Negotiating When You Have Leverage

Let's face it. One of the reasons why many of us dislike salary negotiations is the feeling that we are rarely in a powerful position. It often seems as if we have little leverage as we deal with our employers who have more information and the final say in whether we get what we want.

However, one of the benefits of advancing in a career is that the balance of power can change. Your leverage in salary negotiations can increase as you gain knowledge, expertise and experience. All of a sudden, you realize that you are now quite valuable to the company, and irreplaceable should you decide to leave for one of those great offers you keep receiving.

When you are sitting in that position, your negotiation will likely feel much different than it has before. You may feel great temptation to use your leverage to exact revenge for the numerous slights (real or imagined) that were inflicted upon you in the past. Still, most people do not want to gain a reputation for being greedy, tyrannical or exploitative. Therefore, instead of flaunting your power and doing unto them as they have done unto you, why not focus on your long-term goals and negotiate in a way that enables you to get what you deserve and enhance your status as a leader and loyal team player. Consider the following advice:

Focus on getting the best deal for yourself that is still good for them, too.

Begin with the realization that this is your opportunity to maximise your compensation. Now is not the time to sell yourself short or leave items on the table. Instead, focus on what you feel you need and ought to have, and then negotiate for it. Many employers will provide their most valuable executives generous packages of stock options, profit-sharing bonuses, generous severance packages, along with non-financial compensation like paid sabbaticals.

At the same time, unless your proposal helps the company satisfy its interests (e.g. retaining your services, maintaining internal equity among executives and establishing good precedents for the future) your negotiations will go nowhere. For that reason, you must make sure that your agreement benefits the company and helps it achieve its objectives. Try connecting some of your compensation to the achievement of key strategic objectives. Or, make part of your bonus contingent on receiving good feedback on your ability to personally lead your team. If your compensation richly rewards you for acting in the company's best interest, you have struck a good deal for them and for you.

Make sure you have a fair deal.

Just because you have more leverage does not mean you have to be greedy. Asking for an unreasonable package or item may jeopardise the process and will likely upset the other negotiator, causing her or him to fight much harder on other issues. It will also cause resentment among your co-workers and staff (remember them - they help you look good). If you do your research on what other star performers receive (both in your company and at its competitors) you will be able to stake out terms that are quite beneficial to you and justifiable as appropriate given the value you provide.

Refer to your 'BATNA' - Your Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement when you have to, but use it as a warning, not as a threat.

There may come a time in your negotiation when you have to consider walking away. Perhaps the company is not appreciating the value you bring or does not realize that you have a great offer somewhere else. If you want to continue the negotiations, you may find it advantageous to let the company know that you have other opportunities and that they will suffer negative consequences if you leave. That dose of reality may bring them to their senses, and alert them to the fact that you do have leverage here. However, how you raise these opportunities is critical. Use it as a warning, for example, saying "I would prefer to work something out, but I just want to be clear about what I think will happen if I leave ..." or "As you may know, I have an outstanding offer from another leading firm ...". Making threats like "If you do not give me this point, I will work for ..." only tends to inflame the situation. In many ways, negotiating your compensation package is a form of leadership. When you have the power to lead, you will want to act honourably and effectively. You should not act differently when you negotiate and you hold most of the cards.

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How to Leverage Your Training as a Nurse into a New Career

When it comes to marketing your skills for a career change, your nursing background may be more valuable than you might realize.

Kate Christmas says nursing has opened all sorts of doors for her, since she became a registered nurse in 1976. Christmas was attracted to trauma nursing and worked for five years as a flight nurse. She wanted a change and went into a managerial position as a nightshift supervisor at a hospital. When family obligations made it necessary for her to get a daytime job, she became a nurse at a surgery center. A few years later, an advertisement for a job as a nurse recruiter at a hospital caught her fancy, so she applied.

“Healthcare recruitment was something I had never thought of or even knew was a possibility when I went into nursing as a career,” Christmas says.

Still, she got the job because she knew what it was like to work for a hospital, understood nursing roles and had good communication skills. Today, Christmas is vice president of the Health Care Division at Bernard Hodes Group. She consults with hospital and health system human resources departments about how to improve recruiting and retention strategies.

“The things that nurses always have to think about are the two magic words: transferable skills,” Christmas says. “Our training is so wonderful and practical in every aspect of life. You don’t want to wait until you’re burned out [to change jobs or careers because when you are you lose enthusiasm. What you want to always keep alive is your enthusiasm. If you’re an enthusiastic person, and you present yourself in a positive way, I would say the sky is the limit to what you can do.”

Jacqueline Haas, RN, BSN, agrees. Haas used her background as a cardiac and critical care nurse to catapult her from bedside care into the sales arena. She got her first job in sales with a company that sold disposable medical supplies. Haas says her skills made her the valuable choice for the job. After all, she was experienced with using disposable supplies, could multitask and manage time well, and was skilled at dealing with different types of people—from patients and their families to physicians and other healthcare providers.

Now, as manager of clinical sales at Ibex Health Data Systems, a software company, Haas says that the combination of sales and clinical experience helped her land her latest post. “My message to fellow nurses is to get the clinical experience and the avenues will open up. Nursing opens up a tremendous amount of opportunities, and you can decide what path you want to go down.”

There are many reasons nurses might be ready for change,: A Guide for Discovering Your Ultimate Profession. “…you graduated from a program and now you are ready for something bigger; you feel like you have learned all you can in your present position and you want to learn something new; you have always wanted to go into a certain area and now the opportunity has arisen; you saw a job advertised online and you new it would be perfect for you…,”.

We suggest that if you’re feeling the itch to make a change, search for your own inner clarity and direction. Find out what your options are before you are completely ready to leave your current job. Talk to people in those roles and do some soul searching to determine which careers seem to capitalize on what you like to do. Identify companies that you’d want to work for, research their needs and network.

Nursing is one of today’s most versatile careers, that serves biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science. “I think it’s because the people who are successful in nursing have a caring attitude, so they truly want to be helpful and assist people, making them ideal from a customer service standpoint.”

The professional world has many opportunities. You might want a change within the profession. If you’re a staff nurse, that could mean getting additional training to specialize in an area of medicine or go into advanced practice. Alternatively, you could find clinical research or academia more in line with what you want to do for the foreseeable future. Or, like Haas, the financial potential and challenge of biotech or pharmaceutical sales might be the answer.

Staff nurses often seek advancement to management level positions. These leadership roles, he says, require clinical as well as leadership skills. If you’re thinking about moving into management, gain leadership experience where you can (in volunteer or professional positions) and consider taking a leadership course.

Fowler also notes that nurses are often attracted to medical and pharma sales. “I have a colleague who just had an opportunity for a nurse at a medical device company,” he says.

While pharmaceutical sales tend to be an easy transition for many nurses, Fowler says that nurses are often caring and compassionate and sales is more a tough, cutthroat environment. You can use your strengths to overcome your lack of sales experience by emphasizing your ability to work with physicians (or the buyers of medications) and speak intelligently about medical products and medications.

“We find that nurses’ skills come in handy in just about every job type, Sometimes it just takes a little tweaking to meet your career objectives.”