Finding the right candidate and making an offer is crucial to the success of any organization. With so many talented people in the job market, how can you ensure that your offer not only stands out but that the candidate wants to accept it?
Today’s job market is very competitive, so having the right mindset and framework in place makes a difference. Being attentive and hands-on throughout the process demonstrates you care about your team and the individuals that work for the organization. Prospective candidates pay attention to everything, even if they don’t ask questions. Your goal is to put your best foot forward throughout the process to ensure you attract and retain the best talent.
In this blog, we’ll explore the key steps to creating a viable candidate offer they won’t want to refuse.
1. Research the Candidate’s Background and Experience
Before making the offer, do thorough research on the candidate. You should know their career history, education, and achievements. This provides a general understanding of what motivates them and their expectations in their next role, and the type of company they want to work for. This can help structure the best way to make job offer provisions they will seriously consider.
2. Determine What the Candidate Values Most
When interviewing a top candidate, it’s important to ask open-ended, yet probing questions. It’s also vital to actively listen to their responses. This will help in understanding what they value most in a job, like good work-life balance, opportunities for growth and advancement, and supportive work environments. Your offer should be based on what’s important to the role, and the candidate.
3. Offer a Competitive Salary and Benefits Package
Finding the right candidate is a good thing, but your salary and benefits package must be competitive enough to stand out among the competition. Your HR team must do adequate research to make sure they fully understand the qualifications of the role, and acceptable and competitive ranges to come up with a good top candidate offer.
4. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Advancement
According to a McKinsey report, 41% of employees left their previous companies because of a lack of opportunities to grow and advance. That means providing access to training and development programs, as well as a clear plan of the development path, and what is needed to help the employee move forward must be in place from the very beginning. Opportunities for professional growth and a structured ladder for developing their potential for leadership roles in the future must be transparent.
5. Create a Positive Work Environment
It’s been said that employees care about compensation and benefits, but their main reason for staying with an organization is the morale and overall environment. Companies that care about their employees and cultivate environments where everyone thrives are usually successful. Employees that are satisfied and happy tend to remain with their company throughout their careers. This is the type of environment you want to have – one where people don’t want to leave. Job seekers consider culture to be a vital part of their consideration when determining whether they want to join an organization. That means it’s very important to highlight this area.
Candidates should know and understand the company’s culture, values, and work environment. Emphasize how the candidate will fit into the company and how they will be supported. If the plan is in place and you can speak about this, offer flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting or flexible schedules. This is also a good time to cover other perks and benefits employees have that help create a great work environment, and how you will keep them engaged and invested. This begins when they are offered the job, is further reinforced during the onboarding process and is continuously cultivated throughout their tenure.
6. Be Transparent and Open About Expectations
The last thing you want is to hire someone that doesn’t know what’s expected of them. They have expectations of you as an employer to ensure they have the tools needed to successfully do their jobs, but you should also convey your expectations for their role and any challenges that may arise. New employees should be familiar with the overall goals of the company and their departments. This is a good segway into how their role fits into the vision and strategic objectives to help the company achieve its goals.
7. Be Respectful and Professional
Every candidate should be treated with the utmost respect and professionalism throughout the offer process. Keeping them informed of the status of their application is a must. There are many platforms available that can help in keeping the lines of communication open and assist with helping them keep track of deadlines or any additional documentation that may be needed. If the candidate has questions, your team should promptly respond. Many candidates give up on companies because of the lack of communication. Don’t let yours be one of them.
The right perspective can attract and retain good talent while setting the company up for continued success. These steps should be considered a framework for how to make job offer protocols that are periodically refined based on your needs, and the changing job market. By following them, you can create a job offer that candidates won’t want to refuse, and build a foundation for a productive, mutually beneficial, and successful long-term relationship.
