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I had a guy that called me over a month ago for a job. I have known him for a couple of years, and he wanted to be a landscaper, by golly. It seemed like it was going to be a great fit. I matched his pay with the opportunity to make more as we added responsibility to his job description. Well, he texted (yes, texted) me today "I have bad news" Of course, his old boss was offering him $9/hour more to come back and take on all new responsibilities.
First of all, the wording that he used in his text was supposed to illicit some sort of response from me, imo. It was as if he was setting me up to "feel bad" about the whole situation. Am I really not paying a good worker enough? Is he so valuable, that I have to increase his pay? What am I going to do if he leaves!?
The key is to not get emotionally involved. We can't take it personal. The bottom line is, everyone is replaceable. Some more easily than others, but even the good ones can be replaced.
My immediate response was two-fold: 1) Why is that bad news? If you can make $9/hour more, go for it! I flipped the whole scenario back onto his shoulders. 2) Why does your old boss suddenly feel like you are worth $20/hour when you were worth $11/hour two weeks ago? Of course, he had a couple of replies for that, like he has to get licensed, etc., but I told him that he should consider why his boss had the sudden change of heart. Again, I tried to make the bad news and decision-making all his.
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