How Do You Handle Candidates Who Accept Offers but Don't Join? Seeking HR Advice

Dear All,

I am working with an HR Consulting Firm based in Gujarat. We are basically into Recruitment, Manpower deputation, and Outsourcing. Our focus areas include IT, Pharma, Engineering, and Financial verticals.

One of the main challenges in this industry is the joining of candidates. Candidates often accept offers from prospective employers and then do not join the company in the end. This is a significant issue, especially in IT recruitment. At times, candidates hold onto multiple offers and continue negotiating with other companies, which I believe is unfair and unprofessional.

I am struggling to understand how to handle such cases. As an HR professional, how should one address these situations? I seek advice on how to deal with this scenario and what corrective actions I should take.

Thank you and Regards,
Sanjay Patel
HR

Hi Sanjay,

This is a very common issue in HR. All we can do is regular follow-ups and pacify the candidate as long as possible to encourage them to accept the offer from the respective organization.

Regards, R. Niveditha

Dear Sanjay,

You should actually have a clause of acceptance or a last date of joining in the offer letter. This joining date should be decided by the candidate. Ensure that the person joins you before the joining date. If he or she does not join, then the clause in the offer letter will be invoked automatically, and the offer will become void.

You can plan something like this and redraft the offer letter with the above provisions.

Regards,
Byomjeet Mishra

Hi,

Check the interest of the candidate at the first talk itself. Check what the candidate is looking for. Never pressure the candidates if they are not interested from the beginning; such candidates will never join. Screen the candidate at the first or second interaction. Usually, you will be able to judge the candidate by the second talk itself.

Kaur

Hi,

You can never stop candidates from exploring the opportunities; that's their human right. It's always a human tendency. We need to understand what they want.

Kaur

Dear Sanjay,

We discussed this topic a long time ago, and some practical suggestions were also provided by our members. I am attaching a document that covers to some extent the essence of the discussion. For more information, you can use the "Type Search Query" tab in the top left of this page.

Hope this information helps.

Regards,
Raghav V