"The offer is signed, onboarding documentation has been sent and finally, you may tick the box on this vacancy and take a breather before commencing your sourcing process for the next role."
Unfortunately not so simple in our current talent landscape. A signed offer is by no means a guaranteed ticket to the candidate arriving for his or her first day at the office.
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The resignation month is one of the hardest to contend with from a candidate perspective. It is similar to living "with the ex" unfortunately. This period is likely to be filled with constant engagement activities from executive and senior management, with the aim to coax the candidates into changing their minds about leaving. One, two, even three attempts to counter with either salary or opportunity propositions could be at the order of the day.
(1) KIT (keeping in touch) is crucial to ensure that your potential employee is going to survive the resignation month. Whether it is a weekly phone call, a lunch with the rest of the team or a simple Whatsapp message to check in every now and again, continuous contact is vital.
(2) NEA (new employee engagement) is another important strategy to ensure that your candidate walks through your reception doors in a month's time. Line Managers should participate here too (not only the responsibility of the HR/Talent Consultant). Lunch or after-work drinks with the rest of the team, supplying reading material relevant to the new job or even giving the candidate a small task to complete will go a long way in preventing them from backing out.
This concludes the mini-series on Talent Gremlins. My next theme of discussion will address the importance of incorporating "candidate hurdles" into the shortlisting process.