A while back, we did a pretty fascinating series over at FOT related to candidate's negotiating skills (see the posts here and here). The focus of most of those articles was related to how
candidates who have better negotiating skills tend to end up with higher salaries than equally qualified candidates who refuse to negotiate. Is that good or bad?
Regardless of your opinion, my ears perked up earlier this year when I heard the following at my previous company:
Me - Sally (candidate in play) has another offer, so we need to think about that before we make ours.
Rick (name changed, perhaps gender changed to protect the ID of the manager) - Kris, I'm not going to tolerate a lot of negotiating on this one.
Me - OK... It's been a little while since we last talked to her and she was obviously on the market, so it's not surprising that she's been offered elsewhere.
Rick - Fine, I'm just not going to play a lot of games.
Me - Cool. Let's talk about the base, we're 10K short from the competing offer. What do you want to do?
Rick - Hold tight. I'm not going to bring her in at a higher rate than my incumbents.
Me - I understand that and think that's a good call. If you budge 5K, the probability of closing this one goes up from about 30% to about 70%.
Rick - No dice. With this position, she can make it up on the incentive pay. She can pull herself up via her performance.
ME - OK, we'll move it forward - not likely to close this one, however...
I run down that scenario for you for the following reasons - even though legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act is being proposed due to equity issues caused by effective candidate negotiators getting more $$$ for the same job, I run into a lot of managers who take it personally when a candidate wants to negotiate.
It's personal to them. Doesn't matter what the candidate's gender, race, national origin or zodiac sign is, they REFUSE to consider negotiation, unless I put their arm behind their back like Tony Soprano. Telling them the job will remain open for an additional 60 days seems to get their attention.
For all the problems that can be caused by compensation equity issues, it makes me wonder if bigger problems are caused by companies and managers who refuse to negotiate. After all, the same approach can spill over from recruitment into performance management and merit pay.
If you've ever been insulted by a candidate asking for more, you might be a manager with control issues - or pride yourself on being an effective negotiator.
Talent be damned!
Agreed Kris!
This is a MAJOR issue in the retail banking world. Every manager that I've ever dealt with has taken it personally when a candidate counters. It's like dealing with 8 year olds instead of adults...
Phil
Posted by: Phil North | May 07, 2009 at 09:04 AM
Kris
Good points you bring up. Managers do not need to take it personally when potential talented hires want to negotiate. Talent sourcing can be difficult and sometimes it seems managers don't understand fully how hard it can be to fill some positions. Maybe with social networks it may become easier to find talent because more people are connected now than ever. What do you think?
Posted by: Cade Krueger | May 08, 2009 at 02:55 PM