Re: RE: interviews and ethics

Subject: Re: RE: interviews and ethics
From: "Chuck Martin" <cm -at- writeforyou -dot- com>
To: techwr-l
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 11:52:29 -0700


"Gene Kim-Eng" <techpubs -at- genek -dot- com> wrote in message news:210553 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
>
> Some companies have hard rules that require that response
> to any threat of leaving. The reasoning is that once
> word gets around that the company can be leveraged that
> way, the longterm cost will be far higher than having to
> replace any given employee.

I have seen articles that the cost to replace an employee is quite high. I
am not an expert in the field of HR, not do I remember the details of such
articles, but it seems to me that even in a large corporation, is such
employees are getting such offers--and seriously considering them--then
their pay scale may be out of whack with the current market. Wouldn't paying
employees who may be otherwise happy working for you closer to the going
rate be far less expensive in the long term than the high cost of hiring
somone new? (In both monetary and non-monetary costs.)

>
> As far as taking interviews with companies I wasn't
> seriously considering working for, I have taken a few.
> The context was always a call from some company because
> "someone had suggested me to them" for an opening, and
> when I told the caller I wasn't considering leaving my
> current position the response was "come in anyway and
> give us a chance to change your mind." In most cases,
> the recruiting companies didn't change my mind, but once
> one did. I could use a call like that right now...

One of the important things I look for in a job is happiness. Happiness is
more than compensation. Happiness includes enjoying the work, being
respected for my skills, and working with equally competent people, both on
my team and on other teams. I generally woudl select a (somewhat) lower
compensation on an otherwise great job than higher pay where I'm miserable.

A lot of that non-compensation stuff occurs over time, as co-wokers and I
get to know each other, our work styles, etc. I have not been in many
positions where I've been really happy--and I got laid off from the last one
(the project was stopped and there was no place else for me to go within the
company), a place where I asked to convert from contract to staff and where
I hoped to spend many years. If I were still there and received such a call,
I'd likely be very blunt: I'd say sure you might--and I repeat might--be
able to significantly increase my compensation, but what about everything
else?

Some years back I left a company where I was happy. I'd been there something
like 2 1/2 years. Pay was OK, although the owner was notorious for being,
uh, frugal. Manuals I had written were getting praise in reviews. I had been
asked to come up with some preliminary designs for a new product. But I was
in a situation personally when an opportunity arose to do something
unexpected. A very-well-paying short-term contract that woudl allow me to
make some quick big bucks and be over at a good time when I could take a
trip that was personally significant. (A trip that turned out to have a less
than ideal ending, which added to the regrets of the ultimate decision.) I
decided to quit where I was happy and take the contract--which I actually
enjoyed as well. When I came back, they kept me on for a few months longer
to work on the next version of the product.

But I spent many years trying to regain that happiness. Companies and people
who looke good in interviews turned out to create work environments that
were quite less than ideal. There were some situations that I didn't handle
as well as i could haev either, hopefully I learned from those.

But at that first "happy" company, my original pay was very low. I was new
and didn't know any better--but I learned. After about a year and a half, I
had my first review, and I was told I was getting the maximum, based o nthe
largest percentage they would offer over my current pay. But I knew that my
current pay was way, way too low, and I asked them to "throw out" what I was
making then and base what I'd make on something close to market. I even did
research and gave them some ranges. They refused. They had their own way.
(They also had an HR person who was widely regarded as clueless and who
didn't last too long.) Shorty afterward, I started looking. I did a couple
of interviews and got a much better offer, money-wise. I decided to taek the
offer and gave my notice--not an easy decision. My manager's response was to
wait before I made a final decision and asked how much I was being offered.
Within an hour or two my manager came back and asked me to stay with a pay
slightly more than the offer.

I felt really, really uncomfortable. It suddenly occurred to me that this
was a tactic that others used to get raises, but it wasn't a tactic that I
wanted to use. I wanted my raises to come fair and square, based on my
worth, and I thought I'd made a compelling argument before, one that wasn't
successful. I was really scared that I'd been seen as just another one who
tried to do this to get a raise, and it woudl affect my good working
relationships. I felt as this way of doing things was a kind of blackmail,
and it's just not my style.

After talking with my manger about this, and with friends, I stayed. It is a
tribute to the quality of the people there that I was never made to feel
uncomfortable afterward over this incident--one of the reasons why it was so
great to work there. I don't ever want to go through that again though.

But then, this may be going astray from from the list topics, even if these
were al TW jobs....

Chuck Martin






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