Offering
Solutions to Candidates in Today’s Housing
Market
(By Melinda Pittman)
In last month’s issue, we tackled the subject of the
sagging housing market and how it’s affecting your ability
to recruit top talent. We discussed the many
challenges that candidates are facing and how those
challenges are affecting the decisions they make when it
comes to accepting offers . . . or turning them down.
In this issue,
we’re going to look at some of the solutions you can offer
these candidates. By offering practical, concrete
solutions to their relocation problems and challenges,
you’ll set yourself apart from your competition and increase
the likelihood that your offer is the one that they
ultimately accept.
The
assessment
Before you offer solutions,
however, the first thing you must do is accurately assess
the situation. There are two reasons for this.
First, no two situations are exactly the same, even though
the circumstances might seem similar. Second, by
assessing the situation to the best of your ability, the
solutions you offer will be targeted
solutions, meaning they will more effectively address the
challenges a candidate is experiencing at a particular
moment in time.
During the
screening process, you should already be asking the
candidate a series of detailed questions, some of which
involve the topic of relocation. If you’re not already
doing so, be sure to include additional questions about the
housing market. Not just surface-level questions,
though. You’ll have to step it up and pose the
hard-to-ask, nitty-gritty questions that will help reveal
possible conditions and objections. Some questions you
should ask include the following:
- Have you talked to a realtor about the state of the
housing market in your area and the estimated length of
time it might take to sell your house?
- Would your inability to sell your house affect your
decision to relocate?
- If you aren’t able to sell your house, would you
consider renting it out?
- Are there any other factors that would affect or
influence your decision to relocate?
- Is there any other information that you believe would
be pertinent?
Of course, if
you’ve enlisted the services of an executive recruiter for
the purposes of conducting the search, they would handle
this line of questioning.
The
solutions
Okay, now that you’ve assessed
the situation, what solutions do you have from which to
choose? Fortunately, there are many, but depending
upon the resources and flexibility you have at your
disposal, not all of them might be viable options. The
key is to identify which ones are a fit for your company,
select which of those will best address the challenges of
the candidate, and then present them.
However, as the
saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and in
today’s housing market, creative solutions are invented on a
consistent basis. It would be a good idea to
brainstorm with your team for additional ideas, and feel
free to contact me if you have any questions or want
somebody who will act as a sounding board. Below is a
starter list of solutions.
- Candidates renting out their
house. This is something that should
definitely be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Sometimes it’s a feasible solution, but other times it
doesn’t make sense for the candidate.
- Signing bonuses that cover the expected loss
on a real estate sale. Once again, you can
ascertain that loss by asking detailed questions at the
beginning of the process.
- Bridge loans. This is a short-term
loan intended to provide or extend financing until a more
permanent arrangement is made.
- Companies actually buying the candidate’s
house. As the housing market continues to
tighten, this is becoming more and more of a viable
solution for companies.
- Allowing employees to work from home, at least
on a temporary basis. Of course, the type
of work being done and the distance involved are factors
to consider, but this could provide a workable solution.
- Extending temporary housing
allowances. Many companies provide funds
for 90 days of temporary housing. Extending this
timeframe to 120 or 180 days might be easier than offering
a bridge loan or buying a house.
- Using a contractor to fill the
position. Once again, this can serve as a
temporary, stop-gap measure until the proper perm
candidate is found. (Of course, if the contractor
works out, you can always hire them a permanent basis, as
well.)
- Know your housing market inside and
out. What are houses selling for in your
market area? You’ll want to know so that you can
educate candidates during their decision-making
process. For example, they could sell their house at
a loss in California and still buy a larger house in a
smaller market somewhere else.
- Using a relocation coaching service, or using
a recruiter who’s affiliated with one. This
is more of a supplemental solution. In other words,
this should be done in addition to the main solutions you
and the candidate have chosen.
And here’s a bonus solution, one that
you wouldn’t present but might still solve your hiring
problem. Re-level the position and run the search
locally. If you find a strong candidate, place this
person with an experienced mentor and in a training
program. Perhaps this candidate will be able to grow
into what the position was initially supposed to
entail. This could prove to be the best solution in
the long run.
A peek at
2008
Through undertaking this two-step
process, first assessing the situation and then offering
targeted solutions, you can greatly reduce the effect that
the housing market has on your efforts to recruit top
talent. By many estimates (if not the majority of
them), the market is going to worsen in 2008 before it
rebounds on the road to recovery. If that happens,
stability may not return until the second half of next
year—at the earliest.
Can you weather another year of possibly losing
top-notch candidates? The challenges that these
candidates are facing will become more numerous and in some
cases, more severe. Are you prepared to help them meet
those challenges? Have you identified which possible
solutions are viable ones for your company to offer?
It’s time to put together a formal plan to address these
issues. If you have any questions about this topic,
please give me a call at (901-854-6828).
(The end of the year is always a good time for
reflection and introspection. That’s why in next
month’s issue, we’re going to publish the best articles from
our newsletter during the first 18 months of its
existence. If you’d like to nominate an article or
articles for inclusion in this special issue, please send us
an email. As we move forward into a new year, we want
to know which articles have had the most impact and provided
the most value.)
