Presenting an offer of employment. Sound simple? I mean, you have a job and someone needs a new job, how hard can it be? Well, turns out this is actually the one of the most delicate stages of the entire recruitment process.
Having worked within the recruitment environment for several years, I can't begin to tell you how many candidates, or rather potential employees, have turned down an offer of employment seemingly without cause. This happens after you have completed all the grunt work of scanning CV's, interviewing and conducting reference and background checks. So where does the problem originate? Actually, if employers or recruiters do their job correctly, there should never have been a problem in the first place. It's about controlling the situation by having all your bases covered. It's about information.
Presenting an offer actually begins with the job you are offering in the first place. How thoroughly do you, as the employer or recruiter, actually understand what you are looking for? This is crucial because if you don't know exactly what you are looking for you are never going to find the ideal person to later make an offer to. By understanding the specifics of the position, the fundamentals of what the position entails and its importance within your company structure, you can start to build an idea of the sort of person you are likely to be looking for. If you manage to later find a match for this ‘ideal' you have created, then making the offer of employment should become a mere formality.
Once you know exactly what sort of person you require, you need to relay this information in detail to the individual responsible for the recruitment in your organisation. Good recruitment consultants know the correct questions to ask and no matter how arbitrary some of their questions might seem to you, they all have a specific purpose. You need to know exactly what you are willing to offer in terms of salary or package for the position. Good recruitment consultants will advise on market related salary brackets for the position but you need to know the minimum, and more importantly, the maximum of what you are looking to pay. This is basic information control from your side which is exactly what is required for the next step of the process. Applicants must provide you with the following information during the screening process:
Applicants responsibilities in past positions and what they are currently working on that makes them applicable for the role;
Ability to function and/or possibly excel in the role you have envisioned;
Details of the remuneration package they are currently earning and what sort of package they would be expecting. At this stage, good consultants are able to effectively manage a candidate's expectations in terms of their his own actual market value and their expectations for the role on offer
The reason they are looking for a new role.
You will need to assess the candidates calibre technically as well as the company cultural fit;
That the applicant actually wants the job, that they think they would do well in the position and to gauge their level of desire to be successful with their application.
Only once you have satisfied all of the above, should you even consider moving forward with presenting an offer to your preferred candidate. Now is the time to make your move! Working within a skills short market you need to be aware that candidates are possibly attending several interviews with different companies and in most cases you should never make the mistake of assuming they are exclusively waiting on your decision. Says Ryan Reynolds, Managing Director of RecruitIT Solutions, “Many a good candidate has been lost due to the time lapse between interview and offer. It is simple. Once you have made your decision - act.” Having made sure of all the steps leading up to the actual handover of the offer puts you in the position of ultimate control. You are almost sure to get the result you expect because you have left no stone unturned.
The real hard work has now been completed and the presentation of the offer should be completely without incident.
So in summary, the following needs to be done to make sure that the position is filled with the correct candidate.
Understand the position you are looking to fill.
Make sure you know your budget.
Gather as much information about the candidate you are looking to make an offer to.
Identify exactly what the candidate is earning and know precisely what package you would have to offer to make him/her accept.
Effectively manage their expectations.
Finally, don't waste any more time deliberating once the decision has been made - make the offer as soon as possible.
Having an offer accepted or rejected is entirely dependent on you and how you manage the process. Assumptions about people do not cut it here, making an offer of employment to a candidate shouldn't just be a shot in the dark or ‘hope for the best' effort! It is purely about knowing what you need and how to match that according to what the candidate needs. Once you control all the relevant information, presenting an offer does become as simple as it sounds.
