yourself, and for the people you leave behind and may work with again during your career. It’s good to have someone on your side that has helped numerous people through this process, and can be a sounding board for you to express your concerns or ask questions. Let me know if I can be that resource for you.

During the employment interview, there’s a good chance you’ll be asked about your current and expected level of compensation. Here’s the way to handle the following questions:

Question: What are you currently earning?

Answer: “My compensation, including bonus, is in the $110k – $115k range. I’m expecting my annual review next month, and that should put me in the $115k – $120k range.”

Question: What sort of money would you need to come to work here?

Answer: “I feel that the opportunity is the most important issue, not salary. If we decide to work together, I’m sure you’ll make me a fair offer.”

In the answer to the first question, notice the way a range was given, not a specific dollar figure. However, in a situation in which the interviewer presses for an exact answer, than by all means, be precise in terms of salary, bonus, benefits, expected increase, and so forth.

With respect to the second question, if the interviewer tries to zero in on your expected compensation, you should also suggest a range, as in, “I would need something in the $115k – $120k range.” Getting locked in to an exact figure may work against you later, in one of two ways: either the number you give is lower than you really want to accept; or the number appears too high or too low to the employer, and an offer never comes. By using a range, you can keep your options open.

Don’t Come On Too Strong

Unless you’re pinned down in the early stages of the interview, the best time to talk about money is after you’ve established mutual interest. If you initiate a discussion about salary and benefits, you run the risk of giving the employer the impression that money is the most important reason for your job search.

From a tactical standpoint, it makes the most sense to build your value and exercise restraint before the subject ever comes up. The greater your asset value is in the eyes of the employer, the stronger your offer will be. The principal objective during the first and second interview is to explore the opportunity and your potential contribution relative to the goals of the department or organization. Focusing on the money only sidetracks the greater issue of whether you and the employer can be productive and happy working together.

Once you know the job fits—and the employer sees your value—you’ll usually be able to agree on a fair price for your services. And if you are working with a Recruiter, they should already know the salary range for the position and your desired salary range, and can do the negotiating for you. In fact, some people will request all salary negotiations go through their recruiter to eliminate any fear of hurt or uncomfortable feelings, or the negotiation process turning sour.