Discussing Changes with your manager

 In the hi-tech industry, people tend to switch jobs very often. They find a position with slightly better pay or more interesting work and quickly jump from opportunity to opportunity. This isn’t always in the best interest of the employee or the company they are working for. Oftentimes, a conversation with your manager about what you are looking for is enough to get you what you want.

A junior engineer came to talk to me about changing career direction and asked me to keep the meeting discreet. He was interested in a different type of position and asked me if I knew of any openings. I asked him if he spoke to his manager about this and he answered that he doesn’t want his manager to know until he finds something. He was afraid that if his manager knew that he was looking for something new it would affect the types of projects he got and possibly his bonus. He didn’t know if he would find something so he wanted to keep all his options open and not burn any bridges.

A lot of people feel this way and are nervous about what they should and shouldn’t say, especially when it comes to their livelihood. If I ask for a raise, am I going to get fired or suffer other consequences? If I tell my current company that I got another offer and ask them to match the terms, are they going to say yes, because they feel boxed in, and then start hunting for a replacement? These are real concerns and in some cases they may even be justified. You may have even been in a situation where your manager asked you to be open and when you were, you found out that there were ramifications. 

You are, or should be, your number one priority. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other priorities as well. The health of the team that you are leaving should be a priority as well. What happens to them when you leave and how replaceable are you? What has to happen to ensure a smooth transition. This is the main reason why it’s in both parties interests to have a reasonable period of notice before leaving. It ensures that there is time for proper knowledge transfer, if you decide to leave , and for you to find another job if they decide you should leave. Win-Win.

Before deciding to speak to your manager about changing your position, wanting a raise, leaving the team (both internally or for another company) or other sensitive subjects, there are a few strategic areas that are worth understanding.

Cost - It is generally very expensive to replace an employee. There are a number of people who are involved in a hiring process, including HR or talent acquisition, the manager and often one or two other people from the team. This is a time-intensive and emotional effort. The process includes defining the position and acceptable requirements, which often aren’t very clear cut. There are resume/CV reviews, screening calls and interviews. After a new employee is hired, there is a long onboarding process. The basic assumption is that it will be a month before a new employee starts providing any value and may take a full year (or longer) before they can provide the same value as a long-standing employee who left. 

Negotiate - Companies are experienced in negotiations. Don’t assume it’s all or nothing and try to have some leverage to back up your request. It is in the interest of the company to give you some of what you ask for, but not all of it. There are a few reasons for this. If employees felt it was easy to ask for a raise or better benefits, everyone would be doing this all the time. By playing hardball, the company is showing that the request is painful to them but they are willing to meet you somewhere in the middle. This gives the employee a feeling of appreciation towards the company. They may also ask or expect additional responsibilities from you in exchange. If they give you everything you want without a fight, you may walk away thinking that if that is what you deserve, why were they underpaying you for so long. 

Relationships matter - if you have a good relationship with your current team this is worth money to both sides. A cohesive team works like a well-oiled machine. The different members know how each other work and are able to function collaboratively. New people on the team break up this system and force the team to go through a process of learning each other and how to work together again. With new people there are often personality clashes that need to be ironed out.

Evolution, not revolution - It's better for the team if changes happen slowly and with full cooperation. If you ask for a different type of workload, and they can give it to you slowly while training someone new, everybody wins. In this case you will also still be available to answer questions and help them out when they get stuck. This is much more advantageous to the company then having you leave because you want a new type of position.

Taking this all into account, you can see that it is not in the company’s interest to fire you for talking to your manager about changes in your job or increases in your pay. If you open the discussion about a different position that you’re interested in, that doesn’t mean that they will treat you as if you have one foot out the door. Rather, they may try to get you experience in what you want, while training someone else to do your job. This may even be an opportunity for the team to expand its role. Leverage is important as part of negotiations. If you want a raise, do some research into how much people in your role and experience are getting paid in other companies. If you can show salary tables or examples from other companies, that will help increase your position. In some cases, it is even worthwhile to go through an interview process and get an offer to bring with you to negotiations. You should start off by saying something like, “I really like this company, my team and my position, but I wanted to see how much I was worth on the open market.” This statement explains that you weren’t looking for a new job, but were looking for leverage. While any request for a change should be taken by the company as an implicit threat to leave, an actual job offer is an indication of your seriousness.