Roller Coaster Ride

Peter had the “upper hand” at the start of the day as he firstly raised up to leave the company while Stephen as the head of technology research didn’t have any preparation.

However, when the negotiation began, Stephen played better in the situation and got the “upper hand”. Firstly, he had the right to decide whether to counteroffer Peter and make him stay, promote a junior Rina or hire from outside the firm. Secondly, via offering Rina the position of senior analyst, even if he can not hire anyone outside more suitable he had a back-up plan to guarantee continuity of coverage of the semiconductor group. This would certainly help with the upcoming PowerChip deal. Thirdly, if Rina accepted the offer, this would significantly increase his bargain power in his negotiations with Peter. However, in terms of Peter, he placed himself in an unfavorable plosition. Firstly, he was not sure about his future situation in the new company and he rushed to raise up the resignation. Secondly, he was not sure whether Stephen will offer the counteroffer and he was even not sure Rina’s reaction when facing Stephen’s offer as a promotion. Thirdly, he didn’t think through about his situation even if Stephen agreed with the counteroffer. If he stayed, he may still be considered a talent risk and was likely to lose his place in the inner circle as he having demonstrated lack of loyalty once. In the long run, an accepted counteroffer was unlikely to benefit his career at RBH, he might leave the company relatively quickly afterwards.

Stephen and Peter can better play the situation as below. For Stephen, firstly, he should watch out Peter’s relationship and personal power in company’s each deal. Secondly, he should plan the talent pipeline so even if Peter or some other Star analysts raised up to leave he may promote some capable juniors as the replacement. And he should keep an eye on the analyst talent pool via contacting with some experienced headhunters. Thirdly, he may arrange regular talk with the key analysists to sense their motivation and maintain their loyalty to company. For Peter, firstly, he may request to resign when he is more sure about his future plan in the new company, and make Stephen heard about his thoughts for resignation from anywhere else, to increase the credibility of this threat. Secondly, he can do a SWOT analysis about his situation by listing down both the advantages and disadvantages in RSH and the new company. Then negotiate with Stephen to see whether RSH can meet his requirements. Thirdly, he should not directly talk about the resignation with Stephen, which makes him in an unfavorable situation even if he gets the counteroffer and stays. He can talk with Stephen about his concerns and requirements to the company first.