Nukkad

[ArjunPandit]

Once you've put down papers never discuss retention offer. That's a rule I've stuck over the years. I've seen so many cases where people become subject of potshots because of this, dislike and disagreement within the team.

[Karthik]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y1w4Fvz3S4

Good theory from GoT, as to Bran is actually the Night King.

[Marten]

Poocchh from Corporate gurus. I am in a job and career related dilemma.

I currently work at a bank (one of the top 5 banks in India). The work is decent and somewhat laid back. Money, though, is slightly on the lower side when compared to my peers of the same pedigree and industry. I got offer with a 30% hike from much smaller NBFC. Money in the offer is good. I do need money too since I might get married soon.
Upon hearing this my bank initially asked me to reconsider but didnt put any counter offer. I accepted the NBFC offer. Post that my bank said they want to retain me (I have done excellent work by any measure. Very senior people from other teams who I deal with came and asked my boss to retain me) and asked me at what raise would I be willing to stay. I said 22%. They said they will talk to HR and try that. We had some 10 discussions post then. They initially said not possible right now but would try at year end. Then said year end hike depends only on rating (the max is 15% at best possible rating, which is almost impossible to get) and that I was poised to get a good rating. They say they are trying but money part is completely in HR control and HR isnt relenting.
But the thing is, I wouldve got good rating anyway. So what was the point of the negotiation? Even without the offer I would be in the same boat. They wasted 2 months in all these discussions, only to come and tell me that at the end effectively nothing can be done. They still are requesting me a lot to stay, but I am getting nothing out of it. Even if I consider that I wont get bonus and hike this year at the new company, I will still end-up with a loss of some 4Lacs if the current company only goes by rating at the year end (and that with a good rating).
The bank has brand name, I like the work and I only joined last year. So I do want to stay, but they are giving me nothing. What should I do?
Experienced gurus please help me.

I am sorry that they took you for a ride.
Here is what is happening. They are just keeping a carrot in front of your face while they furiously look for a replacement. When they find him/her, they will want to cut you loose. Not because you are a bad employee, but because in their mind they know you are not a "team member" and so cannot be trusted. Once they hire your replacement, they will begin to make your life miserable every day and that will force you to leave on your own (no severance). We all work for money but now you look like one who can be bought with money.

Take the offer that you had which paid you 30% more and just leave quietly without any further drama. If the offer is gone, then just lay low, find another job and quietly leave. Don't do any drama, just leave on a good note.

Your days here are numbered. Make the transition easy on yourself. The key point is never never say that you are quitting to your current employer and then make it conditional. Either leave or don't.

+1 about the replacement bit.

We have retained several good employees by matching offers from well known companies (as opposed to smaller startups or shady joints run by some family member etc.). For several folks who turned up with an expectation that the offer would be matched, we simply said no. Only for those employees that mattered did we even try battle HR. In all orgs, HR is all powerful despite being the weakest link in the organization. Be thankful you are well recognized. However, you are also marked. If you didn't intend moving, you should have spoken before getting an external offer. Can't decide which is best for you, but staying on would be imo foolish. I did the same mistake (offer from a prev. org was literally double) and stayed on, only to vegetate. My career plateaued for a while while my entire team did quite well -- they still do reach out to ask if I would like to move in, but that time is gone. Decide what makes most sense to you. If you are lagging your peers, you are losing out in your prime years. If you can find a better offer, go for it.

[Aditya_V]

Kittoo-> And you are taking your good rating for granted, it is clear that you will now most probably get a bad rating once your replacement is in.

[Sachin]

Poocchh from Corporate gurus. I am in a job and career related dilemma.

Just a side note, given your positive relations with your current bank people you may not likely burn any bridges when you quit

My suggestion would be for you to take the new offer, but if you have good friends/well wishers in the work place keep in touch with them. If you land up in problems later, and if they were genuine friends/well wishers they may be willing to help you.
I have just encountered an resignation+withdrawal case in my own team at work place. But as a manager, it is now quite natural for me to have a Plan B ready for that chap. It is not due to personal enimity, but that chap has revealed his intentions to leave (and he can be lucky the next time around).

[Morgoth]

Never ever think about taking the retention bait unless it involves all of the following i.e. change of location, team and instantaneous change in pay band. Getting promoted or having pay band increased in the same team after putting in papers will 'spoil' the atmosphere for everyone . Remember you could be setting a precedent for others to follow. That is why generally it is best to not get retained , they can give you this hike from your next year's appraisal

The only reason I listed the exceptional case of change of location, team and increase in pay was when all these conditions are met you stand a chance of not being judged as unfairly as you would be if you stay in the same team and location.

[Zynda]

This is an interesting development...instant lane expansion.

[arshyam]

That's quite cool, but how do they ensure the lane width stays consistent? It is an automatic vehicle?

[Karthik]

May be it detects lane lines.

[Singha]

looks like 4 wheel steering special vehicle.

[saip]

This was used on Tappan Zee Bridge in NY for over twenty years. It lifts the concrete blocks and places them to the side. In NY they use TWO machines in tandem. Each one moves the blocks half a lane. CA started this recently. This machine move the blocks one lane at a time. It is already in use on one of the bridges.

[salaam]

Once you've put down papers never discuss retention offer. That's a rule I've stuck over the years. I've seen so many cases where people become subject of potshots because of this, dislike and disagreement within the team.

+1

Decision to move factors in various conditions, like current pay/salary/company/culture/colleagues/etc. Those all are still there (in different percentages maybe) after you are dangled a better job/money/responsibility carrot.

Never ever think of staying back once you have a much better offer. That said, don't jump for less than 10% (in US), its just not worth it (if its mainly money driving the thinking process).

[shravanp]

This was used on Tappan Zee Bridge in NY for over twenty years. It lifts the concrete blocks and places them to the side. In NY they use TWO machines in tandem. Each one moves the blocks half a lane. CA started this recently. This machine move the blocks one lane at a time. It is already in use on one of the bridges.

Yep. Seen them on Tappan Zee many times. Usually they do the switching based on peak traffic direction.

[Karthik]

Why do dogs start howling all of a sudden, especially during night? Is it because they see a ghost?

[jamwal]

Yes

[Kabir]

Why do dogs start howling all of a sudden, especially during night? Is it because they see a ghost?

Dogs are also known to cry near houses or people where somebody is about to pass away and many Indian people take this seriously. Animals do have a much higher sensory and extra sensory perceptions than humans in a few departments. What they lack in human intellect and consciousness they make up in instinct and senses. Eg. Birds can migrate from pole to pole and still visit the same nest/nesting grounds with pin point accuracy every time (the in built compass), pets gauging the moods of their owners, dogs sensing fear or imminent danger before it occurs are commonplace. If we term an extra sensory or super natural experience as a ghost then yes many animals may have this capability.

[Karthik]

Thanks, I used to live in a street that was en-route to a local cremation ground, the departed's bodies would taken through this street. I always wondered if there's a connection between this and the street dogs howling all of a sudden mid-night.

[shravanp]

Usually wolves howl in groups. There are youtube videos where wolf puppies try to imitate the adults in howling (its quite cute).

Dogs also have this howl-in-group instinct at their genetic level since they are wolf decedent after all.

[Singha]

they are also attuned to changes in earths magnetic fields that precede a major earthquake. birds/4 legged animals have been known to get agitated in the minutes leading up to such a disaster.

some of these birds migrate 10k-20k kilometers over tractless wastes and high mountains and return to the same wetlands with pinpoint precision that would do a commercial airliner proud. they have also adapted their cardio vascular systems for extreme cold at high alt and to keep going for days. some may fall wounded but those that make it are the true lions of the skies.

[svenkat]

A reliable source said he saw dogs howling in marina beach,madras the night before tsunami struck.They were running towards the road.They seem to have got 'advance' intimation almost 12 hrs before.

[Singha]

trying to warn us in their own way. gradually as we became urbanized and lost our contact with nature and animals, these 'reading signs' died out.
our pet animals in urban homes have also probably lost it vs the friendless street dogs standing at their post till the last bark.

[SRoy]

Human senses are limited when it comes to sight and hearing. We are restricted to limited audible frequencies and also to a very narrow electromagnetic spectrum.

There is a set of very weird connections that I discovered due to my interest in astrology.

1. Rahu and Ketu when posited badly or afflicting the Moon in a horoscope will trouble the person with supernatural and negative energies.

2. While researching the assigned colors, I found Rahu is assigned ultra-violet and Ketu is assigned infra-red.

3. Color assignment is easily understood as Rahu is considered to give results similar but more severe than Saturn (Blue color) and Ketu is considered to give results similar but more severe than Mars (Red color). That places them at either end of the visible spectrum.

4. So, these two shadowy grahas / lunar nodes have dominion over things that cannot be seen / perceived by normal human sense.

5. There is also the dog connection. For Rahu the ruling deity is Kal Bhairava (form of lord Shiva that rides on a dog), while Ketu's ruling deity is Ganesha, feeding dogs is recommended to pacify Ketu. Of course, Ganesha himself is leader of the Ganas.

I am yet to understand the spiritual significance of these connecting strands when it comes to supernatural with Rahu and Ketu.

[jamwal]

How can celestial bodies crores of kms away affect someone just by his/her birthdate ? I don't believe that astrology is real.

[Karthik]

Human senses are limited when it comes to sight and hearing. We are restricted to limited audible frequencies and also to a very narrow electromagnetic spectrum.

There is a set of very weird connections that I discovered due to my interest in astrology.

1. Rahu and Ketu when posited badly or afflicting the Moon in a horoscope will trouble the person with supernatural and negative energies.

2. While researching the assigned colors, I found Rahu is assigned ultra-violet and Ketu is assigned infra-red.

3. Color assignment is easily understood as Rahu is considered to give results similar but more severe than Saturn (Blue color) and Ketu is considered to give results similar but more severe than Mars (Red color). That places them at either end of the visible spectrum.

4. So, these two shadowy grahas / lunar nodes have dominion over things that cannot be seen / perceived by normal human sense.

5. There is also the dog connection. For Rahu the ruling deity is Kal Bhairava (form of lord Shiva that rides on a dog), while Ketu's ruling deity is Ganesha, feeding dogs is recommended to pacify Ketu. Of course, Ganesha himself is leader of the Ganas.

I am yet to understand the spiritual significance of these connecting strands when it comes to supernatural with Rahu and Ketu.

Rahu made my life miserable during most part of Rahu mahadasha, which is for 18 years. It's there in my 12th house and afflicts moon. All possible ways was bad.

[SRoy]

jamwal,

True scientific temper is testing and verification. Pour over statistics, co-relate.

Larger existence is not beholden to your or mine beliefs. We don't matter.

FYI, grahas don't translate to celestial bodies. Exact Sanskrit meaning is something that grasps, takes hold of.
Also, it is not just birth date, but birth time, longitude and latitude.

The term Astrology itself is non-sense, because it is generic term applied to many practices.
What is being practiced in India is different from things followed in the West.
As general perception flows from West and Western educated persons, it is not even worth refuting such arguments.

Even in India it is a lost thing in the West and the North. Never trust an "astrologer" from Northern or Western India. No one to blame, but this is in general scheme of things that we lost during Islamic invasions.

Only in the South and certain parts in the East astrology is understood properly.

FWIW, qualified astrologers in India that I had chance to interact with are all STEM graduates (they are not the ones that appear on TV in religious outfits). They know their physics and maths.