Long time since I posted on this blog, indeed has been a crazy week so far and as we are facing the end of the Q1 , the time that every recruiter in this market is in the make of a major grinding session for last minute closing, trying to swing through filthy contracts before the month clocks out.
And I am sure that many of you are rushing in Otemachi penciling the last meetings, pushing interviews and stripping off verbal offers to close your rockstar candidates before the end of March. There are bills to be paid, money to chase and that desire to run off the board on the wall to write your name, your achievements and a fee with as many digits as possible…
But headhunting is a very though job, as we are not only phone jockeys connecting day in & day out with thousands people, selling career dreams in exchange of dollars (or yen, euro or whatever currency you are paid in). It takes a huge effort to get a deal done, and what is required is insane negotiation skills as well as resilience, as not always a recruitment process is smooth from beginning to end, with a signed contract as happy ending.
There can be unexpected turns at any point of the closure, especially when negotiations get crucial and candidates or clients are showing signs of turbulence, which is something bitter-sweet for an headhunter to deal with.
I just wanted to take the opportunity to share some of my thoughts and reflections regarding art of negotiation and resilience, as I have been working on some challenging cases recently that made me appreciate , hate and love more the job that I do every day for the past 8 years.
It all starts with one song, one of those that me and my boss always like to mention during our night beer sessions at the pub downstairs, with a title that says it all – ” It’s not over until is over ” by Lenny Kravitz.
For those of you who don’t know (or don’t like) the song, I just recommend to play it along , as can teach you a big lesson on resilience.
All in a few lyrics:
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby It ain’t over until it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
And kept our love alive
But baby it ain’t over until it’s over
There is one strong message through the lines that can be applied to negotiations in recruitment: “It does not matter that the conditions for the closure seem to be negative and you are about to call it quit, never give up as you can turn it all around , until is really over for the best or worst case scenario”.
And being relentless will definitely help , as you won’t see the end until it comes for real, either because the candidate accepts a counter-offer and really is not interested in the role, or the client froze the headcount, or is genuinely decided to move forward with other candidates.
Just a couple of notes , some points off my memo after 3 weeks of turbulent hard-core negotiations for a transaction that I (and hopefully) closed last year, after 5 months of work.
- it’s a chess game and you are playing two games at same time, both with your candidate and your client – there is no second prize, you have to win both to secure the transaction. In negotiation it is always important to calculate each move carefully, keeping in mind the context of both candidate and client, being able to forecast each move of your opponents. Make sure that you can use all the information you have in your hand and take advantage of it when it’s your turn and never forget that detail is power;
- don’t believe the truth but always read through the lines and recognize the real intention of both candidate and clients as they are moving forward. Never believe to those who are too upfront, or look “too honest”: there can always be something behind, and take it as the first sign of a red flag coming. Trust always your “headhunting sense” and read what is really going on;
- it’s a combination of off-line & on-line engagement with your candidates. While it is crucial to speak and meet in person, in order to cover the groundwork of the negotiation, either in formal context like in the office, or over drinks or coffees on informal basis, it is important that the core part has to be done off-line, possibly on written basis (email, SMS or whatever you please). Fixing key concepts in writings helps to give a persistent message to your counterpart, as the Latins would say, verba volant scripta manent, and this would help in explaining complicated concepts better. I would advise face to face meetings every time you send a strong email , so that you can follow up real time, making sure that you have been consistent with your negotiation strategy;
- choice of words write your emails as you are writing novels, with the right choice of words. I avoid always to be too direct with my counterparts, and rather use a softer approach when explaining crucial points of negotiation that involve for example salary or other monetary conditions, or any other crucial info that if not handled with care, can cause a negative turn or change the candidate/client status and kill the deal. A persistent-consistent approach will always be preferable to an aggressive one, minded to a “quick-win”. Keep in mind that a negotiation is a marathon, not a race, and that takes time and two (or more than two) to take a tango.
Last advice I can share is to be patient, risk assertive and also that you keep your mind clear while executing a negotiation on the final stage.
I know some recruiters in this market that would go high on steroid, punch their desk proudly as they speak loud when their candidate is about to leave after communicating a verbal offer. But trust me, there is nothing funnier than seeing them erasing the bespoke deal from the board after another unexpected turn comes up, and the deal does not land, for whatever reason.
The Banking Insider 