Great candidate identification is the basic foundation of any successful executive recruitment process.
But a lot more is needed to actually make a top-tier executive hire happen.
Cultural fit between a company and a candidate is critical but it is certainly not obvious from a resume.
And without a doubt the quality of a company’s executive hiring process — and the candidate experience during the process — are both hugely impactful when it comes to overall success.
Once you have the above nailed – it’s time to make a candidate offer.
At this advanced stage, you have eliminated various points in the executive recruitment process where things can go wrong… but it’s not “job done” yet.
In Indonesia, we would estimate that about 60% of executive hiring processes go wrong at the offer stage.
There are various reasons for failing at the offer stage, but today I’m focusing on the most common:
When a company chooses to make a low-ball initial financial offer.
Candidate Offer “Don’ts”
Many companies lose out on stellar senior-level hires because they view an initial offer as the starting point for a negotiation…
They approach financial offers as they do vendors and other commercial arrangements with 3rd party businesses.
They offer low and see what happens.
Unfortunately, top-tier senior-level candidates, professionals that are in comfortable positions, don’t always see things the same way.
Candidates don’t approach the financial offer stage as a business transaction, they do so as a human mindful of their career, personal objectives and their view of self-worth.
With this frame of mind, the need to negotiate hard and justify a fair and reasonable salary up-lift, can be severely off-putting.
On a regular basis we see initial offers being made that are… equal to, or less, than the candidates current income.
On what planet does that make sense?
If you were in the candidates shoes would you accept?
It doesn’t exactly shout “take the plunge, join us, we see you as a high-value asset”.
Candidate Offer “Do’s”
Companies that succeed at the financial offer stage in Indonesia are Bold.
They see the Initial Offer as part of the overall candidate experience with their business — and they’re right.
They see it as a chance to capitalise on the momentum of a well-managed executive recruitment process and successfully close things down fast.
They view the Initial Offer as a statement of intent.
A bold Initial Offer acknowledges that the candidate is stepping into the unknown.
It sends a clear message — “Believe in Us because we believe in You”.
You only have one chance to make a good first impression at the financial offer stage — and not doing so, choosing to go low and “negotiate up” if needed, can easily mean losing out on top-tier talent.
And then you are back to ground 0.
It has been a long process to get to this final stage.
Our strong advice — cut the theatre from the financial offer process, be bold from the get-go.
Don’t create unnecessary obstacles by aiming “low” as a “1st offer”… it turns top-of-game professionals off — fast.
It’s much better to enter strong and fair, say “this is what we can do, we’ve put our best foot forward”…
Versus aiming low, leaving the candidate demotivated and highly likely to walk away.
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