Salary
Today, as the economy struggles to recover, employers are cautious when it comes to hiring new staffers and they are especially cautious when it comes to designing benefits and compensation strategies. It is most likely that you will be asked to recruit a professional with all the credentials that makes him (or her) a desirable candidate in todays' market, knowing that the salary you have to offer is below the median and you will feel like you're on a mission impossible. What can you do under these circumstances?
Communicate in advance:
You will be surprised to know how many managers are not aware of the average salary in their fields of expertise. The market is under the diverse influences and the dynamic salary changes resulting from these changes are overwhelming for most managers. They are also not aware of new trends in the salary arena because that is not in their interest or top priority to find out.
It is up to you as an HR director to make sure that the organization has a 'heads up' when it comes to retaining employees. Once you operate using a benchmark and you're fully aware of what candidates are seeking and what they are accustomed to in terms of salary related issues, you will be able to communicate it to the management level at regular bases. Managers should always know which professionals are highly demanded and what are the current salaries that are being offered to qualified talents in their country, city, industry etc. that way you could prevent such a scenario.
Present your case with the analytical approach:
Senior managers at the modern organization make use of datum when they present a case. Therefore, if you wish to make a statement, one they will take seriously, you need to approach theme while conversing their language, hence you need to discuss data.
Choose CVs that represent the strongest candidates and make them an offer. Should they decline, ask theme 'is it because of the salary issue?', 'is it only because of the salary gap?', 'hypothetically, what would it take to convince you to join us?'.
Once you have the strongest resumes for the position, go back to the manager and present your case. By then you will be able to prove to him that he is losing the highest potential candidates and what is the exact salary the company needs to offer in order to recruit top talents. Remember, you are conversing with business managers that are interested in bottom-line results. They do not appreciate personal opinions, thoughts, feelings, intuitions or gut feelings. If you begin a sentence by saying: "I think this could be very difficult to accomplish" you will get zero respect and therefore – zero results, but if you say something like: "if we consider a salary raise, just 10%-15%, we will be able to recruit 50% of the strongest candidates and if we raise the salary by 26% – we will be able to recruit 85% of the strongest talents" – that's going to make a difference.
My biggest tip for you, as a former recruiter and a professional reporter covering the HR field for the past year, is to be supportive and express your dedication to the recruitment process while offering your professional (analytically based) insights in order to do whatever it takes to bring in only the most promising talents. Remember, your goal is to collaborate with the recruiting manager and not hold a debate.
