Role of intangibles in decision-making

When it comes to making decisions, a sound advice is to base it on facts. However, there are many occasions in life when hard-facts are just a part of the total universe of data needed for decision. Take for example; when a person is evaluating a job offer, she has the data on compensation offered which is easily comparable to her current salary. However, how does one quantify the intangibles like the work culture, quality of peer group / supervisor etc.? There are no standard scales or benchmarks for quantifying the value of such intangibles. These intangibles do not even find a place in the decision matrix of many job aspirants resulting in decisions, which can go either way.

Successful career moves require careful assessment of all aspects both tangible and intangible.

In my view, there are five major factors, which must be part of decision set:

1)    Industry: the aspirant must review carefully the reasons for entering into the industry. Industries have their own maturity curves. The industry’s maturity influences the quality of experience / nature of exposure.

2)    Company: The relative position of the company among the industry peers also plays a role. Stronger the company better is the perceived brand value.

3)    Job: it is important to understand the scope of the job well. Some job titles are very misleading. Depth and breadth of the job, key accountability, budgets, decision-making empowerment, area of direct influence etc. are a good starting point for understanding the job.

4)    Supervisor and Peers: It is one of the most important aspect to be evaluated while making the decision about a new job. A good assessment of interpersonal fitment with the people one is going to work with is very crucial. This aspect of the job determines the chances of success / failure of the move

5)    Compensation: This is the most tangible part of the job offer. With each job change, the candidates aspire to enhance the quality of their lives and thus focus on maximizing compensation. However, it is always important to know the fair benchmark compensation for the job. Getting into a job which pays significantly higher than the fair benchmark can lead to the person getting priced out in the market and can lead to getting stuck in a job / company.

In case you are already in the process of evaluating a new assignment outside your current company, then do pay attention to the intangibles of the job offer. Evaluate the opportunity holistically and you will eliminate all the chances of any regrets later.