What Can You Offer “The One” When You Can’t Move on Salary?

Often, it happens that you’ve found the ideal candidate to fill the vacant position in your organization. The talent you’ve been searching for a long time. The one that fits perfectly and meets every requirement. Unfortunately, the candidate has high salary expectations, and you have no option but to stretch the budget. Since you’ve maxed out every dollar, what will you do in this situation?

Wait, there’s still a way out before you surrender and let this candidate slip away. At this moment, you can use the various “value adds” to complement the salary offer and create a package that the candidate will find attractive. In order to be convincing, understand what will encourage the person so that you can make changes to the offer that will suit their requirements and interests.

What are the “value adds” that can make your offer seem attractive?

• Additional vacation time

In contemporary times, work-life balance is given high priority by most candidates when they are looking for a job. Hence, offering additional vacation time can make your offer more enticing than before in front of the candidate. Such benefits can be given in the form of numerous days on a periodic basis, which the employee can use as per their discretion. For example, you can offer an additional personal day every two months to spend as per their wishes.

• A good growth strategy

If there is one thing that every candidate is after, it is career growth. Some of the candidates that are found by headhunting firms are often more interested in career growth than a high salary package. Hence, when an organisation offers a formal growth plan that a candidate is seeking, it could be more than a salary increment. At the same time, you could sit down with the candidate and work out a formal growth plan. Such plans may include a commitment to training as well as promotion based on performance.

• Six-month salary review

When you’re not able to meet the high salary expectations of an ideal candidate, you can promise a salary review in six months. Since you have no scope to offer the salary package right now, maybe you can increase the budget in the upcoming budgeting meeting. In this way, you can not only convince the candidate to join your organisation but also create time to allocate extra funds to retain skilled employees. Such “value adds” act as a great motivator for candidates to join an organisation.

• Flexible work schedules

Flexible work arrangements have gained more significance post-COVID because most employees want to have a work-life balance. Such arrangements could include hybrid work, work from home, flexible shift timings, etc. Moreover, flexible work schedules have been enhanced by modern technologies, which makes it easy for those who have problems with commuting or parental responsibilities.

• Health benefits

Another excellent way to make your offer seem more attractive is by including health benefits. A lot of companies are using it to attract skilled candidates to their organisations. Today, any job seeker understands the value of health benefits and always appreciates them because they augment their overall package.

• Gym membership

Staying fit is very important for our health. In that case, offering gym membership as part of a wellness allowance is a great incentive to attract a talented candidate. Besides, it’s a win-win situation for the organisation because a fit employee is always happy, and hardly applies for sick leaves.

• Phone, vehicle, and transit allowance

It’s nothing new that a considerable amount of money is spent every year on car parking, gas, and phone bills, which puts a big dent in a person’s savings. However, offering to take care of such expenses is a great way to win the hearts of such candidates.

• Maternity/Paternity leave

It’s quite common to come across candidates who are planning a family in the upcoming days. In such scenarios, maternity and paternity leaves become very important to them. A lot of firms help their employees by pledging the best EI benefits when they’re on maternity leave so they can maintain their present salary. Such benefits add great value to job offers.

• RSP matching and share purchase plans

You can also help an employee grow his financial portfolio and security with RSP matching and share purchase plans. Besides, it often helps in earning the long-term commitment of the employee towards the organisation.

• Signing bonus

In many organisations, budgets are made so that they can provide a bonus to make up for the shortfall in salary. That’s why several companies offer a good signing bonus to get a talented candidate on their team.

Final thoughts

Even if you’re not able to match up to the salary expectations of a candidate, there are several other ways to make the offer seem attractive to the candidate. If you’re in a similar situation, make sure to remember the points discussed above so that you can convince a talented candidate to join your organisation. On the other hand, you can also hire executive recruiting firms to help you find talented individuals who can fill in the gap in your firm. Konfer Executive Group is one of the most reported executive firms in Germany. We’ve been helping companies belonging to different industries find the best talent to meet their goals. To know more about our services, contact us today.