How to Negotiate a Job Offer Setting Yourself up for a Successful Career Opportunity: Find out all the particulars about the company you are applying for. Thank the employer for the offer, even if it’s not workable for you. Negotiate a time frame for deciding upon whether to take it or leave it. Do your homework thoroughly online. Think about whether the potential job matches your needs and goals. Research the competition. Find out what kind of leverage you have, if any. Picture Courtesy : ManagementParadise Negotiating Your Best Offer Possible: Get in contact with your liaison or hiring manager one more time. Before going into the negotiation, know your minimum and target salary. Ask for more money without actually spelling out a number. Brush off the employer’s attempts to pin you down to a number Wait for the employer to offer a number. Present a better offer if you feel like you’re worth more. Incorporate benefits or perks into the conversation. Get everything in writing. Picture Courtesy : Salary.com Consideration of Other Details: Listen to your instinct during the entire negotiation process. When asking for a salary, ask for a correct number. Don’t play the pity card. Be affable, understanding, and never burn bridges. Be confident.   “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiation”~ JFK “During a negotiation, it would be wise not to take anything personally. If you leave personalities out of it, you will be able to see opportunities more objectively.” – Brian Koslow  ...

Self Motivation-Key to Managerial Success What is Self Motivation : Ability to do what needs to be done without external influence. How does your company become successful? Just because you have cutting edge technology! Surplus capital! Excellent Infrastructure! Reliable Workforce! Definitely not. A COMPETENT VALUE-DRIVEN CORPORATE MANAGER would make all the difference. Even his very presence would make the atmosphere ELECTRIC. Only some are gifted or bestowed with top managerial qualities. How! Is it an innate quality or imbibed! It is a topic worth the discussion, because it proves to be the liveliest element in the management process.     Well, when top management decides to recruit a good manger, what are the qualities they would be in favor of? Think about it, we even expect a house maid to be sincere, on time and loyal to us. When it comes to corporate dealings, the first and foremost quality desired will be “BEARING HUGE RESPONSIBILITY“. Accountability, transparency and control towards the day to day affairs of the company follow suit.   Read this resourceful article from Inlpcenter – Change Your Thinking: The Alternate Futures Self-Motivation Exercise , a unique self motivating strategy to make believe in yourself and become better problem solvers.     These managers who are also leaders serve as a ROLE MODEL for all the other employees SET STANDARDS FOR PERFORMANCE Motivate their employees Set a Brand Image for the company Be a GOOD LIAISON Problem solver Counselor and make the company special. Strategic Direction: When we talk about value, we talk about the influence that the value has on the STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE FIRM, which involves shaping up the character and image of the firm. A good manager EVOLVES OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. While considering the HEAVY TURN OVER TREND that has set in lately in the corporate environment, it becomes important for the top management to pick their HR lot carefully. How do you empower your trusted persons is a question that every Boss has to ask himself to retain the best talent. Good Managers stick to the firm and they contribute to the GROWTH OF THE FIRM. Training plays, of course a major part in the DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGERS but I feel that ONLY THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE BEST USE OF HIS SUBCONSCIOUS INNER DRIVE, REACHES THE TOP. Loyalty is an outdated term in this modern world and the minimum you could expect is SINCERITY. Self motivated managers easily regulate the environment and makes the climate cordial. He has to don many roles, A BRIDGE BETWEEN TOP MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES MANAGE THE INTEREST(OF BOTH THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND EMPLOYEES) FORMULATING MARKET STRATEGIES SHOULD BE A TECH-SAVVY A MAN OF EMPATHY A MAN OF BRILLIANT INTUITIONS(ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CONCERNS STOCK MARKET) EVER LEARNING VERSATILE and much more. Practice makes a man perfect is the saying. It suits the corporate business world too, provided the man is intelligent, capable and smart in taking decisions. Always a thinking person, an efficient manager would be on the look out for opportunities and resources that could benefit the firm. Every one of you who aspires to catch up with top positions in the business world must do a “THOROUGH SELF ANALYSIS” as to how agreeable you are in the likert scale of the...

Have you ever thought about how to gain insight into yourself? Well, it is high time, if you really want to make it to the top of your career path and it is supposed to be the best personal strategy. Setting up of long range plans helps you to formulate your career strategies accordingly. To reach the destination, you need to have clear travel plans. Like wise, devising your career plans is inevitable to reach the ultimatum in your work environment. Following is a five step chart to help you create a solid career plan. Self Evaluation What do you enjoy? What are your priorities? Strengths and weaknesses? Name the things you want from a job? Skills Analysis What are your qualifications and experience? What are your key strengths and skills? What are your biggest achievements to date? What are your areas of development/ which area of interest excites you the most? Set your direction The broad industries that really appeal to you. The types of roles that would suit you best. How these options match your personal preferences? Key skills you’ll need to develop. Commit to a time frame Make milestones for the next six, twelve, eighteen  months. How will you achieve your training and education goals? How will you gain additional skills and experience needed? How will you expand your network, and by when? Review your career plan Now you know your goals and how to achieve them, monitor your progress at least every six months to stay on track. I reckon that the following tenets infuse some confidence to those who want to achieve: Set your goals highNever settle for lessNever under estimate yourselfYou are born to achieve somethingYou are different from othersYou possess that “in thing” that is going to take you places Career advancement, is something that is not the sole proprietorship of the managerial cadre. It applies to anyone who has the “will” to learn and move forward. One’s attitude towards time, achievement, change, material things, work etc., determines the extent to which he is prepared to pursue his career with a long range plan. managementguru.net Decision Making: Another important aspect of career planning is the tough preposition of decision making. If a qualified and experienced manager is adept in all areas of management, naturally he gets confused as to “which way to go”, when presented with a chance to take up another job, in pursuit of better career prospects such as pay or promotions. People sometimes tend to resist career planning for the fear of making decisions and sometimes due to the fear of failure of achieving goals in the new set up, which might be a big blow to their ego. This dilemma of choosing a goal is commonly noticed in students who want to pursue higher education. Since it involves not only decision making but also determines their capability to be successful in the chosen field of activity. If an individual wants to become a doctor, he or she has to give up to pursue other opportunities, say, to become a lawyer or an engineer. Commitment: Furthermore, career advancement means more involvement and commitment, which makes you a quick learner. And in the process to achieve your goals, you become well versed in the area of specialization, however complex the subject or situation may be. Psychology has its role to play in career planning too. People who are extroverts easily manage to work things up to their advantage, for the simple fact that they socialize well, which is important for a manager to be a good liaison. Time Frame: The planning horizon of your career depends on the time taken to make yourself qualified to suit...

Research on Managerial Roles by Henry Mintzberg and Peter Drucker Henry Mintzberg, the canadian academic  observed a few managers and analysed their behaviors and arrived at some conclusions which are listed in the table below. He also identified and attributed ten managerial roles of significance in correlation with the managerial functions. S.NoManagement Functions% of time spent1.Relating to external environment1.82.Planning and setting Objectives19.53.Decision-making6.04.Organising15.05.Leadership and inter-personal role28.46.Communication12.67.Control12.78.Staffing4.1 This table very clearly explains the role of a manager as a leader and the extent of  influence he exerts on his sub-ordinates. Proper planning and goal-setting are the key contributors for the successful functioning of a firm. LEADER VS. MANAGER Coming to the managerial roles they can be classified as, 1. Interpersonal roles 2. Informational roles 3. Decisional roles  Inter-Personal Roles: Figurehead role– The function is more of a ceremonial nature, like attending the family functions of employees, greeting visitors and a manager performs the symbolic duties of a head of the organization.Leader– He has to plan the HR requirements and motivates the staff to perform well. “Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.” Remember a manager has to be a leader whereas it is not so in the case of a leader.Liaison– The manager acts as a link between the organization and the external environment to build image and rapport. Informational Roles: Monitor– The manager has to update himself with the current scenario in order to utilize the information for organizing and prompt decision-making.Disseminator– The manager has to communicate and distribute information to his subordinates to effectively accomplish the enterprise objectives.Spokesperson– Efficiently has to communicate the company’s policies to prospective clients and others. Decisional Roles: Entrepreneur– He has to be innovative by adapting  to the changes in the environment. He has to be adventurous, persistent and strategic during tough times.Disturbance handler– He has to find appropriate solutions to problemsResource allocator– He has to apportion and allocate resources properly besides delegating authority to the work forceNegotiator– He has to negotiate resources outside and conflicts inside the organization. MANAGERIAL DIMENSIONS Managing: Science or Art? One perspective is Managing, like all other disciplines- whether medicine, music composing or even cricket is an art. It is “know-how.”  Still managers can use the organized knowledge about management to perform better. So let us put it this way, Managing as practice is an art; the organized knowledge underlying the practice may be referred to as a science. Let them be complementary to each other and be present in peaceful co-existence. Drucker “ON MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS ” – A manager has to look after The specific purpose and mission of a firmIncrease productivity by making the employees more productiveConsiderate about social impacts and social responsibilities In his view, the areas a manager has to focus and concentrate are 1. Market standing 2. Innovation 3. Productivity 4. Financial and Physical resources 5. Profitability 6. Manager performance and development 7. Worker performance and attitude 8. Public responsibility He says that business has only two functions- marketing and innovation. While others were concentrating on products and commodities, he concentrated on  people and their performance. His “management by objectives- MBO ” became a very popular concept though it faced criticism.  MBO according to Drucker is a philosophy that rests on a concept of human action, behaviour and motivation. It sets personal goals (both shortterm and longterm)  to be achieved by each individual working for the organization and coverts them into challenges to be accomplished, thus motivating the individuals. The Effective Manager The effective manager is a situational manager who evaluates each approach in the light of circumstances and selects the one that most effectively and efficiently achieve individual...