The secrets of successful salary negotiation

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Salary is an important consideration on both sides of the employer/employee divide. Employers need to ensure they recruit – and, most importantly, retain – the best people for the roles they require, which means offering the right salaries; while employees have to make sure they are being paid the correct amount for their skills and experience.

But just how do you ensure the salary is right at all times? Here are just a few tips to follow:

Employees

One of the first things you need to do when looking for a new job is to establish what salary range you should be getting for the positions you’re looking for.

Of course, salaries differ widely across the country. What is on offer in Paris or London will usually be considerably higher than that offered regionally, and you need to be aware of this before you start.

Whatever the role you are looking for – whether it’s a technical role, operational management or one of the many other roles in the Print and Packaging industries – you should be able to find up-to-date, country-wide salary ranges with the most cursory of internet searches. Some of the job search websites will have the information you are looking for. Alternatively, try industry or trade sites.

Once you have an idea as to the general range on offer for your chosen role, you will be in a much better place to negotiate when and if you are offered a job. But any negotiations need to be handled carefully as you don’t want to stop a job offer in its tracks.

There are no hard and fast rules, but the advice is pretty straightforward and well worth following:

Don’t ask about salary at interview stage – wait until you are offered the position. When mentioning your salary requirements to a potential employer it is useful to quantify your value relative to your achievements. It could be how much profit you have generated or how much money you saved your company. If what you are offered is too low, say so (politely) – it helps here if you can state what the usual salary for the job/your level of experience is.

Ask about additional perks, such as a company car, and also about your expected level of responsibility, so you get the whole picture. It is worth considering things like additional training and education and whether you could be funded for further study. Unless the offer is exactly what you want, don’t accept it straight away. You need to make sure you are 100% happy with the complete package.  If all else fails, and you really don’t want to take the job at that salary, say so. If you are introduced to the hiring company by a reputable recruitment company they will handle salary negotiations on your behalf to ensure that both parties are happy with the deal that has been struck.

Employers

Employers should really be offering the best candidates appropriate salaries at different stages in their careers. You wouldn’t expect someone to take a pay cut in order to undertake more responsibility.

However, of course, there should always be room for negotiation. Again, there are some top tips you should be following:

Don’t ask the candidate what they are currently earning – you should have an idea from their CV, but probing into what they earn is intrusive and unreliable, anyway (who’s to say they will tell you the truth?). Make sure you are offering a competitive salary, which is attractive enough in the sector to secure the right candidates, without causing internal issues within your company. The salary you offer should be based upon the value you perceive the employee will add to your business and not based on what they are currently earning.

Also make sure you give prospective employees the whole picture before talking salary  including prospects, the challenge of the role, and other benefits. Prepare to be at least a little flexible. This has got to work for both parties. You need to factor in the possibility that the candidate will get counter-offered by their present employer. Make sure that the role and salary package are sufficiently enticing to ensure that they don’t decide to stay where they are. There is nothing more frustrating than an offer being rejected at this late stage.

Athena Executive Search can take the stress out of salary negotiation for both candidates and clients. We specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1 

Ace that interview and get the job

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You are impeccably dressed, well researched and rehearsed, on time and waiting in reception before you are called in to interview. You know what to do. This isn’t your first time. But still, you’re nervous. You want to make a great first impression. And, right there, your nerves have caught you in their butterfly spin. We’ve got some insider tips showing exactly what goes into making a great first impression to focus your thoughts the next time you are waiting in reception.

The power of a first impression

It’s a scientific fact that human beings make decisions about strangers in the blink of an eye. Literally. We spend the next three seconds completing our opinion, around our perception of personality and competence. Once that decision has been made it is nigh on impossible to change it. The psychological advantage of making a strong first impression is significant; if you later make a mistake, you are most likely given the benefit of the doubt. There’s not a lot we can do to change these facts. We are funny creatures.

What influences first impressions?

This is where you can make a difference. Consider that the bulk of our communication is non-verbal. While it’s important to prepare what we would like to say, our body language is far more influential than the words we choose.

Make sure your gestures and body movements are congruent with what you are saying. For example: don’t describe a challenging situation where you had to fire an employee while smiling. While you might smile out of nerves or a desire to please your interviewer, the strong message you send is confused. Likewise the classic example of avoiding eye contact. It’s considered a negative gesture. You might feel intimidated, which is reasonable at a job interview, however what you are communicating is weakness.

Keep your body language open and relaxed. Communicate that you’re prepared and ready for the interview: you want to engage. Your tone of voice is another powerful influence. One way to settle your tone is to take a few deep breaths, making sure you breathe right into your stomach. A classic mistake is keeping the breath in the chest area which means your shoulders are hunched up and your breath trapped. Breathe deeply and your register will drop from its nervous higher pitch, down to its natural tone. Your tone of voice delivers your message – make sure it’s in your voice. Remember there are two factors at play here: the words you use and the way in which your message is received. Focus on your delivery.

Make a connection

Be kind and courteous to everyone. Think about how difficult it is to interpret someone’s behaviour and message when they are distracted. Any good interviewer will ask the receptionist, security guard and anyone you may meet on the way to interview what their first impression of you was. Make a conscious decision to switch on the moment you leave home.

Give your nervous energy something to do. Enthusiasm generates confidence. Allow yourself to be enthusiastic, confident and happy. Allow? Yes. Nerves have a sneaky way of imprisoning us in slightly robotic behaviour. Be authentic, enthusiastic, humble and kind. Allow yourself to shine.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For more advice on interview technique please get in touch. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1

The cost of making a poor hiring decision

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Poor hiring decisions are a real threat to companies operating in today’s competitive market. Recently one of the UK’s leading job sites publishing its findings following a survey of 200 recruiters. The study focused on how poor hiring decisions affect companies. The fact is, bad hires are costing your business money with each poor decision estimated to cost £15,000 and much more for senior hires. The bad news is the crippling long-term effects of poor hires, but the good news is that everything can be fixed if you know what to look for and how to lead your recruitment process towards better days. Here we share some insights into how you can avoid making bad hiring decisions for your organisation.

Strategy is everything

The advantages and necessity of a crystal clear recruitment strategy are well documented. We’ll say it again anyway: you must develop a clear recruitment strategy to avoid making poor recruitment decisions. Research confirms that if you don’t have a solid recruitment strategy you risk 44.4% higher staff turnover, 22.2% financial losses, 16% decline in productivity, 8.3% lowered staff confidence and 6.9% negative branding for the business. Note that in addition to threats to the business success, there is also the pernicious issue of low staff morale to navigate.

Significant sums of money are invested in securing talent for your company, and a lot of that money is lost. In fact, 66.1% of recruiters say they’ve lost a large sum of money on poor hires; 19.5% confess they’ve lost between £15,000 – £30,000 and 14.4% confirm they’ve lost over £30,000. With competition for recruiting the best talent set to intensify, your company cannot afford to make bad hiring decisions.

Screen with purpose

Careful and focused screening of candidates needs to be introduced at the interview stage. The harsh reality is that people are being hired for roles they cannot do, or in some cases they may be taking advantage of the opportunities available and defrauding the company. Not only are these costly errors internally but they can also cost your company dearly in negative press.

Screen your candidates thoroughly, making absolutely sure there are no lurking convictions or exaggerated CVs and skills rendering them incompetent for the role. While the pressure to hire the best talent is real, make sure you’re not rushing candidates through the hiring process.

Welcome with support

After attentive screening and interviews, the recruitment process is far from finished. As we have previously emphasised, your recruitment process must culminate in carefully designed onboarding. Make sure that you continue to observe and engage new hires during your onboarding process to ascertain their personality and suitability for your company culture. Some candidates are economical with the truth because they want a job; it’s your job to make sure an informed decision is made prior to offering a candidate a role.

Think about it

It’s important to appreciate the damage poor hiring decisions inflict upon an organisation. For example, the last thing you need is a poor hire taking to social media to complain. You may find desirable candidates decline to be interviewed as a result of the negative press on social media channels.

Recruiters cannot afford to be complacent or careless. Given current pressures and circumstances, that’s exactly the impression that poor hiring decisions can create.

Athena Executive Search specialise in recruiting senior leadership positions in the Print and Packaging sectors globally. For access to more articles on industry topics, recruitment and retention strategies, and our upcoming webinar series with industry thought leaders please subscribe here: https://athena50147.activehosted.com/f/1