Mission Critical Hiring...Or Not

Don’t say a role is mission critical if you’re not willing to negotiate a bit on compensation. 

I caught up with a friend recently who is passively open to new VP of sales opportunities, and he was telling me about an interview process he got to offer stage with. It was described to him all along the way as mission critical. They really needed a person of his caliber to lead this particular team. But when it came to the offer, it was a take it or leave it offer that they refused to budge on.

I understand that there is a time for flat rate and pay banded roles, because you need to keep some continuity and equality on your team amongst peers.

But a leadership role shouldn’t be then described as mission critical if you can send an offer and be more willing for it to be rejected than to negotiate a little to bring in that person. 

It sets the wrong tone for how much you value this person being the person for the job. Even more, it’s just bad tactics for true talent acquisition.  

A mentor of mine guides clients on this with this guidance: “Your offer should be fair, competitive, and a blessing.” 

You want the person to accept, feel valued and desired individually, and start the relationship off on the right foot (so they aren’t still looking for other opportunities). This is especially important in this market, as, unfortunately, it's not uncommon for candidates to accept an offer and keep interviewing elsewhere.