Power Equation - Balanced or Imbalanced ?

Of all the other major factors which determine the relationship between the employer and the employee, most important is the power equation between them. It might seem undesirable to use a strong word like ‘power’ when we are talking about the employment relationship but yes, I strongly believe that the balance or rather imbalance of bargaining or negotiating power is very much contextual here. The question is – “Who is in the driver position? “. The answer lies in finding for whom the stakes are higher – the employee or the employer. Generally, it is indeed the employer who is safely positioned in terms of making the offers and deciding them too. This is very obvious as the employer has many resources at his disposal and losing few of them should not really matter to them as it is generally taken into account as the inherent cost of business. But the stakes are higher for the employee as it is, especially in the current scenario, much more difficult to find the same job or the same salary in other organizations. Having said this, i also admit there are exceptions where this equation no longer holds good. Take an example of a movie star – he charges an amount of his choice and more often than not is the one making all the bargains and offers irrespective of the business the movie does. Same goes for a star cricket player for whom there are two or three clubs ready to shell out lot of money to take him in. Also, the case where we have labour unions and employee is a part of that. There the stakes are higher for the employer as well as the treatment to the employee can trigger different reactions in the union.
Whether i would be able to make such an offer to my employer in my career depends on various factors. First and most important of them would be the chances of getting the similar or better jobs in other organizations without any hassles. If i see my chances and prospects in other organizations better than the current one, i might be able to make such offer. Even being able to do that does not ensure me actually doing that as it also depends on how satisfied i am in my current job – both personally and professionally.
Receiving a similar one time non-negotiable offer from one of my employee would make me think a little. First of all, i would try to know the reason for this action and try to get a clear picture of the whole issue which triggered this. If the issue can be pacified by talking to the individual no other action is required but in case the issue is big and involves other complications related to the organization, it would need to be taken seriously. I would try to measure the relative worth of the individual in my organization to get an idea of how crucial he or she is to the business. This would include assessing the cost of replacing the individual and cost of accepting the offer. Then i would assess the dependencies of the projects he or she is currently involved in and might have been in future too. Then, last but not the least, i will have a look at all the legal options which are available and then having all this information appropriate action would be taken.