(And Start the Onboarding Process from Offer Acceptance)

We all recall seeing the “teen angst” movies where the girl gets stood up on prom night. If I remember correctly, in the Drew Barrymore movie Never Been Kissed, her prom date actually threw eggs at her. As the scene faded, she stood there in tears with egg on her face.

 

If you follow my blogs, you know that I like to use dating analogies. You have to admit that interviewing is a LOT like dating.

 

In my previous blog post, I told the story of a HR rep that completely went rogue, made an insulting offer to a candidate, etc. The saga continues in this post.

 

The hiring company had spent HOURS trying to find a great candidates for this hard-to-fill position, including hours sorting through resumes and hours interviewing candidates. One of my processes is to provide onboarding tips to companies. This is not to downplay their own processes, but I typically advise to add a more personal touch. All of the compliance pieces are very important: background checks, drug screens, orientation, discussing company policies, etc. However, the piece that is typically missing from an onboarding process is the human touch.

 

I advise clients to start the onboarding process the minute that the candidate accepts their offer. If the new employee starts feeling like they’re part of the team, then it can drastically minimize the risk that they’ll accept a counter-offer. I usually recommend inviting the candidate and soon-to-be-employee to team lunches or after-hours meetings. It is human nature to want to feel wanted and needed.

 

So here is my dating analogy: how would YOU feel if your prom date didn’t talk to you, text you, or call you between asking you to the prom and the actual prom date? Would you not wonder if the date was still a “go”? And what if your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend was showering you with affection at the same time and telling you how much they missed you and that you should go to the prom with them?

 

I had advised the company that this candidate was thought of very highly at his company and was a huge counter-offer risk. As such, I strongly encouraged them to reach out and be in touch. At a minimum, hiring managers should send an email telling prospective employees how excited they are to get them on board. This new employee received nothing—no email, no phone call, no invitations, etc.

 

Fast forward two weeks to when this person’s current employer realizes that they’re leaving and there is no one to fill his shoes. Yep . . . you guessed it. He received the title of manager, the chance to build his own department, and a nice raise.

 

I advised my client that the company was counter-offering and there was a risk of the new employee not showing up on Monday. I again encouraged the company to let him know that they were excited for him to get on board. The response I received?

 

“That isn’t a normal part of our process.”

 

It’s Monday morning. The new employee didn’t start his employment with my client. All of those hours of weeding through resumes and interviewing are now completely wasted.

 

So who is standing on their front porch with tears in their eyes and egg on their face now?