It boggles my mind how much people will tend to treat negotiations, amongst so many other things, as zero-sum games. If that were true, anyone who claims this should please explain to all the people who entered into negotiated agreements and found mutual benefit how they are actually being screwed by the counterparty.
For those who believe negotiation is zero-sum, I will say to you: if you notice agreements around you tend to turn sour because a party in it feels like they got screwed, take note of the common element.
This includes salary and employment negotiation. Unless you are in a one company town, or otherwise have skills and talents that are transferable to nowhere than your present employer, you most likely have alternatives to explore. Even if this is the case, there are alternatives, although they will not be anywhere near as easy to achieve.
Even then, it is not every employer that will decide the best way to profits is to screw their employees, and hope they feel hopeless. This is but one way to affect the bottom-line, and often not a very effective one. People will be more productive when they don't feel like they are being shafted. Not just in salary, but in: career development; personal sanity; and, if they care and have an interest in such a thing, in the net outcome of the organization.
So, I absolutely agree with you. Do not stand for people who feel like they need to "win" because you'll invariably screw them back. They may ultimately add up to a great big loss for everyone involved.
It boggles my mind how much people will tend to treat negotiations, amongst so many other things, as zero-sum games. If that were true, anyone who claims this should please explain to all the people who entered into negotiated agreements and found mutual benefit how they are actually being screwed by the counterparty.
For those who believe negotiation is zero-sum, I will say to you: if you notice agreements around you tend to turn sour because a party in it feels like they got screwed, take note of the common element.
This includes salary and employment negotiation. Unless you are in a one company town, or otherwise have skills and talents that are transferable to nowhere than your present employer, you most likely have alternatives to explore. Even if this is the case, there are alternatives, although they will not be anywhere near as easy to achieve.
Even then, it is not every employer that will decide the best way to profits is to screw their employees, and hope they feel hopeless. This is but one way to affect the bottom-line, and often not a very effective one. People will be more productive when they don't feel like they are being shafted. Not just in salary, but in: career development; personal sanity; and, if they care and have an interest in such a thing, in the net outcome of the organization.
So, I absolutely agree with you. Do not stand for people who feel like they need to "win" because you'll invariably screw them back. They may ultimately add up to a great big loss for everyone involved.