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:
| 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. |
| 2. |
If
appropriate, help the candidate write his resignation
letter or have a template ready. |
| 3. |
Prepare the
candidate for his resignation by telling him how his
company will react, and how to deal with a counteroffer
attempt. |
| 4. |
After the
resignation, encourage the new employer to engage the
candidate in a project so he can hit the ground
running. |
| 5. |
Call the
candidate on the date of start and a couple of times the
first week. If appropriate, take the candidate -- and
his boss -- to lunch. |
| 6. |
Follow up with
the candidate at least once a week for the first month.
|
| 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 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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