Beware Of Lowballing A Salary Offer
I hoped this tweet was a stunt. It was not. 😢
It eventually cost the recruiter her contract. But lowballing on a salary offer can cost your company far more than the little you save.
Lessons to be learned from this viral tweet
1. Those in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones
What followed this tweet was a lynching but if recruiters are really honest at one time or another, they’ve been forced to give a low salary offer. And though I am seeing many stating to the contrary (mostly staffing or agency recruiters who receive a bigger fee if they negotiate a higher salary) I sadly don’t believe that lowballing is as rare as many are claiming.
Sorry, I just don’t! 🤷 But I am not condoning lowballing either!
Only last year did the person I was forced to lowball call me out on it… 10 years later! I felt such shame that I didn’t fight harder to do the right thing. And I don’t confess to this to throw our profession under the bus, I simply know that as the person in the middle, we can be put in such awful predicaments. It can happen to the best of us, sadly.
2. Social media follows you to the grave
I would imagine though, for those of us honest enough to admit to having lowballed on an offer, we wouldn’t take to social media to publicise it. I’d hope we would feel some shame around it or we’d work hard to persuade our hiring managers not to do it.
But this person offered a salary $45k under what was available of her own fruition. And even thought she kept stating that the candidate was happy, taking to social media to educate people to ‘know their worth’ monumentally backfired.
It backfired because lowballing by $45k is… Well, I have no words. Because how are they supposed to know their worth when so many companies refuse to put salaries on job posts?
It backfired because the recruiter and the applicant are both female. And women hate that. Hate. That.
It backfired because the recruiter didn’t think of the consequences, like her company being drawn into it. Or the offered-applicant potentially getting wind of the viral posts. That will have made for some interesting conversations around trust.
And this recruiter’s name and the screenshots of the post will be remembered for too many months, possibly years. This agency’s name is still sullied by an inappropriate job post the recruiter refused to take down in 2015. Sometimes these mistakes can even ‘follow you to the grave’, right, Steve?
Unfortunately in 2022, the speed at which someone can screenshot and share means just deleting it isn’t enough. Take it down, demonstrate genuine remorse, and apologise.
Apologise. Something this recruiter has not actually done.
3. Let’s not exacerbate pay gaps
Recruiters have a duty of care to ensure they are not exacerbating gender, ethnic, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse or disability pay gaps. You won’t need to look too far for stats on this. Gather the data. Gather the evidence. Query the motivation behind any lowball offer. Make sure it’s not about bias; yours or the hiring manager’s.
Mostly, be more understanding and aware when an applicant asks for less than they’re worth, and do your company a favour and offer a fair salary.
4. Retention, referrals & damaged brand
Offer a fair salary because people stay and refer people to a company when they are happy and when they trust their employer. Your job is to educate your hiring managers that lowballing is a short-sighted, short-term gain!
Consider the repercussions:
- Failed hire: what will it cost to start the process all over again?
- Failed onboarding: your company will lose the initial investment in the new employee & be starting all over again!
- Failed project delivery: if the person doesn’t start or starts and leaves, and the company needs to backfill the role, how much does that cost per day?
- Zero referrals: what does that cost in this market?
- Damaged employer brand: an invisible cost because you won’t know who you lose.
- Damaged brand: in today’s networked world, who knows who this person knows and what that will cost your bottom line.
[If influencing your hiring managers into seeing sense sounds easier said than done, consider joining my Mastermind when it opens soon.]
5. But above all
Be kind.
Be human.
Imagine how you would feel if it was you.
Recruiters: If you want to be the best recruiter you can be in 2022, be sure to subscribe to this newsletter, grab a copy of The Robot-Proof Recruiter, and listen to my podcast.
Jobseekers: for salary negotiation tips and understanding, check this amazing post from Kristen Fife: Let’s Talk Offers, Salary Negotiation, and Compensation.
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