The KEY To Salary Negotiation

I’ve made MASSIVE mistakes in my career when it comes to the issue of salary negotiation while interviewing candidates for new roles and positions within my organisation.

During the salary negotiation phase of the interview process, It can be all too easy to agree to a salary well above the initial offer after finding a candidate who looks like a perfect fit for your role. This is why it is important to implement an effective onboarding process that keeps qualified candidates interested, while also keeping the salary closer to the initial offering for the role. Let me explain...

Say for example we’re interviewing for a $50,000 role and find an experienced and motivated candidate who we think would fit in well with the culture of our organisation, however the candidate asks for $70,000, a number well above the initial offering for the role. This is an instance in which we need to show some resilience, stopping ourselves from immediately agreeing to a significant salary rise without making the individual prove that they’re a good fit for the role first. To quote the great Gary Vaynerchuk “hiring is guessing, firing is knowing” and based on this logic, It would be unwise of you to make such a significant investment based on a guess, without first knowing if the candidate can actually meet your expectations for the role.

So what can we offer to a candidate who requests a number which is significantly higher than what was originally budgeted for that role? 

In successfully onboarding new recruits to my organisation, I have found that problems are most likely to arise when a new employee skips or skims over their induction to the business because of eagerness to get stuck into their new role and isn’t properly onboarded. This is why I often implement targets/objectives for new employees to reach in order to prove themselves and their ability to thrive within their new role. If the new employee achieves a target or objective, they receive a bump to their base salary, providing them with an incentive that helps motivate them to perform to the best of their ability while also reassuring you as the recruiter that they are a good fit. This process then continues over the course of a 6-month probationary period, in which a successful candidate proves their value by achieving a series of goals and outcomes, receiving a salary bump at each step along the way until they reach the number they first requested during the salary negotiation.

This strategy not only provides an opportunity for the candidate to receive their originally requested salary but also allows you as the recruiter to weed out candidates that may not be a good fit for your organisation without paying them more than what was originally budgeted for. It also ensures that each and every candidate is successfully onboarded, fits in with the culture, and is familiar with the processes of YOUR organisation. 

If the candidate isn’t a fan of this proposal and continues to request a higher base salary, it may mean that this individual isn’t a good fit for your organisation in the first place. Every organisation has different means of negotiating salaries and onboarding new employees. This is why it’s important to find what works for YOUR organisation and stay true to that process.

If you’re interesting in learning more about negotiating salary during the interview process, check out my Youtube Video on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAooqXFGCPY&t=2s

Keep Learning, 

Kobi Simmat.