Offer Management in Talent Acquisition Life Cycle

An offer is an important objective for which the recruiter works.

An offer is made when there is an alignment and synchronization of expectation of the Applicant and the hiring organization on the following parameters:

1. Role
2. Designation
3. Work location
4. Compensation
5. Time to join

However it is not necessary that the Applicant will join after an offer is made.

It is important to understand why the offer is not accepted so as to help prevent similar kind of mistakes in the future.

Revisiting the recruitment process and introspecting on the same may give vital clues. The offer is probably declined since there could be a mismatch on one of the five parameters above.

The recruiter has to keep in mind that the need to understand the aspirations of the Applicant very well to minimize drop outs. This is best accomplished when the recruiter

1. Reads the resume well to understand the Applicants skill sets and career objectives
2. Disseminates the requirement, briefs/sells about the opportunity clearly and understand if the requirement really excites the Applicant
3. Interacts with the Applicant to understand Applicant’s aspirations well
4. Displays a good understanding of the Applicant profile and thereby earns the respect of the Applicant
5. Provides timely feedback on the progress of the case to the Applicant
6. Builds a relationship with the Applicant so that the Applicant feels comfortable and opens up
7. Negotiations may be an integral part of the offer roll out, a good rapport and relationship can help set up a favorable environment during the negotiation.

Elements of an offer

Understanding an Offer

An offer may not just be the salary that is being offered to the candidate.

The recruiter must understand that an offer that is being made has several components to it. It is the professional responsibility of the recruiter to roll out the offer or help the candidate understand the offer in entirety.

The offer has monthly components, yearly components, like Leave Travel Assistance, Statutory components like Provident Fund and retrials, components that could be paid to the candidate at the time of retirement or separation from the company like Gratuity, Superannuation.

The offer could have benefits like health care for the candidate/family and perquisites like Maintenance of Car, Driver, club membership etc.

Employee Stock Options could also be an important and attractive component of the offer.

Many companies could have attractive loan schemes.

The location of the company, the distance involved and time consumed in day to day travel could also be a significant component of the offer.

What is time off/leave available every year has an important bearing on the offer.

What is the role that is being offered? This has a bearing on the learning and growth for the individual. It also has an impact on the future growth for the individual.

Does the role require overseas travel? Does it require frequent travel? Overseas travel could be short term or long term. This could be an attractive financial reward. On the contrary frequent short term travel overseas or otherwise could affect the lives of candidate’s who are married. It is the professional responsibility of the recruiter to give clear details for the candidate to decide.

The offer includes critical ingredients like the area of the work that the candidate is going to be involved in and how does that particular area fit into the overall structure of the organization could have an impact on the candidate’s decision to take up the offer.

It is important to note that many of the candidate’s decision to work in organization are directly dependent on the Boss and coworkers he gets to work with. If it is possible to share this piece of information than the recruiter may want to share this.

The Company’s brand, the sustenance, growth potential and prospects of the Industry, the core values of the organization and how they are perceived in the market are also important ingredients that the recruiter may want to address while rolling out the offer.

Offer need not result in a joining. 

This should be kept in the mind at all times. This will help the recruiter plan backup(s) for the same position and minimize the damage.

The relevant stakeholders need to be informed that the Applicant has not accepted the offer as early as possible.

In real time scenarios, there are Applicants who accept an offer and do not join in the last moment. This causes extraordinary embarrassment and also loss of credibility to the recruiter and recruiting organization.

This cannot be completely avoided but the damage can be minimized by constantly staying in touch with the Applicant and asking an explicit set of questions

1. An Applicant’s expectation is captured before sending the resume to a hiring organization, check if the offer made is in accordance with expectation of the Applicant
2. If there is a gap in the offer, check with the Applicant if she is happy?, if she is unhappy, please escalate to the hiring organization.
3. If the offer made is the best that can be offered, please inform the applicant that the offer is the best that can be made and start looking for backups in case if you have doubts about the Applicant’s level of acceptance.
4. In case the offer has been accepted by the Applicant, check as to when she intends to join.
5. Follow up to check the date of joining and also check if she has resigned.
6. If she has not resigned, find out when she is going to resign.
7. When you have ascertained that she has resigned, ask her if she can share with you the accepted copy of the resignation letter or a copy of the resignation letter.
8. If she is an out of station Applicant, check whether she needs accommodation when she relocates. Also check on her travel plans.
9. In case her resume is in the job site, you can request her to remove it. In case it is still floating around, the Applicant could be shopping.
10. Any one of your colleagues could pose the Applicant with other opportunities and gauge her intentions.
11. Regular follow ups, clear questions can help ascertain whether the offered applicant will join or not.

Please remember that these questions can only minimize the damage and cannot guarantee joining. An Applicant could always be retained at the existing organization or use your offer to find a better job.