In summer 2016, CONSORT Group representing IESF in Russia and CIS countries, encountered a situation rare for the Russian market: our client, an international pharmaceutical company, was involved in negotiating with our candidate — who would soon fill a key position — as to how to compensate the yet unpaid annual bonus from his current employer and include a relevant clause into an employment contract.
The search itself did not last long but the negotiations with the finalist took months. While the candidate found by CONSORT by direct search was interested in professional challenges, the level of responsibility and remuneration offered by the new job, he was anxious that leaving the current employer right now would deny him receiving the annual bonus. Our client, in turn, was not ready to accept the candidate’s proposal to start in his role only after the bonus was paid.
As the practice of paying welcome (signing) bonuses has been nearly non-existent in Russia, we sought advice from our global partners in the International Executive Search Federation (IESF), and in less than twenty-four hours we had responses from all over the world. Backed by the shared international experience, we worked out an optimal solution acceptable both to the candidate and the employing company. This solution envisaged calculating ‘lost profit’ pro rata to the time the candidate would not work for the previous employer, and paying the signing bonus in installments after the probation period was over.
Thus, professional assistance from the IESF colleagues has helped us fill a complex job role and provide a useful service to our long-time client.