"Jessica" and "Bob" are two managers at a major multinational company in China. A few months ago, their organisation went through a significant restructuring process which placed everyone's job in jeopardy. During this difficult period, Jessica and Bob faced the unenviable task of trying to persuade their top employees to stay with the company, even though they could not offer job security. After much discussion and a series of meetings between the two managers and their respective teams, over 80% of Jessica's staff chose to stay, while fewer than 40% of Bob's staff remained with the firm. Both managers faced the same unfavourable circumstances, but Jessica was able to persuade her team much more effectively. Why was this the case? Jessica mastered the art of persuasion, whereas Bob did not!

At work and at home, we constantly face difficult situations in which we must persuade others to accept the value of our ideas. Perhaps we need to persuade a new customer to buy an expensive product or service, or we must persuade our staff to follow controversial new company regulations. At home, we might want to persuade our family members to agree to our financial decisions or prepare our favourite foods. Whatever the situation, there is a proven skill set to help us persuade others more effectively. Conversely, someone who lacks these skills - like Bob - will struggle to persuade others, often with serious consequences.

Building Trust

The biggest difference between Jessica and Bob's approaches to handling their sticky situations was what they established before the all-important meetings with their staff. Over the previous two years, Jessica had established an incredible rapport with her team. She knew their favourite foods, how they spent their weekends, the names of their family members, and their future career goals. When she called the meeting to discuss restructuring, she knew exactly how each staff member would react to the situation. This enabled her to tailor her message to overcome the fears and anxieties of her team.

On the other hand, Bob had no rapport with his staff. Aside from their latest sales figures and favourite suits, he did not know anything about them as people. During Bob's meetings, everyone felt very tense and was quick to dismiss anything controversial. Afterwards, several members of Bob's staff admitted that they took the restructuring as a blessing in disguise and were glad for the opportunity to find a new manager.

When trying to persuade people, rapport goes a long way to achieving consensus as it is a key component when building trust. For two years, Jessica's staff trusted her and thus believed her when she said, "if you work hard for another two months, you will have a better chance to retain your job." Executives at the company were astounded when they found that the productivity of Jessica's department actually increased after news of the restructuring.

Showing Benefits and Consequences

When Bob was trying to persuade his top employees to stay, he made the conventional mistake of spending most of his time explaining how important their decisions were to him. What he failed to realise was that his top employees could not see any benefit to them if they stayed with him.

Jessica was acutely aware of what was important to her top employees. She knew that compensation was a factor and carefully explained the severance package that was available if they stayed. However, Jessica was also aware that compensation alone was not enough. She appreciated that most of her staff had been together a long time and therefore were quite concerned about each other's situation. If a few of her top employees were to leave, the remaining employees would face even bigger problems and would most likely be working overtime for the remainder of the restructuring period. Jessica explained this consequence to her staff and then sat back and watched as they agreed to support one another through this difficult situation.

The first thing you should always do when persuading, is think from the perspective of the recipient. If accepting your idea offers a clear benefit or refusing creates a clear consequence, the task of persuading has become ten times easier. If an HR manager can show the benefits of following a new company regulation, their employees will be much more willing to follow and accept the changes in rules.