Gerald Walsh - An Atlantic Canada Leader in Executive Search, Career Transition, Executive Coaching and Human Resources

Employers Competing for Employees: A Case Study

Not long ago, candidates competed with one another for jobs. Now employers compete with other employers for good candidates. Interesting sign of the times!

A case in point: Recently, we conducted two searches for senior financial professionals for a client in the real estate sector. After a two-month search, this company made highly competitive offers to two early-career, high potential individuals. Only after these offers were made did we discover that both of these individuals were considering competing job offers from other companies. It shouldn't have surprised us: it happens often.

What our client did to get these candidates to accept their offer in the end was impressive.

First, they sought to understand the situation, from the candidates' perspective. Not once did they adopt a "take or leave it" attitude toward their job offer. Instead, they met face-to-face with each individual to develop a clear understanding of what motivated each candidate. Through these discussions, they discovered two things:

They found out that compensation was not a major factor in the decision. (All too often employers think that throwing money at a problem will solve it.) These candidates, like many other individuals their age, view money as important but not at the top of their list when considering job offers. Although in the end our client "sweetened the pot" and increased the offer by a couple of thousand dollars, acceptance of these offers was not based on money.

They also discovered that the key concern each individual had revolved around their own career development, specifically how they would develop new skills and experiences that would boost their careers over the long term. Armed with this knowledge, our client was then able to map out for them what a probable career path would look like for the next three years, should the candidate accept the offer. They spoke of new learning, added job responsibilities, training opportunities, and anticipated promotions. As both individuals were still early in their careers, this type of information was invaluable to them in their own decision-making.

The final thing our client did, which was very impressive, was that they really wanted the candidates to join their company. And they showed it! They displayed interest, sincerity and enthusiasm toward the candidates. As they were having these discussions, they met after-hours, in coffee shops near the candidates' homes, instead of having the candidate go to their offices. They did a series of small things that showed big interest. Just like employers want candidates to demonstrate that they "want the job" so too do candidates want "employers to want them."

In the end, it worked. Both candidates accepted and have joined the company.

Gerald Walsh, CMA, is the President and Founder of Gerald Walsh Associates Inc., an executive search, career transition and executive coaching firm.

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