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> I'd much rather hire 4 above average people than 5 average people. That's assuming that negotiation skill is closely correlated with the skill you're actuall

> I'd much rather hire 4 above average people than 5 average people. That's assuming that negotiation skill is closely correlated with the skill you're actually hiring for, rather than being correlated with having read an article like this, or some other somewhat orthogonal knowledge.

mytailorisrich 6y ago
The level of salary you pay is correlated to what type of people you attract and what type of people you keep. If you want better than average people you have to be prepared to offer better that average compensation. That's what it boils down to. The actual negotiation only moves things at the margin and the initial offer already tells if the company pays well or not. The company's reputation also already told that to candidates. Of course it's indeed important for the candidate to get the best deal because, as mentioned in another comment, that has a knock-on effect over time.
- JoshTriplett 6y ago
  Absolutely agreed on all counts. To the extent this is a factor of the company's intended salary range rather than just the candidates negotiation skill, I'd agree that paying more for better folks is likely to pay off disproportionately in many cases.
yowlingcat 6y ago
> That's assuming that negotiation skill is closely correlated with the skill you're actually hiring for People overestimate negotiation as a "skill." It's not. It's leverage, it's BATNA. Negotiation is having more than one offer and using that to explore the difference between the initial offer space and the maximum offer space between firms based on a basket of offers. The skill is in getting an offer from more than one company in the first place. And I would wager that if you're hiring professionals, having that kind of ownership and thoroughness is often exactly what you want to hire for, even more than the direct experience.

mytailorisrich 6y ago

The level of salary you pay is correlated to what type of people you attract and what type of people you keep. If you want better than average people you have to be prepared to offer better that average compensation. That's what it boils down to. The actual negotiation only moves things at the margin and the initial offer already tells if the company pays well or not. The company's reputation also already told that to candidates. Of course it's indeed important for the candidate to get the best deal because, as mentioned in another comment, that has a knock-on effect over time.

JoshTriplett 6y ago
Absolutely agreed on all counts. To the extent this is a factor of the company's intended salary range rather than just the candidates negotiation skill, I'd agree that paying more for better folks is likely to pay off disproportionately in many cases.

yowlingcat 6y ago

> That's assuming that negotiation skill is closely correlated with the skill you're actually hiring for People overestimate negotiation as a "skill." It's not. It's leverage, it's BATNA. Negotiation is having more than one offer and using that to explore the difference between the initial offer space and the maximum offer space between firms based on a basket of offers. The skill is in getting an offer from more than one company in the first place. And I would wager that if you're hiring professionals, having that kind of ownership and thoroughness is often exactly what you want to hire for, even more than the direct experience.