By David Wolfe
An offer letter is powerful. So, it is acceptable to say to your chosen candidate, “We’re going to make an offer, but I’m going to email it to you so you can see it in writing.” I like the psychology of them seeing the offer in writing. Before sending the offer, verbally tell them exactly why you chose them. Be specific about all the people you evaluated, and then be specific about why you chose them. What are the attributes that you liked about them that made you pick them? That gets the relationship off to a great start, because you are complimenting them and it shows that you put a lot of thought into this.
For instance, if I’m hiring a recruiter for our office, when I make the offer I might say, “Close to two hundred people showed interest in this position. I interviewed thirteen people over the phone, and I brought four people in for face-to-face interviews, and you were our number-one choice. We saw that you have all the attributes to be successful at NP Now. We think that based on all your previous accomplishments and personality, you would fit very well into this new role.” Whatever the reasons are, be specific on why you chose them. That gets them excited to join your team.
I know that with some positions there aren’t many good candidates, such as hiring an NP, for example. In some locations there may only be one candidate to consider, and you may be forced to hire a less-than-perfect fit just to keep your clinic open. This happens often when we recruit NPs and PAs into rural areas. But you still want that person to feel like they got into Harvard or MIT. You still want to drive them through the process and make them feel that this is a special place to work, and you don’t hire just anybody. You only hire first-rate people—A-players.
Another benefit of putting the offer in writing is this: I have found that candidates are less likely to negotiate if they see the offer in a formal letter with your company logo on it. When you make the offer verbally, you might sense some initial disappointment, some hesitancy because the number offered doesn’t match what they had in mind. That can set you up for potentially getting the relationship off to a bad start.