Advice from an Executive Head-Hunter

How to ensure that a sought after candidate accepts your offer: Advice from an executive head-hunter

Finding the right person for your business or team takes time and energy. When you’re finally ready to make an offer to a suitable candidate, and your offer is declined, it can be soul destroying and costly. Sterling achievers and those with scarce skills tend to be in high demand which is why your offer needs to stand out.  Executive head-hunter Mindcor, provides suggestions to reduce the risks of your offer being declined.

The hiring process

Make sure that your overall hiring process is not too lengthy, encompassing multiple interviews and exhaustive tests. This can be overly stressful and unnecessarily time-consuming for all involved, and top candidates may be left with the perception that the executive team cannot make decisions.

Another mistake many companies make is of not communicating consistently with candidates during the recruitment process. It’s important to explain the next steps and to keep them interested and excited in the role. If candidates don’t hear from the hiring manager after a phone screen or interview, they’ll lose interest, even if you’re keen on taking the process further.

Once you decide to make an offer, don’t delay. Your hesitation could cost you your candidate. During this time, they might be seriously considering other offers. Give them the space to consider your offer without demanding too speedy a response. Changing jobs requires serious consideration, and it’s important not to pressure a candidate for an answer. At this delicate point, they may simply decline because they don’t like the feeling of being coerced into responding.

Discover the needs of your candidate

As early as the first interview, garner information from candidates that will help you design an offer that is tailored to their needs, priorities and aspirations. Ask for their preferences around an ideal work environment, salary, role expectations, flexibility, importance of development and training and the type of environment and perks that appeal. Also find out if the candidate is considering options with other employers to ascertain their willingness for a new opportunity.

Present the whole package

If you want your offer taken seriously, you’ll need to market benchmark the candidate’s current salary, together with the tasks, skills, and specialisation of the role you want to recruit them for. If there is a huge demand for the skill, the more competitive the salary will need to be.

Couple a competitive salary with workplace perks and details on your (hopefully) empowering company culture to add appeal to your offer.  Sometimes a benefit, one that you wouldn’t necessarily have expected, such as a subsidised lunch, baby-sitting services or an in-house gym, can swing a candidate in favour of a position, even if the salary is not what they had expected. Also provide information on the kinds of projects your company or team is involved in which could entice your candidates and make them excited about a future with your company. Tell them about mentoring programmes and the ethos of the team to help them decide if they are a fit.

A word of caution is that if you bend over backwards by offering a candidate an extremely generous remuneration, it will leave you very little room for raises and other incentives – and may even cause disillusionment among other members of your team.

Valuable feedback

If your candidate declines the offer, ask them for honest and constructive feedback. Perhaps the job appealed but your company’s reputation did not, the recruitment process lacked professionalism, or a competitor offered more benefits. Use feedback as valuable information for bolstering your recruitment process and business brand.

Hiring candidates in any market is a serious challenge. The offer stage is the most critical point in the recruitment process because you have invested time and energy in engaging the candidate. Being forced to hire the second or third choice on your list, or having to restart the search for a suitable candidate at executive level can affect your bottom line. The tips shared by executive head-hunters, Mindcor, will foster the optimal context for your chosen candidate to seriously consider your offer.