How to Automatically Win Your Salary Negotiation Every time (For Employers)

Starting salary discussions from a place of respect is crucial to the success of any organization. You need to think strategically and set boundaries to keep the process fair for both yourself and the potential hire.  These 3 steps will advise you on a winning strategy for salary negotiation.

Do Your Research

The negotiating starts way before you even hire outside agencies or post the opening on the job boards.  You need to be clear as to what you can reasonably offer.  Talking to placement professionals and doing online searches can be a great place to start.  Most companies will have their openings with salary ranges on job boards, so this can be a solid resource. Don’t be coy, but don’t give away the farm either.  You never want to let the marketplace know the absolute ceiling on your salary range.  While this one may seem obvious, many employers believe that by showing an extremely competitive salary they will garner more attention from candidates.  When in fact all this does is set unrealistic expectations for underqualified applicants.  So, keep the maximum number off the internet and only discuss this internally.

Get Creative?

Just because you cannot meet this individual’s salary demands does that mean the deal is dead?  Absolutely not.  Also, do you even know if salary is the most important aspect of the position for this person?  What if the vacation time he received in the initial offer was much lower than expected and that is his/her reason for asking for more money?  Can you accommodate a 4-day work week or other flexible scheduling options?  We would always recommend asking what the prospective new hire is looking for in an entire compensation package, not just salary. Other advice for employers to create compelling offers is to structure a retention bonus.  How about offering a $10,000 retention bonus year one that is paid out quarterly?  Doing this automatically increases your chances to retain that employee but can offer the salary bump requested.

Commitment is Key

Gaining a solid level of commitment is key throughout the entire process and believe it or not, commitment begins before a written or even verbal offer is accepted.  Even during the early stages of the interview process you should be aware of the candidate’s level of commitment to your company.  Was he/she responsive to communication efforts during the interview process?  Did he/she have to reschedule a phone interview or site visit multiple times? Verbal offer first then written.  We have been tracking our placements over the years and have found a staggering statistic.  When a verbal offer is made to a candidate first the written offer to follow has a 64% higher chance of being signed.  Your chances of success are increased if you can discuss the salary verbally and gain a small commitment.   This could be even as small as “yes that salary sounds reasonable I’d like to look at the entire package.” If you have a Physician or Nurse Practitioner opening and you’d like to utilize our negotiating expertise, we would be happy to help.

A little Bit About Us

MedStaff is a national leader in the Healthcare Recruiting industry.  We pride ourselves in recruitment and retention strategies that have helped thousands of clients for the last decade.  Our mission is to continue to provide an exceptional level of service and professionalism to both job seekers and employers. Since its inception, MedStaff has successfully placed thousands of happy job seekers in positions across the United States. We are known for being able to source candidates not only for large hospital systems but for smaller community-based settings as well. Currently we have over 2,030 Healthcare positions open nationally and more than 268,000 active job seekers. MedStaff Nationwide is a contingent search firm, meaning there is no upfront cost to you. Fast. 100% Free Placement Fee Information. Let us know how we can help today Get Quote

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