How Should I Approach Candidate Salary Negotiations?

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...if the salary isn't right, there's little chance they would take the job anyway.

• Your candidate will have done their own research by looking at alternative job adverts and using salary calculators. Make sure you are prepared for their questions and can tell them why your job is valued at the level it is.

• Make every effort to identify the most recent salary and benefits your candidate received. They will generally hope for around 10% above that, unless they are making a drastic career change.

• Negotiation is not about winning. If...

...either party feels they have capitulated, not negotiated, both parties lose in the long term. If your candidate is getting less than they think they deserve then they will immediately be unhappy and you may be looking for another new candidate (with all the associated costs) within a few months.

• Don't agree to something you can't uphold. If you agree with a candidate they are going to get a certain amount and then get the request turned down by your finance department, it's going to put you in a very difficult situation.

• Use conditional increases where possible. If you are not able to agree upon a starting salary, you may be able to swing the balance by agreeing a guaranteed increase after they have successfully completed a probation period.

Bargaining tools

It's not just a case of how much money you can offer a candidate – you have a lot of other benefits you can offer candidates that may even be more valuable to them than a bit of extra cash every month.

• Commission – Generally based on meeting monthly or quarterly Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). A great way of making sure effort equals reward.

•... continued on page three >

 

 

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