Offer Phase: Here is the reality

4 Part Series on Candidate Experience an Employer Reputation:

Part 1: First Impressions

Part 2: Interviewing

Part 3: Offer Stage

Part 4: Onboarding

 In the last two installments we looked at how first impressions and interviewing can affect candidate experience. Today we take a dive into the critical offer phase.

After 20 years in the recruitment industry I have seen it all when it comes to the offer phase. Horror stories abound. I wanted to shed some light on the mistakes that I often see and how companies can overcome them and ultimately be successful in LANDING their ideal candidates.

Offer Phase: Here is the reality

• Many organizations think that whatever offer they make, the candidate will love it and automatically accept.

The reality is that this may work with unemployed candidates, but is certainly not the case with passive candidates. Think of the situation through their lens. It will take swooning and a highly compelling offer to get them to make a move.

• Companies don’t gather enough information on the front end to understand what a “highly compelling” offer will be for each specific candidate.

If there is no intermediary such as a third party recruiter, this frankly can be quite tough. Even if the company asks a candidate questions, the candidate will likely hold their real cards close to the vest. Having a recruiter who has developed a relationship with the candidate and knows their true story and can decipher their motivators. This will make all the difference in delivering a compelling offer.

• Companies often don’t trial close the candidate (ask all the questions).

In order to get an accepted offer there first must be a conversation to answer every unknown. Once you have trial closed the candidate, or the recruiter has done so on your behalf and you know that the candidate has verbally agreed to terms, then a formal offer can be made.

• The actual components of the offer need to be flexible to meet the candidates needs/wants.

Of course the base salary needs to be a sufficient number, but it’s also vital to have an understanding of what other components can sweeten the deal. What is truly important to the candidate? PTO, flexibility to work from home, 401k, healthcare, car, phone, sign-on bonus, relocation, etc…)

• Market research on compensation is a must.

Just because your company has always paid a certain amount for a certain position, does not mean that it is a competitive number in today’s market. See what the best companies are offering for a similar role and adjust accordingly.

• It’s hard to recover after a poor offer has been made.

Although an offer can be a negotiation, an offer that is so far off base that it is offensive may blow the whole deal right off the bat.

You’ve spent so much time and resources getting to the offer phase, why jeopardize the whole thing now? Make sure that you are doing everything you can to ensure a fair and compelling offer is made. We have seen the good and we have certainly seen the bad. We can help.

 Next installment we will cover the last but not the least stage, Onboarding. Stay tuned…

Thoughts, comments or would like to discuss further please check us out at The Swan Group or email me at [email protected]