Jane Flaherty

The article focuses on the issue of employee retention. The cornerstone of an organization is the employee who is well trained and loves to come to work. As the workforce tightens up due to the forecasted shortage of qualified, skilled workers, one can't afford to lose a good employee. A survey found that up to 41 percent of a company's workforce are already looking to take their experience and a piece of the company culture to another employer. The cost of replacing an employee is staggering. Research clearly indicates that training and development opportunities rank as one of the most important predictors of retention.

Trainer as Retention Agent

The article presents information on successful negotiations. Using words such as "strategies" or tactics makes some people uncomfortable because they feel those terms suggest manipulation and dishonesty, yet nothing could be further from the truth. In business, being dishonest is not only wrong, but also it does nothing to help you build long-term relationships or encourage your counterpart to come back to negotiate with you at a later date. The author says that one should become familiar with the use of strategies and tactics for two important reasons. One, everyone uses them daily. Two, even if one choose not to use strategies, other people will use them in interactions with you. To protect oneself, one needs to be able to recognize the tactics and know how to respond to them.

Tactical Maneuvers

This is article focuses on significance of negotiation skills in corporate culture. Most of the corporate people tend to think in terms of win-lose scenarios: a training director lighting to get her budget increased or an overzealous car salesman doing his best to take advantage of a naive buyer. In reality, almost everything in life is a negotiation. Whenever two or more people gather to exchange information with the intent of changing their relationship in some way, they are negotiating. From merging onto the freeway in rushhour traffic, scheduling an appointment with a client, to deciding which television program to watch with your family-every day involves some form of negotiation.

Jane Flaherty

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