By Riel LaPointe, Toronto Financial & IT Recruiter
Top job candidates are more likely to receive counter offers, especially if they hold a well-regarded position in the finance industry. Top finance talent doesn’t become available every day and if your organisation has the chance to recruit them, you need to act swiftly and fight off the threats of a counter offer.
These counter offers often come from their current company, who in hopes of keeping them, has decided to sweeten the pot to keep them in their current position.
Michelle Burke on social talent, explains this common situation perfectly:
“So you’ve found the perfect candidate. You offer them the job and they accept! Everything is going swimmingly, recruiter life is good. But then in a couple of days…maybe a week or two, you get a phone call or email from that perfect candidate saying that they’ve decided to stay with their current company because they’ve been given an offer that they can’t refuse.”
This is the situation you want to avoid. It costs you time, resources, and effort. Plus, you will have to dip into the market again to find a new candidate to fill the vacancy.
How To Minimize The Odds Of A Counter offer
To minimize the odds of a candidate deciding to accept a counter offer from their current provider or even another company hoping to pluck them away from you, here are some important steps to take:
1. Keep in contact: Even if a candidate agrees to make the jump doesn’t mean that you are in the clear. While they are working the last few weeks in their current position, there is plenty of time for their current employer to formulate a counter offer. Stay in contact with the candidate. You could even get them started with the onboarding process and make sure you communicate the benefits and perks they can expect in their new position.
2. Understand what they value and communicate what you offer: Understanding why they want to leave their current company and what a candidate values will help you position your company as the solution. Do they want more money? Room for growth? A chance in scenery? Understanding this will help you better communicate the benefits of what you have to offer if they accept the job.
3. Ask them directly: One of the best ways to know if there is a chance of them accepting a counter offer is to just ask them directly. This way you will at least know there is a possibility and you can start planning accordingly. If they are a can’t miss candidate, then you may want to consider countering the counter offer.
When looking to hiring finance and accounting candidates, consider working with one of our recruiters that specialize in the finance industry. We can help with all aspect of the recruitment process.
Learn more about the recruitment process by reading these insightful blog posts:
5 Very Telling Interview Questions To Ask Candidates
Fascinating Recruiting Stats That Will Change How You Hire
5 Easy to Implement Recruitment and Retention Strategies
IQ PARTNERS is an Executive Search & Recruitment firm in Toronto. We help companies hire better, hire less & retain more. We have specialist teams of recruiters in Financial Services & Insurance, Marketing Communications & Media, Emerging Tech & Telecom, Consumer Goods & Retail, B2B & Industrial, Technology, Accounting & Finance, HR & Operations and Mining & Engineering. IQ PARTNERS has its head office in Toronto and operates internationally via Aravati Global Search Network. Click here to view current job openings and to register with us.
