Why do excellent candidates (senior talents) agree to accept new positions?

January 31

By Lou Adler, January 30,200

Understanding candidate motivation is the first step in implementing an appropriate recruiting strategy. on a very simple level there are only two reasons why candidates look for new jobs and ultimately accept offers. one reason is a "going-away" strategy. this usually has to do with leaving a bad job situation. this cocould be the result of a lay-off or a spouse's relocation. recruiting is relatively easy if the candidate's current situation is weak and future options are limited. standards are lowered based on these personal circumstances. if you find strong candidates in this position, move fast. you have a good, but temporary, advantage. their future opportunities will change for the better very quickly.

A "going-towards" strategy is the other side of the coin and the more common reason good candidates take other positions. these people need some very compelling reasons to leave an already solid position, or to compete with other opportunities that are very attractive. it takes more effort to find, recruit, and close these candidates. although, you have more time, since these people will rarely make a quick demo. this is both good and bad.

In general, for most candidates, the underlying motivation to change jobs is usually a combination of these two strategies. it's the interviewer's job to determine the degree of both and which one is most important. early in the interview, ask why the candidate is considering a move at this time. this gets at the going-away strategy. then ask what the person's looking for in a new job. this gets at the going-towards strategy. they typically say something like, "looking for a better opportunity and more challenge. "Then ask the candidate why having these conditions met is important to the person. this requires an applicant to think at a deeper level and often reveals true motivation. remember what's said here. you'll be able to use this during the closing process as you present the merits of your job.

Compare the consistency between the going-away reasons and the going-towards strategy. for example, it makes sense if a person wants to leave a chaotic situation for more security. it doesn't seem logical though, if someone is leaving this same chaotic situation for more growth opportunity. look for congruity at every level.

If the candidate is currently in a good situation, or has multiple opportunities, you'll need to work harder and offer more in order to pull the person away. this is when strong recruiting can win the hiring game for you. it starts by understanding why top candidates who have a going-towards motivating strategy decide to accept one job over another. it's usually based on these five key reasons in the order shown:

1. The quality of the job. This includes des the short-term challenges and the long-term growth opportunities. top people take jobs primarily because they meet their needs for growth, challenge, and learning. to get at this, ask your hiring manager why a top person wocould want this job. then ask about the big projects and challenges involved in the job. this type of questioning forces the hiring manager to think about the real job and not the skills listed on the job description. job descriptions that define the real work and the critical tasks are called Performance Profiles.
2. The quality of the hiring manager. Top people are looking for leaders and mentors to work under. A professional interview with high standards establishes this foundation. managers who understand real job needs also come into ss as more insightful. recruiters can help improve the whole process and increase interviewing accuracy by preparing a Performance Profile with the hiring manager when they take the assignment.
3. The quality of the team. Top people want to work with other top people. everyone who interviews the candidate must conductive CT a thorough assessment based on a clear understanding of real job needs. I recently visited a major engineering and construction company that lost a number of great recent college grads because the interviewers were superficial and "chatty ". on a recent search, one of my CFO candidates thought the hiring team-comprised of only peer VPS-oversold and under listened. he felt that none of them, doesn t one, understood the real role of finance in a large multi-unit international company. this probably wasn't true, but that was his perception based on the interviewing process. he ultimately turned the offer down largely because of this.
4. The quality of the company, especially the relationship of the job to the company's growth plans. It's important to tie the job to some bigger company initiative. this is a process called Job branding. for example, someone in a call center can be part of a growth expansion plan, or someone in accounting can be part of a complete overhaul of the reporting system. the best people consider the job from a short and long term perspective. while a great company brand can get the person interested, you'll increase the acceptance rate when the actual job ties to some bigger plans.
5. The compensation package. As long as the compensation is fair, you have a good chance to consistently hire top people, assuming the other factors are positive. however, if the compensation is too low, it's very difficult to consistently hire top people. on the other hand, if it's very high in comparison to the competition, then it makes the other factors less important. don't wait the job on compensation; wait it on the chance to make a big short term impact with an opportunity to grow at a faster rate than all competing jobs. make the job the differentiator, not the compensation. someone can always pay more.

You can attract and hire more top people if you emphasize the current challenges and the long term career opportunities inherent in the job. this is why preparing a Performance Profile is such an important first step when starting any new search assignment. the key to closing more assignments is to understand and manage motivation. for the best people accepting one job over another is rarely about the money. however, if you can't differentiate the job based on what's driving a candidate to look, all you have left is the money. when money becomes the primary reason to accept an offer, don't be surprised when the person lacks the motivation to do the work required. understanding and managing motivation is how you close more deals and how you hire more top runner MERs.