Open Letter to “All Hiring Managers and Candidates”
A new Trend is emerging…
As most of my regular readers know, I only write when I have something to say, and today more than ever there is a new trend that is increasing every day, the Counter Offer. Now I may here you saying, “Harlan, that is not a new trend there has always been counter offers.” And I would tend to agree with you wholeheartedly. But there is the statistic that should make you stand up and take notice. Not only is there more counter offers but greater than 20% of candidates according to a recent survey of Permanent Placement Recruiters nationwide, are now falling off.
What does falling off actually mean? It means that 20% of all candidates are opting to stay at their current position or taking a position at another firm even though they have a signed offer with a new firm. You simply cannot count on the fact that a candidate has signed your offer. Why is this occurring? This is happening because currently we are in a candidate driven market, therefore current firms do not want to lose their present employees to a competing firm, and are going to great measures to keep them. They are applying a “full court press” when they find out their current ”star” is out looking for a new team.
So if you are the “star” you are very much in control for now. But if you are the one wanting to make a move, be prepared for your home team not to give up without a fight. You must be better prepared than ever when going in to resign. The best way to resign if that is your decision is to do it short and sweet. You must state emphatically you are not looking for a counter offer and must mean it! If you are using the interviewing and ultimate hiring process to better your own position that too can backfire. The reason for this statement is – your present firm now knows that at least there is a glitch in your armor, and you may not be that 100% dedicated employee that they thought you were. They may keep you but the psychological infraction has been done. So candidates please be sure that you really want to leave your current firm, because the road ahead will be rockier than it has in the past when it comes to the resignation process. We can help you through this process.
If you are the Hiring Manager, one additional key to getting the candidate closed is to measure their pain and pleasure levels. If he or she is showing no pain from their current situation they will be more accepting of counter offers, and may buckle under the pressure from their present firm. If they are only looking towards the pleasure of going to a new company, in my opinion that is not going to be enough when the full court press is applied; which statistically it will be today. Your candidate has to be both avoiding pain and heading towards pleasure, ie. leaving behind a platform that is preventing an increase in their production for a firm that is going to be more accepting of his or her type of business, thus driving more revenue to their bottom line. So please drill down much more than you have in the past for their real reason about leaving and entertaining your offer. We can help you locate and close the candidates that really want to move.
About Harlan Friedman, JD & Founding Member, H. Friedman Search LLC. Harlan is a thirty-year veteran Public Finance Banker turned recruiter who specializes in the placement of all level Public Finance Bankers, Health Care Bankers, Municipal Financial Advisors, Compliance Officers, FinOps & Bond Counsels. He can be reached at [email protected] or 760-477-1284.