Episode 21 – Part 3: Handling job offers and the onboarding process more effectively with Chris Litras, Deverell Smith

The following transcript is autogenerated so may contain errors.

Matt Nally  

I suppose for our final topic, then how do you get the best, I suppose job off of process, because you’ve obviously you’ve had the interviews you’d like like someone you want them to go ahead, how do you successfully go through the process of submitting an offer and negotiating it? And then onboarding people in the right way? So there’s obviously two parts, I think to that question. But starting off the process, how’d you how’d you do that? Well,

Chris Litras  

has it well. Start with verbal, verbal offer, appropriate offer to be delivered to the candidate so that they can mull it over a lot of the time that you know, the first offer is in the final offer. So there’s always a bit of room for negotiation that there’s really no need to put things down in writing, if there’s going to be a bit of back and forth. Yeah. How to deliver that offer? Well, well, don’t just give them the figure. You know, give them the reasons why they’ve been offered the job. Talk about their strengths, talk about what stood out, talked about, you know, where the client thinks that candidate is going to fit into the business and, and why the thing that can be good and where they can progress. and deliver the offer. And when when I say offer, you know, it’s the base a reminder of the overall package, the earning potential, the benefits, you know, pension scheme, holiday, if there’s private health care insurance, company car or car allowance. But then also talk about the upside and the progression, don’t just give them the offer and you know, have a conversation again, this is this is your, this is your final opportunity to sell the business. You know, complacency is something that drops deals out all the way through the process. And we’ve talked quite a lot today about, you know, in the interview or right in the job description and in the interviews, but it doesn’t stop doing off the stage. You’re still presenting yourself yourself, you’re still the window to that company.

Matt Nally 

And you don’t need that wrong enough to go right back to the start of the process again.

Chris Litras 

Exactly. Yeah, I think the candidate wants to know what the offer is, of course, also to know that they’ve been heard, ya know, and and finally, you know, very swiftly follow up with the writing. Yeah, and follow up with a contract that, you know, a written offer won’t always be the the employment contract, the recent offer may just be a follow up to the verbal offer, with the top line, and then the contract is to follow. Again, as recruiters a huge source of frustration for us is, you know, okay, we’re going to make this candidate an offer. Fantastic. Great. Okay. When is the paper coming out? That can take weeks worst case? Yeah. And, you know, in the current market, we’re constantly trying to push our clients to be agile. Yeah, because agility is key now, in in the talent short market. And you know, you can you can lose candidates, just by being too slow to get the contract out. That’s the harsh reality of it.

Matt Nally  

And that delay, then, is the, as you say, as the cost that you mentioned, this at the beginning is the cost of, you know, having to go back through the process again, and they’re missing out on opportunities, because you haven’t got the person in place in time. And

Chris Litras  

it is precisely Yeah. I mentioned earlier, sometimes our clients recruit for a role without actually having it signed off. So, you know, a horror story for us is, well, we’ve we’ve taken a candidate all the way through the process, and then it gets the office stage. And the client actually hasn’t got the role signed off, therefore, they need a signature from an executive. And then they say, No,

Matt Nally  

that’s a painful for everyone really paying for Yeah, for everybody

Chris Litras  

loses their. So, you know, agility is key sign off is key, you know, doing it in a compliant way through the, through the right channels. But always demonstrating to that candidate, even at the office stage, you know, what a great opportunity, it can be for them.

Matt Nally 

And as a candidate, there are things that you can do, to, to negotiate, if you’re not quite happy with the offer that’s been presented, there are ways that you can communicate that better to reach a middle ground, because I suppose there could be the fear of you don’t want to say it yourself out of the job. But once you step out of it, and to potentially, if you present it in the wrong way. Yeah, put a sour taste in someone’s mouth and then get put off. Yeah, I suppose what you say about it? Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

Chris Litras 

I mean, it’s risk and reward, isn’t it? If you, you want to negotiate your position, and you want to do it firmly and remove emotion from the conversation. And that’s acceptable. There’s a there’s a, there’s a point, though, where if you go beyond that point, yes, you might leave a sour taste in someone’s mouth, or create an atmosphere when you join. And, you know, have, you don’t want the client to question your morals and your values and your aspirations. Because you’ve tried to negotiate too strongly. And therefore, you’ve kind of lost sight of the reason why you’re joining in the first place, which should never be about money. Money should be appropriate, it should be in line with your expectations, but shouldn’t be the reason you’re joining the company. Because I think, if that’s the reason, well, it’s really never going to pan out to you know, retaining that candidate into the role. Now, I think that’s probably quite a simplistic approach that everyone would agree on. Also,

Matt Nally 

yeah, money, money keeps you engaged to a very certain level and then after that, you know, you’re not happy with the the working environment, the culture there everything else, then it’s

Chris Litras 

Maslow’s basic hierarchy of needs, isn’t it? That’s why you need to pay someone fairly and appropriately for their work. And yes, they can be motivated by money. But actually, in the end, this, you know, self realisation and, you know, being a part of something great. That’s going to take people to the to the next level.

Matt Nally  

But and then my, my final question then on this is the onboarding aspect. So the things that people can do to have a much more effective onboarding process that sets that Tony for, you know, a good working relationship with someone or were there things that people get wrong very often that, you know, how important is the, you know that the branded pen and notebook when you turn up? Or is it that other aspects around it? You know?

Chris Litras 

Yeah, I mean branded pencil is nice, but probably not, that’s not the be all and end all. To be fair, I mean, I used several Smith as an example, I joined six months ago. And, you know, part of the reason I love it here was was my induction. And, you know, what does that look like? You know, lots of lots of faces, lots of people communication, structure, constant feedback, the right atmosphere, a welcoming environment, people going out of their way to talk to you, I think that probably the saddest thing about a person joining a business and it not working out as if they came away thinking that they felt excluded from the culture, you know, there may be a good culture at that business, but if the candidate didn’t feel it, it’s a missed opportunity. So I think, you know, having a really good structure around what that candidate is doing day one, week, one, week, three, week five, review, you know, three months in six months in review, constant review and feedback, provided, it’s constructive, of course, and setting some goals and some key outcomes, rather than just focusing on the input, as long as you can, you know, demonstrate that move towards the outcomes. I think that’s quite a holistic view of a positive induction. And the little things, you know, well done on a small win, and you know, take the new starter out to lunch and introduce them to the team and making them feel that connectivity throughout the business are really critical things. And that could be a small business, or it could be a very large one, I think it’s just as important to feel connectivity with your new employer.

Matt Nally 

I think that’s a very good point. There’s the feedback. And it’s, if you Yes, obviously, making people feel welcome and introducing them. But the feedback aspect of you, if you have no idea how you’re getting on relative to what people might be expecting of you use, you’re sat there in constant uncertainty. And that doesn’t make you feel comfortable. Until you get that well done. Or the this is great. But actually, this is the bit we need to work on, you just sat there in limbo the whole time,

Chris Litras 

you might be in a really high pressure job, it might be a difficult job. But if you’ve got, you know, high touch high care, management team and peer network around you, then, you know, really, you’re going to be driving the right type of performance and output and productivity. Yeah, if it’s not as high pressure, and it’s not as not as stressful, that doesn’t mean, all of those things aren’t really important. It’s just something that needs to be done. And yeah, you know, a branded pen on top, also helps, and, you know, the perks and the benefits and the company culture, you know, if you’ve got a yearly company retreat, or something else, you know, those are all great things. But just like we talked about the benefits, like per box, you need to have everything else in order for someone’s going, Hey, great. We’ve got perkbox, or we’ve got an annual retreat. Yeah, those are the cherries on top, that’s gonna get you to the final hurdle. But we really need to get the structure right at the beginning, which is the feedback setting expectations, connectivity.

Matt Nally 

I think there’s been a nice thing there actually, through the through the through the different topics we’ve discussed, which is there’s preparation, understanding every stage, what you want out of it, and then communication and being clear at all stages as to what to expect what’s going on feedback on that, I think, seems I think that ties nicely through through the process. Is there anything else you’d like to add around the recruitment process? Before we finish up?

Chris Litras

Oh, I guess you know, if, if there’s any clients who are wanting some advice on their structure and process of recruiting, then you know, our doors open, feel free to get in contact.

Matt Nally 

How do people get in touch if they do want to reach out to you?

Chris Litras 

Well, you can email us you can call us if you come on to our website, there’s, you know, easily accessible contact details as well as you know, breakdown of the sectors that we cover. We cover the entire lifecycle of real estate, from investment way through to development construction, you home sales, we do executive roles, we’re down to sort of contingent, genius, mid level, back office functions, executive functions. So you know, we are really pointed out wide space in the market. Our client base consists of client side investment firms, investment vehicles, and also consultancy, practice, advisory house builders estate agency. So yeah, I guess get in contact with our website. Give us a call.

Matt Nally 

Well thanks for coming on and sharing your insight and hopefully we’ll catch up again a few months and again so how the markets changed

Chris Litras 

thanks man sounds good thanks for having me