You’ve got the right candidate! After interviews, and applications and writing jobs adverts, deciding what you like. You have found the person you want to offer! Congratulations!
It’s easy right, we just bung them an offer right now, salary, and a date to start – and off we go?
Getting this bit right, will set the candidate up as an employee, and will benefit you in the long run.
What do I mean? If you have done your interviews right, you will have found out these bits of information…
- What the candidate’s salary expectations (of the package)
- When they can start?
- Why do they want to work for you?
- How are you going to manage them, in coaching, training, development – that sort of thing.
- What they can do for you? Will they be able to do the role competently?
But here are the pitfalls companies fall into with offers…
- Salary – The quickest way to get an offer turned down, is to offer less than the candidates’ expectation. If the candidate is not in your budget, and you still proceeded to interview the candidate, then come to offer – and it’s gravely below the line. Your offer will fall flat.
- Job titles – I did a survey on LinkedIn, and a follow-up video (below) – Job titles to most people are not as important as the job itself. So, people tell me. But when it comes to offering the right role to the right person, it can be. Be aware of the job title pitfall. Listen to the candidate.
- Not setting expectations early – This sounds normal, right? But in an offer, set the job boundaries and expectation of said candidate – what they will be doing from day one, training, coaching, advancements. Review periods, even salary raises, and bonus expectation. Paint the picture of the job.
- Caveats in offers – Last year, I had an offer for the candidate. But the caveat in the offer was “must get their driving licence by month 6” or lately this happened “Must find a company car within 4 weeks” – but upon discovering that the candidate had bad credit and could not get a car. Lost his job after 4 weeks. Caveats can be very unfair to the candidate, and if not met, the time-wasting situation for you, you’ll need to start all over again. You already have the law behind you, when accessing the candidate from day 1 till the end of the 2nd year with you. You don’t need caveats, especially ones that can be solved as a team, time, and support.
- Taking too long to offer – If you have a sort after candidate, and you want them in your business, the worse thing that can be done is taking longer than 24 hours after the last meeting with the candidate. If it takes longer, call them and explain why. Normally its because the senior people in the business need to sign off, or a customer issue has arisen that needs attention. Tell them that.
- Your offer will reflect what it’s like to work with you. An offer will be representational of what it’s like to work for you. Too short, and the candidate will think you don’t take them seriously. If it has false promises or too many targets – the trust has gone.
What is the best way to make an offer?
Verbally, if you are using an agency, you can get them to do it? Or you can do it yourself. I’d suggest, let the agency deal with the offer, if you don’t feel up to making it direct. But if you can, try to do it yourself. Offer the candidate on the phone – and go through everything then. Salary, package, expectations – and get their live feedback.
Have the offer in writing before you do this, that way if the candidate has a concern or negotiates a change in the offer, you can change the wording to suit, and then hit send to them.
Verbal accept is good, but get the candidate to read the written offer and accept in an email or in writing. A written offer is important to a candidate, they can use it to quit their job with confidence.
But also, by accepting the role, you have started the path of working with this candidate into the future, with the expectations you have set.
And that is important, I mention it a few times in this blog.
Setting expectations, now, will help you in developing that candidate, but also, give the candidate boundaries to which they need to work in, to pass (if you do probation) a probational period of time. Then you both have some to access against in 3-6 months time.
I have worked with 100s of offers in my 16 years in recruitment, the ones that get turned down, normally because the offer falls short of expectation, and funnily it’s been verbalised or advertised in the process – which is where most expectation comes from with candidates.
When offering, again I say this during the recruitment process, how would you like to be treated?
Thanks for following this series!