Cash is no longer king

By MARK STORY

After the difficulty he experienced hiring someone for an accounts job, Ricoh NZ human resources manager Carl Cheater will never again doubt someone who claims to have multiple job offers.

Having lost three good candidates for the accounts job, Cheater realises that when people evaluate job offers these days cash is no longer king.

Cheater says that getting the money part of the job offer right only gets you to first base with good candidates.

What it takes to clinch job offers is how the organisation shapes up in the values, culture and vision stakes - what overtures it makes about career development - and workplace flexibility.

"The turnaround in the past year means candidates are now interviewing us," Cheater says. "We've basically got 45 minutes to sell and fulfil a candidate's expectations, otherwise we've lost them."

Candidates who are not sold on your firm are likely to stay put and may use other offers to lever their status with their existing employers.

"One of the top candidates we lost for this accounts job was offered more pay by her current boss and guaranteed a promotion within six months," Cheater says.

Many candidates know exactly what they are looking for in a job and are starting to "game it" when building on the best offer, Cheater says. And a growing number are prepared to walk on a job opportunity well before the offer stage.

"That's especially true if certain conditions aren't met or if the person interviewing them sends the wrong signals about the organisation."

So how are most job offers packaged and how are candidates evaluating them within today's tight labour market?

Job offers made up of salary plus other components - such as healthcare, superannuation and a car - are still common. But a growing number of employers are opting for a "total cost package" made up of a cashed-up salary, annual leave and possibly a performance-based bonus.

How should candidates compare a total cost offer with the package comprising lots of add-on goodies? The trick, says Pohlen Keane executive recruiter Ruth Clavis, is to strip out the offer with all the bits in it and compare it dollar-for-dollar with the total package.

Her observations show there's a healthy amount of intuition involved in selecting the right job offer and the real decider can be the trade-offs.

"Accepting the right job offer is an incredibly individual thing to call," Clavis says. "For example, what's the real value of health insurance if you're healthy, young and single?

"Financial remuneration is less of a big deal today. There's a realisation that getting holistic-balance makes for a good all-round decision."

What used to be regarded as side-issues can now make or break a job offer, Clavis says.

For example, location and car-parks are becoming serious considerations for Aucklanders.

Although it's not such a big deal for senior execs, candidates lower down the ranks are less willing to cross Auckland's harbour bridge for work.

What can also dictate the importance candidates place on remuneration is where people are in their career cycle. Clavis says work-life flexibility - when and where work is done - are often bigger issues for those with young families. Meantime, their younger colleagues are typically looking for greater employment leverage.

Candidates considering job offers are increasingly trying to align their own values and goals with those of prospective employers.

Clavis says that in addition to the geographical perspective, candidates are increasingly preoccupied with considerations such as:

* Who will their boss be?

* Is there an incentive pay component?

* Who will they be working with?

* Will the company's recognised brand embellish their CV?

* Will this job launch them into a career overseas?

* What are the long-term career prospects?

Clavis says the biggest danger for candidates with two or more job offers is forgetting why they put themselves on the job market.

In addition to being true to themselves, she urges candidates to seriously consider how family will be affected by any job change.

As well as doing your homework on the firms making the offers, it's important to do due diligence on yourself, she says.

That means understanding what you need to get out of the process. If you're still in doubt, Clavis suggests gathering more information or even having a coffee with a peer from within that company.

"Take independent advice before accepting any offer and remember the game's never over until the ink is on the contract," Clavis says.

Gordon Buswell, chief executive with timber merchant ITM, says a growing number of job candidates are trading-off monetary reward for true job satisfaction.

From his experience, the hardest job-offer decisions are often faced by those who have already met their potential within a chosen occupation. And so they are more likely to accept jobs enabling them to build their skill levels.

"My top four people could all go out and get better job offers tomorrow," Buswell says. "Admittedly, if the margin became too great I'd have to do something about it. But they can see they're working for a company that provides an opportunity to grow."