How often do you think employees submit to the changes a company makes in alignment with job duties, benefits and growth within the organization?

Every. Single. Day.

The issue is not the change itself, but that the restructuring was not discussed with the worker prior to being hired.

Sometimes the shifts are advantageous, but in other scenarios the decisions made could cause contention with individual needs or values. The overarching problem is that many employees are “at will” meaning the terms of the relationship can be modified or end at the will of either party. Although the number of times employers vary the terms is significantly higher than the employees. Why is that? Because you let them.

Interviewing for a job

You submitted 150 applications, finally got a call back and then there’s a sigh of slight relief. Maybe all of your submissions weren’t going to a company’s SPAM folder after all? The first conversation is quite often with a recruiter or human resources representative and that’s the first opportunity to avoid being a victim. This means stating what you require, what you are not open to and not asking the hard questions.

Businesses render services and products for a price and the consumers (B2C) or other businesses (B2B) pay for it. The company sets the price and the customer pays the price or not. 

Employees also render a service, and if the employee sets the price, then an employer will either pay the price or not, (i.e., your salary, bonus, benefits and other demands).

There is no rule that says you cannot state your price. It actually saves time when you do and recruiters will love you for it. Worried about low balling yourself by setting a price that could be at the lower end of the budget? Aim high!

This is what happens next: You state a price, they say it’s too high, give their budget and you decide whether you can work with it or not. Know what that sounds like? Business.

Related: 5 Rules of Salary Negotiation

Growing within the company

The only issue with growth within an organization if you’re an “at will” employee versus being a union, government worker, etc. or getting more compensation or opportunities based on tenure, is that your growth is sometimes dependent on variables outside of your control. 

You could work overtime for 3 years, just to be in the exact same position. That’s because a business is running one and you’re relying on there’s versus helming your own.

A business:

• Changes their prices, (state what you require).
• Changes their business structure, (say how you will operate when they do so).
• Changes their operating hours, (set some for yourself because you’re not a machine).
• Changes their direction for the company, (do the exact same for yourself even if that means offering your services to another prospect).

Related: The Great Resignation is Quickly Becoming The Great Revolt: 5 Actions Leaders Should Take Now

Outside company career goals

Typically, companies have key performance indicators, (i.e., objectives and inform how your role will help achieve them). They do this so as to give you goals and ask you to create some. It’s very easy to become fixated on these because quite often your ability to perform against them dictates a portion of your compensation and progression.

The only concern with leveraging this model for your entire career is that it’s from the perspective of their bottom line. If you have KPI’s of your own. and use similar quantitative metrics to measure where you are to where you’re trying to be, your career could be further optimized.

Remaining marketable 

It’s easy to be complacent in a role because you’ve done it for several years, but if you needed to go back into the market for another job either voluntarily, or in lieu of a termination, you never want to be at the whim of another company due to desperation of a job. The best position to be in, is to understand the demands of the market, so you can figure out how to be a top service provider.

Related: 10 Job Skills That Will Help You Land a 6-Figure Salary