Salary offers – the Goldilocks conundrum…..

This might seem like quite an obvious question. Why would someone join your company for the same (or even less) salary than they are currently on? Surely moving jobs is all about progression and with progression comes £££… The salary a company offers a candidate has to pass the Goldilocks conundrum test… not too small, not too big…. But just right.

There are many factors to consider when deciding what salary to offer:

Why is the candidate moving jobs?

Is the candidate currently on an unrealistically high salary?

Does your company offer more opportunities to the candidate?

Is the candidate actually looking for a step backwards in their career?

Is the job you are offering providing a shorter commute?

Are there benefits you can offer (WFH / better benefits package) which negate a salary increase?

I’ve been in recruitment for 30 years and the golden rule of thumb I was always told was candidates moving jobs can expect a 10% increase in salary. Any more than 10% and you need to start questioning their motivation (ie are they just money orientated). Obviously there will always be exceptions – Some candidates are grossly underpaid and totally out of sync with the market rate (and so deserve more than 10% to move roles), other candidates are in jobs where they are paid well but want to take a step back from the intensity of a high salaried role and settle into a role with less stress (and are therefore happy to take a pay cut). Generally speaking candidates “demanding” more than 10% to move jobs are either 1) purely money orientated (and will move on again as soon as someone else offers them more than 10%) or 2) Not actually that interested in moving on (and whilst flattered with their eventual bank busting offer will politely refuse and stay where they are).

There are so many factors to consider when making an offer to a candidate. An assessment of not only what the candidate can bring to the table but also what you are delivering to the candidate must be made. I recently placed a candidate who was fed up with a 50 mile each way commute. The nature of their job meant that it was an onsite position so there was no WFH on offer. I found them a role which was 2 miles from their house. The role was not paying what they were currently getting but the convenience of working so close to home was a massive factor in them accepting the role at a salary just below what they were currently on. Not only were they saving petrol money – they were saving 2 hours a day in commuting time (which equates to 480 hours or 20 days in the car / year….)

Some candidates work for small companies and want to work for larger companies – others work for large companies and want to work for smaller companies… Some candidates find themselves in toxic work environments and would probably move for a highly reduced salary just to get away from their current employer (obviously in these instances you have to instil a sense of reality to the candidate – whilst offering to take such a severe pay cut is a sign of how bad things are the harsh reality of earning 20 / 30% less will not induce longevity in their next role once the initial euphoria of escaping their nightmare boss has passed…)

The figure which the hiring company comes to at the offer stage is a critical one. Offering too little can make you look tight (and could also result in a no from the candidate before they have even evaluated the full pro’s and cons of the offer). Offering too much is wasteful (why pay someone £50K when you could have got them for £48K…). Finding the salary which is just right is what you should be doing. That’s where the experienced and knowledgeable recruiter can really earn their fee. There’s nothing worse than guiding a candidate through a 2 or 3 stage interview process only to be given a derisory offer at the end of the process.  I always talk at length about salary at the very beginning of the process so I fully understand all the factors which motivate the candidate. Passing this important information onto the client should result in an offer which passes the Goldilocks conundrum although there will always be clients who insist on offering a salary which is too cold and others that are happy to offer a salary which (dare I say) is too hot….