How Can We Prevent New Hires from Backing Out After Accepting Our Offer?

Hi, I'm facing an issue with an employee joining after confirmation. We typically conduct interviews, and once a candidate is selected, we send a confirmation email and receive acknowledgment from the employee who accepts our offer. However, closer to their joining date, when we follow up, they inform us that they have received another offer and are unable to join our firm. This situation results in a loss of time and effort. Is there a way to prevent employees from backing out after confirmation?

Hi, while employees sign a Training Agreement/Indemnity Bond, they sometimes vanish in the middle of employment. There is no provision to keep checkpoints for candidates after they accept the offer letter. The only thing you can do is ensure that you fix the salary on par with industry norms and assure an opportunity for growth with unique welfare measures. During the interview process, you may project a broader picture of the growth opportunities to the candidates.

Dear Chandra,

This is in addition to what Mr. Lakshminarayan has said. I understand your concern. Companies spend a lot of time and money on onboarding candidates. If they leave too early, it sets back the clock and prevents them from getting a return on their investment in the filled position.

Employee engagement and organizational culture

Employee engagement depends on the quality of the company's administration and, above all, the organization's culture. The causes of employee attrition are rooted in the organization's culture. Therefore, I recommend that your company's leadership address the root cause rather than take traditional and superficial measures like introducing a lock-in period for employees.

While a measure of a lock-in period may work, and employees may stay until the completion of the specified period, this is only physical engagement. For the organization's growth, you need intellectually engaged people. They need to propose innovative ideas for product or process improvements or customer satisfaction. Can you expect them to do this if they are engaged forcefully?

Analyzing employee attrition

You have not mentioned your level in the organization and the department you work in. However, if you work in the HR department, analyze the employee attrition. You could get some clues as to why employees are not ready to work for a longer duration. Prepare a presentation for the top leadership and ask them what solution they would like to propose. By the way, do you monitor your company's reviews on ambitionbox.com or mouthshut.com? These reviews also provide insights into the minds of the employees.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Chandra's cited problem is another form of 'attrition' issue faced by many employers, big or small. There is no foolproof system to control exodus or 'absconding' even before the selected candidates join the selectors. At least to some extent, employers can delay attrition by engaging them under a bond, which again is not convenient and is doubtful. There are more than one reason, as our panelists pointed out, for this state of affairs. I think the remedy lies within ourselves. As we know, there are various considerations like brand value, package size, geographical and other personal reasons, and so on, which cause these issues. Unless affected employers address these issues, maybe individually in some cases, the remedy obviously eludes them. One solution could be building up a strong panel in that order for invoking plan B.