The Art of Persuasion
I received a call from a candidate I had placed some months ago asking for some advice on how to promote themselves effectively to the management team. Thankfully our Nurse is enjoying their new job immensely and hopes to be considered for a senior role which has become vacant in-house. This person asked my advice on how to best handle the upcoming meeting with the management team; this got me thinking about the art of persuasion and the role it plays in business today.
Now we all know the prospect of meeting with your line manager to discuss career progression and enhanced pay/benefits packages can be very daunting particularly in this current climate, please find below a couple of snippets of advice to help you brooch the subject:
- Know your stuff
You need to come across as the master of your area, it may seem dull but it’s absolutely vital if you wish to take the next step in your career. Know your duties inside and out, you need to prepare for this meeting. It would be very off putting if you were scrambling about in files and folders at the interview.
- Prepare your rebuttal
You should prepare to minimise the amount of time spend talking about the things you are less confident about. You should not lie but manage the line of questioning in such a way that they are happy with your answer. Such an example of a question would be “tell me about all outstanding compliance issues at this time and how you would address them”, a reasonable answer would be “I do not know the specifics at this time but I will certainly find out and revert back to you”.
- Keep it short
Keep your points focused but yet condensed, do not waffle. Do not talk to fill in silences, it gives your manager more time to contemplate what you are saying and you will muddle your own thoughts. Stay on track.
- Rehearse
A good negotiator always does their homework. Prepare sample questions/scenarios and anticipate the management team’s responses and how to best answer them. Ask a friend/colleague to assist you. You should practice out loud, as a conversation can sound very different in one’s head.
- Know your bottom line
Know in advance what you wish to gain from the meeting and when you are willing to walk away. Be willing to comprise however. Do not bring emotions into the meeting and/or try to use bully tactics. You should discuss only the role in question and your merits for the job in hand.
I hope this info helps those of you in jobs, considering the next step in your career or simply wondering how to manage a difficult situation.
Best of luck,
Catriona – Cpl Healthcare
