Offer Declines in IT Recruitment: What Fresh Ideas Can Help Turn the Tide?

Hi everybody,

I am doing a project on offer decline analysis (candidates declining offers after they are issued to them). I am doing the project for an IT firm. It's a part of the recruitment & selection procedure.

I have to give some suggestions on how to control offer declines. Please do help. The suggestions have to be something really new.

Thank you,
Gitika

Dear Gitika,

That's a very informative project you are working on. I am running a consultancy firm, and we face a similar situation where, after spending a lot of time on a candidate, a closure is about to take place, and then the candidate selected rejects the offer made by the company. This seems to be happening quite frequently nowadays. Please let us know what kind of help you need.

Sylvia

Hi,

I am also working in a consultancy firm, and we do face the same problem — rejection from the candidate after the offer has been issued to them. If I am not wrong, what a lot of companies do today is they issue the offer letter after a couple of months. I'm not very sure how much this helps, though.

Ambita

Gitika,

There are different aspects to consider in this situation:

1) The candidate might not be seriously interested in a job change. They could be merely seeking a lucrative opportunity to come their way.

2) Some candidates may use an offer from one organization to negotiate a counteroffer from their current employer.

Therefore, it is crucial for HR to evaluate the candidate's seriousness about the job change and understand their reasons for seeking it. A significant gap between the interview and the date of joining could give the candidate time to reconsider the offer and explore counteroffers.

AR

Hi Gitika,

This is a complex issue in recruitment. This cannot be fixed completely, but the following can be adopted to overcome this issue:
- Collect any original document from the resource and give him an official acknowledgment for the same (Probably he may not be willing to give. The recruiter needs to convince him by quoting that it is required for a background check, which is mandatory).
- Get personal rapport with the resource (Communicate with the resource in his mother tongue, get into his personal aspects, etc).

Please share your comments on it.

Regards,
Raj

Dear Gitika,

Some of the suggestions made regarding the issue:

- During the interview process, ask the prospective employee the reason for the shift from his previous job. This will give us a fair idea of what the employee is looking for and whether it will be managed by our organization.
- Give the true scenario of the organization to the prospective employee. Rather than keeping things away from him, being open to him about the working of the organization shows a kind of trust which many employees yearn for.
- As you are aware, some companies ask for bonds and deposits. But according to me, these steps can also backfire. So, use it keeping in mind the present situation of the organization and the industry.

Hope this gives some insight and ideas for recommendations.

Thanks & Best regards,
Elizabeth P.

Dear Geetika,

A couple of suggestions regarding the same:

When we are pitching to candidates for the ABC job opening, we need to understand the candidate's seriousness towards a job switch or how strong the idea is in his mind for a job change. We need to check with him on his personal front as well as if his family is ready to relocate and how his kids will adjust to a new school or environment.

The role which we are offering him should match his current KRAs and how excited he is to take up the new job opening or if he is just checking his market value. During the interview, we need to clarify all his queries regarding the profile and what his career growth path will be in this company.

After rolling out the offer letter, we need to follow up with him regularly. If possible, get updates from him on any other offers apart from the one from this company.

Regards,
Sanjay Bairwa

Hi,

I think while making an offer, you should consider the following points:

1) Make an offer as soon as you realize that the candidate is the best match for your requirement. Because the candidate must have applied at other places as well, and he might be receiving offers from other companies as well.

2) If possible, you can always ask him/her about the offers in hand. That will give you an idea if the candidate is really serious about the job search.

3) Clearly communicate that once both of you come to an agreement about an offer, it won't be changed. Nowadays, you will find candidates coming back to you after some time with a higher offer and asking you to match it. Then, they will go to another employer with your new offer and ask them to match it and so on. So, don't fall for it.

Hope it helps.

Ashish

Hi Geetika / all

Good discussion and a rather hot/difficult one in these times. Long ago - about 2-3 years ago - I had initiated a similar one on another HR Forum. Unfortunately, no clear consensus emerged. I may still have the synopsis of those suggestions somewhere, and if anyone is interested, I will try to find/send it across.

My perspective as someone generally involved in Senior Level headhunting....

a) Early on, find the hot/pain/aspiration points.

b) Once ready, make a "trial offer" at the earliest... "IF we were to offer you this, by when would you be able to join...."

c) Test, test, and test...

d) Get all the people in the loop and on the same page, including the Manager the new recruit is supposed to be reporting to...

e) Issue a clear offer only once you are sure of its acceptance, and make the acceptance come within a clear - and small - timeframe. Follow that up with copies of Notice, relieving Letters, etc.

f) Do ref checks - often ignored but will throw up quite "interesting" things sometimes... Do NOT do these via the same consultant who has proposed the candidate in the first place!!

g) Keep the Consultant - if any - in the loop too! The Consultant can help in many ways... you just have to be creative together :-)

Hope the above helps!

Best,

Hardeep

www.m3inc.net

Dear Gitika,

I'm working in this area, and based on experience, we know that the length of the recruitment procedure is often the reason for decline. As a company, we believe that we can take as much time as we deem appropriate, but making motivated candidates wait can give them the impression that we are hesitating. The longer the process takes, the more likely it is that candidates will start comparing us to other companies.

Treating candidates as unique human beings, rather than just one among the hundreds we see each year, can significantly reduce the number of rejections.

Thank you.

Hi everybody,

Thank you very much. These suggestions are definitely going to be of help to me. Once I am done with my report, I shall post it here, and then maybe you all can go through it and let me know if any changes are required.

Gitika