Pretend for a moment that you are a recent graduate of a prestigious university. You are exceptionally good at a skill like coding, programming or some other highly valued skill. You see great competition among Silicon Valley companies for your employment. Many of your friends who graduated with you have received very tempting offers from well-known high tech and other companies.
Now you have job offers from companies A, B and C. The first two allow for traditional negotiating, but C does not. Company C has a fixed list of salary, stock options and other benefits, but you are not allowed to negotiate.
How would you react?
Effects of unintended consequences
Well, my hypothetical “Company C” does exist today. It is Reddit, a well-known high tech company that has instituted a new policyof “no negotiations” by their CEO, Ellen Pao. You might recall her name, as she was in a lawsuit against her former employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, who she accused of discriminating against her because of her gender.
I’ll be the first to admit that my experience with HR is very limited. I’m a dedicated solo entrepreneur with no employees. Only time will tell if Pao’s decision on “no negotiation hiring” will benefit Reddit in the long-term.
However, I think there is a much larger lesson for you and me in decisions we make. Don’t forget to analyze the possible effects of the “unintended consequences.” Sometimes we’ll make a decision based on something that feels good at the moment. However, without thinking through the potential consequences, which could be unintended, we can run into trouble.
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