The missing link leading to candidate drop-off post offer

You know that satisfying feeling when the rigorous recruitment process inches close to its end, everything is almost done, and you have just wrapped up mailing offer letters to the selected candidates. You finally let out a relieving sigh and start prepping up for the documentation and other necessary steps to onboard the new employees, but then the candidate declines or, worst, stops responding to you. Sounds familiar? Don’t worry. You aren’t alone; we have been there too, just like you. According to a recent survey conducted by us, one in three or at times one in four candidates end up declining the offers or ghosting the recruiters.

It’s a common problem that all companies face, so what can you do to ensure that your candidates don’t decline your proposal or ghost you? Don’t fret; we got you covered. Here are some tips to help bring that post-offer drop off rate down.

Feedback- make it a two-way street

Imagine if, instead of doing the guesswork or analysing for yourself how things are supposed to be or if whatever you are doing is working out or not, you could actually have answers. Well, this remains just wishful thinking for most aspects, but when it comes to figuring out if your candidate engagement strategies are doing their job or not, you most certainly can know.

The only thing you need to do is ask the candidates. You are putting in all your time and effort for them, so why not have them answer the most pressing question- are they feeling engaged the way they wish to. The only way to improve is to know what to improve. However, only one in four candidates have ever been asked about the feedback by a company. So if you wish to ensure that your candidates don’t quit, this is where you should begin.

Leveraging the feedback for effective hiring

DocuSign understands the vitality of sharing feedback, be it from recruiters to candidates or candidates to the recruiters. A recruiter can only make their candidates happy if only they are happy, is the belief that DocuSign focuses on.

They have a simple policy of seeking feedback from their candidates, regardless of the stage or if a candidate has been hired or not. And this has been consistently proven significant in improving and upgrading their hiring process, resulting in an even better candidate experience every single time.

Here are some ways you can do it too.

Create content for engagement

What do you do when you have to decide on whether or not to watch a movie or read a book? You either go by a friends recommendation or watch the trailer, right? Unless, of course, you are riding the wind and being particularly adventurous. This helps us in making an informed decision. Now, imagine if your future employees could also get to know your company before joining; wouldn’t it tip the stakes in your favour? And it’s really not that difficult to achieve either.

All you have to do is create content in advance to share with your candidates after rolling out the offer letters and before onboarding them. Tell them about what the company is up to or what the company’s culture feels like- you can even let your current employees take the lead in this. And have it scheduled to appear in their inbox at regular intervals. This will enrich the candidate experience, and it also helps with companies sales too. Bad candidate experience led to a recurring loss of 6 million every year for Virgin Media till 2017, when they started putting in extra effort to change it.

Don’t just ask; train them

Every employer expects their employees to upgrade their skills, but not many companies help in the procurement of the same. Companies want their employees to not just look for appropriate courses or certifications, enroll in them and invest their time and money to be able to perform better at work.  Rarely do companies take the initiative in helping their employees with the same. If you can’t take care of your employees’ course fee, the least you can do is guide them and provide time to complete the same.

Training them wouldn’t just help improve and enhance their skills and show them that you trust them and wish to retain them for long. And guess what! They will be less likely to switch as it gives them a sense of belongingness, and it will become an added parameter before they consider switching. 

Build your image

Have you noticed that brands like Starbucks and Google don’t have to work much to convince the candidates to choose them? If these brands are in the running, rest assured that the candidate is going to choose them over others. And no, this is not just because they are the big brands in the market. It’s because they are considered as the top employers of the market too. And considering the statistics that companies with strong employer branding receive 50% more applicants than those that don’t, this becomes a no brainer.

While you focus on being the top customer favourite brand, don’t forget to be the best for your employees and potential employees. Your product or service might build your brand image, but your employees are the ones who’ll advocate that image of yours, so make sure your employer branding is on point.

Focus on long term

Look at your current plan for candidates and employees, and try to answer a couple of questions. Does this provide enough freedom to them? Do they feel they are respected and part of the company? Are we taking care of their mental and emotional health? Will my current plan make them stay for years and years to come? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it’s time to re-think your branding. Most companies forget that employer branding is not something done to entice candidates but also to keep the existing staff in the company. What’s the point of a great employer branding that’s good only for the freshers?

Hold regular calls with your employees, discuss their needs, support them, understand them, and look beyond work hours. When you buy a machine for your firm, don’t you invest in its maintenance? Then why shy away from investing in your employees who are the backbone of your company?

Train your team

Okay, so you have aced personalised communication, made yourself an employer brand hard to refuse, but forgot to train your recruitment team! Well, enough companies have made this mistake in the past and continue to do so even now; you don’t have to join the clan. With the current dynamics of the recruitment world, where we are adapting to new changes every other day, more than anyone else, your recruitment team has to welcome these changes. Educate your recruitment team to be mindful and sensitive towards what’s going on in the world. Everything will fail your recruitment team fails to execute them.

Help your recruitment team in building necessary skills and provide them with a learning space.

Evolve with the times

We all have grown up hearing the phrase- ‘change is the only constant’, and it is indeed the most vital life lesson to apply in all aspects of life. If you want your company to grow, you have to get on board with the idea of revamping your recruitment policy now and then to ensure optimal growth. Think about it, did we for once think that we would be recruiting our employees remotely in 2019? No, we didn’t. It just happened, and we had to get along with the idea, didn’t we? But there’s no need to wait for a pandemic to bring in that change every time.

Just like you consider your company’s policy for everything at the beginning of every year, make a strategic recruitment plan as well. This will help you always stay ahead of the game and be updated with the latest trends.

A company is defined by its people, so if you fall short in keeping your employees happy, you fail to grow as an organisation. Make sure you are the best employer there ever was by constantly evolving, adapting to change and having a strong employer brand.