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Recruiting
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by Bill Radin
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The
Recruiter's Digest
Recruiting
News, Training & Commentary by Bill Radin |
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November, 2007 |
Fighting Post-Placement Depression
I made
a critical mistake following my first placement. For whatever reason, I
failed to communicate with the candidate during his initial week on the job.
By the time I called him on the second Monday, he had already left and gone
back to his old company. He might have quit regardless of whether I stayed
in touch, but I’ll never know for sure.
Later, I came to realize that all placements are tenuous in the beginning.
Not only is it human nature to feel some degree of buyer’s remorse, there
are a multitude of distractions that can ratchet up the candidate’s level of
stress. And when you factor in all the things that can go wrong or get lost
in translation, it’s surprising more candidates don’t pack it in during
their first week on the job.
Moral Support and Intervention
To protect your hard-earned placement—and
the good faith the candidate and the new employer have invested in each
other—it
makes sense to stay involved. Here are just a few of the strategies I’ve
used to lend a helping hand:
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1. |
Make sure the placement is clean. Tie up
any loose ends, and proofread the company’s offer letter to prevent
errors that may ruffle the candidate’s feathers. |
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2. |
If appropriate, help the candidate write
his resignation letter or have a template ready.
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3. |
Prepare the candidate for his resignation
by telling him how his company will react, and how to deal with a
counteroffer attempt. |
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4. |
After the resignation, encourage the new
employer to engage the candidate in a project so he can hit the ground
running. |
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5. |
Call the candidate on the date of start
and a couple of times the first week. If appropriate, take the
candidate—and
the candidate's boss—to
lunch. |
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6. |
Follow up with the candidate at least
once a week for the first month.
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7. |
Touch base with the hiring manager
periodically. You’ll not only get a sense of how the candidate is
performing, you might also be asked to find additional staff. |
First-week problems typically result from a lack of task clarity. In other
words, the candidate might misunderstand—or
the supervisor might fail to effectively communicate—exactly
what the candidate’s priorities are.
When people have never worked together, it often takes a while for everyone
to get their bearings. Fortunately, I’ve been able to save several
placements that were starting to unravel during the shake-out period.
As recruiters, we’re naturally inclined to look ahead to our next placement—and
our next. I’ve found, though, that recruiting is like politics, in that you
always need to keep your eye on the ball. If you begin to think too far
beyond the next election, there may not be a next election.
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