Is it worth getting a salary raise by bluffing?

I’ve recently collected several stories that sound like the one I’m going to share with you today.

The employee is commonly 30 to 40 years old and has a good position in the company.

Usually, the people concerned have a technical or commercial profile and are in that grey area where salaries, even when in line with the position and experience, can be outstripped by the offer of companies looking for specific skills.

The employee goes to the boss’ and announces that he is going to resign: at the end of his notice period, he will leave the company.

He has an interesting offer in his hands, the type you can’t refuse.

The boss is terrified and a pile of questions crowd his head:

• How will he tell the manager? And the HR?
• How long before he will be able to replace him?
• Who will do his work in the meantime?

No, he/she can’t leave: we have to do something!

Investigation begins:

• Why does he/she want to leave?
• Career?
• Problems with the boss?
• Money?
• What’s not working?

In too many cases, the conclusion is this: our man/woman is doing great at the company, the environment is terrific, the perspectives are excellent, but he/she can’t say no to such a salary raise.

So, the boss decides to make a move and contacts all the people involved in the decision and collects what is needed to retain the valuable employee.

And in the end, he succeeds: the colleague remains with the company, to everyone’s satisfaction.

For a while.

Because, after a not too long period, narcissism prevails and a few confidential conversations at the coffee machine bring to the boss’s ear that the proposal for a new job was a bluff.

It simply did not exist.

The events that follow the discovery can be the most diverse, it’s not the colour of the reactions that we’re interested in here; I leave them to your imagination.

What’s interesting to us is that the staff member often stays in the company until he/she can get a real “can’t refuse offer,” proving once again that

it’s pointless to tie the dog with the sausage.

So, is it wise to use the bluff to get the salary raise?

It’s hard to say, but before proceeding I suggest you ensure the existence of at least three conditions:

1. Your position in the company is ironclad and no one is waiting for your resignation with champagne in the fridge;
2. Neither your boss nor anyone else in the company has the guts to come and “see” your cards, forcing you to formalize your resignation;
3. You work in a company where revenge has never taken root: even when everyone knows about the bluff, no one will hold a grudge against you, not even the HR people, and you will keep intact your chances of a career.

As you can see the risks are not few; nevertheless, the use and success of the bluff seem to be both increasing.

Widespread stupidity? More like pervasive fear…

What do you think about it?