Negotiation is a complex and dynamic decision making process during which various parties perceptions, preferences, and roles may change until a suitable outcome for all party’s is reached.

In the negotiation process, both parties have more or less equal power.  However in some situations, HR is in a much better position to dictate its terms to a party.  Organisations should formulate, what the current negotiation position is and what is the current interest to HR is.ached or the negotiation fails.  There is always a risk element involved, as the final negotiation outcomes are unknown.  In most negotiation cases, the common dilemma is related to forming relationships between parties.

In the more complex  situations, the more contentious the negotiations, the more important (pre)preparation, planning becomes. Especially as organizations do support, YET also undermine their own HR negotiators. It is clear that some stakeholders make attempts to disrupt these organisational processes. Perhaps as they were not involved early enough to influence the outcomes?

The People Team should support the negotiation process and there is no doubt in my mind that this effects the negotiations positively in terms of support, respect and reputation.  However organisations do not communicate effectively across the bottom-line and to the board, which means that people becoming agitated (the people team included!).

Some of these assumptions may actually lead to distrust and barriers of which the consequences are that the different functions within an organisation are not being able to reach an agreement, note some these assumptions will need a high risk commitment!  Could this be the reason that the HR team does not use a rational decision-making process or lacks experience in the ‘negotiation’ field? That it does not have the goal orientated frame of mind that an organisation requires at that level?  The organisation and HR therefore should develop a negotiation plan that will look at all stakeholders needs and expectations.

It seems that this is a more inter-company relation problem with negotiations and from my perspective HR should escalate it immediately to senior management.  When the decision-making process within a function has gone in the wrong direction, it seems to reflect an inability to predict the effects of a successful integrative HR negotiation process.

The key to a successful negotiation is to shift the situation to a ‘win-win’ situation.  Perhaps focussing on people management, yet is should make some concessions on priorities;

In a successful negotiation, everyone wins. The objective should be agreement, not victory. - Wertheim

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