Q & A Table of Contents
No Guts, No Glory
From: Stephanie, Australia
Question: My boss secured another position elsewhere. My coworker has been
promoted to her position. I have since been overlooked. I thought that I
would move to my coworker's position but it hasn't happened.
I don't have enough courage to approach the issue and don't know how to
approach this issue either. Ideally, I want to back fill into my coworkers
position which is a higher pay. I don't know where to start to ask to do this. Do I need to negotiate?
Help
PS This has happened to me before and I am sick of it happening to me
Response: Dear Stephanie,
It sounds as if your level of self-confidence could use a bit of a boost.
You should indeed negotiate with whomever is relevant to decisions about
your future in your work. If they don't hear from you, how else are they
going to learn about your skills, your accomplishments, your interests?
Before going forward I suggest you make a list of all the stakeholders:
yourself, co-workers, supervisors, the people or organizations who depend
upon the services provided by your agency, people who depend on you for
financial support or the kind of support a good friend can provide.
Having listed the stakeholders, make assumptions about their interests: what
objectives do they want to achieve and why do they want to achieve those
objectives? Your assumptions may not be 100% accurate, but this list of
assumptions will give you an outline of the information you need to learn to
reach a favorable solution.
Once you have the assumptions, comprehend the kind of information you need
to check their accuracy, then you can go forward on your information search.
Why does your department need to replace your former co-worker? What kind
of person do they need? With what kind of skills, experience, etc.?
As you ask questions, listen attentively. People who are good listeners are
often thought of as being particularly bright. If you have been a passive
listener, hearing but not responding, now you can use the information you
have gained to make suggestions that respond to the interests of the people
with whom you negotiate.
If, rather than starting off with announcing your grievances, you begin as a
seeker of information, I think you are much more likely to be taken
seriously in your quest for advancement.
Let me know what happens.
Good luck,
Steve
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