Answer to Question 1
Organizational factors that can influence the content of a job offer include the firm's business strategy, staffing and compensation strategy and policy, internal equity, the company's need to hire someone immediately, and union contracts.
Factors related to a finalist can affect the content of a job offer. These factors include the finalist's fit with the job and organization, compensation and reward requirements, qualifications and experience, previous compensation package, values and needs, and whether the finalist has other job offers pending. If a finalist has good job offers from other firms and needs to make a decision soon, an enticing job offer might need to be presented to the person relatively quickly. Firms sometimes make a new job offer to a current employee in response to an offer he or she received from another employer (a counteroffer).
External factors include the tightness of the labor market, the cost of living in an area, the risk and cost of a finalist being hired by a competitor, and the market level of compensation and rewards for the position. If the finalist is the only finalist the organization wishes to hire, it might make a more generous offer to increase the likelihood of the person accepting it. If the area in which the new hire will live is expensive, some firms enrich the job offer to accommodate this additional expense. If the finalist has skills that could jeopardize the company's competitive position if he or she was acquired by a competitor, enhancing the job offer to increase the chances it will be accepted can be strategic.
Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action goals are the two primary legal factors that influence the content of a job offer. If a firm has an affirmative action plan or if it is actively pursuing diversity, its progress toward these goals might influence how high a job offer should be. If a company is having trouble getting some subgroups of finalists to accept job offers, enriched offers might be necessary. At the same time, organizations must ensure that job offers are comparable across protected groups to avoid charges of discrimination.
Answer to Question 2
A