There are more jobs and competition for high-quality talent in the technology space than at any time in history.
But why is this the case? Well, all businesses that have technology at their core are impacted by factors such as the correct market fit, strategy, pricing and so on. But above all else they are impacted by execution and people are the key to execution.
So chances are, the candidate that you’ve identified as the right person for you. People rarely pursue one opportunity at a time when they’re in job seeking mode. And if they’re talking to you, it’s probably reasonable to assume that they’re having conversations wth other organisations.
It’s at this point, that a superior ability to close is obviously the difference between securing your person or not. What we know from countless studies is that compensation is not always the determining factor for job seekers. This is where you basically get found out on the “have you been listening?” part of the interview process. I’ve seen many a good process go awry when it’s become clear that recruiters/hiring managers have been having one way dialogue that’s been based on fulfilling their needs, not the candidates.
In order to secure the best people possible, offers, and more importantly the dialogue around offers needs to be highly evolved. Think for a second about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how offers might mirror Maslow’s comments.
Compensation
Compensation – Offers that are poorly executed only ever focus on the base component of Physiological need, and in the offer scenario, that’s compensation. I’m not saying your compensation shouldn’t be competitive, it absolutely should be, I’m saying that it’s not enough to focus solely on that. Offers like this represent poor quality recruiting skills. People who join you just for money, will leave you for money aswell and you run the risk of hiring mercenaries not missionaries.
Security
Security – Focus on how stable and secure the business is. Talk about the steps that have been taken to be in that position and the leadership from the financial team who work every day to ensure stability for the business. Talk about the customer growth you’re forecasting and how that impacts stability.
Love & Belonging
Love and belonging – in the offer scenario this equates to Freedom. Think about the responsibility this person will have, will they have freedom to make their own decisions, to operate with a degree of independence they haven’t previously experienced? Will they be able to operate and run a department or team the way they’ve always envisaged, the way they believe it needs to be done, in order to be successful? In other words, if they get all this – will they feel they finally belong?
Esteem
Esteem – In the offer scenario, this is about Impact. We get our biggest boost of self esteem and sense of self worth when we feel we are making an impact. We know this because we’ve all heard tales of people leaving jobs because they “couldn’t get anything done” or “there was “to much red tape to get through”. It’s comments like this in interviews that tell you that this person wants to achieve things, they want to make an impact.
Take this even further, by focusing on their ability to make an impact outside the business not just inside. “The work your team does will directly impact the way healthcare is delivered to millions of people” – this type of focus is the stuff that reminds candidates why they should be joining you.
Self Actualisation
Self Actualisation – Allowing people to picture all this and then project that into the future points your offer towards them seeing themselves being the best, most successful, impactful version of themselves. This dialogue directs them to the vision of what their life could be, the legacy they could leave and the sense of achievement they’ll have. Your role should then be hands down, the most attractive in the market.
This type of dialogue takes planning, practice and the ability to really listen at the various stages of interviewing, we need to listen to all the cues that people give us along the way. Starting with a planned approach to how you do this is of course key to making it a reality.
So there you go, that’s my advice for presenting your offers in a more compelling and successful way.
