How to increase the "Offer to Joining" ratio!

How to increase the "Offer to Joining" ratio!

The main challenge every Human Resouces are facing today is "Increasing number of offer declines". It becomes very hard for the organization to retain the existing resource or to hire a new talent especially when there are plenty of job opportunities available in the market.

As per market intelligence, companies have 55% to 60% of offer drop ratio and this is very huge. Every single offer decline results in wastage of resources, time & money and this also lowers the motivation of recruiter as the candidate accepts the offer and later decline at the last moment.

So the question here is how do we stop this? Well! We cannot stop this but we surely can try to increase the "Offer to Join" ratio and simultaneously decrease the "Offer Declined" numbers.

 Let us implement the few points below-

1) Remember the first impression is always the last impression -

Whenever you are scheduling an interview make sure the interview happens on time, no matter whether it is a telephonic interview, personal interview or video conference interview.  Take little effort and give reminder calls on the day of schedule to candidate and technical panel.

In case the candidate is coming for personal interview to the office, make sure the necessary gate pass is ready with the security personal and candidate is also well aware of the entry process, the discussion room is booked to conduct the interview.

Once the candidate reaches the office, meet him and make him comfortable, ask him if he wants to use the washroom or want to freshen up if possible arrange for tea/coffee. And also inform the panel that the candidate is reached and he/she can start the interview.

Many a time the recruiter is busy with some other work. In that case, ask any of the colleagues to meet the candidate.

The interview process should start in not more than 15 minutes after the candidate is in the office.

Try to get the feedback from the panels and pass it to the candidate on the same day.

2) Detail understanding of projects - 

There are various reasons for an employee to leave the organization and no good project could be one of them.

Once the offer is accepted, arrange for a telephonic discussion between panel and candidate for a brief understanding of the project that he/she is going to be part of after joining. I am not saying that one should share the confidential details "NO" but at least the candidate should be aware of his/her role and responsibilities. Few basic details like.. what part of project candidate is going to work on, which skills, what all new things he/she will learn while being on the project, etc.

3) Update of the company development -

Share with the candidate, the latest updates like the event photos, any bid won by the company, any good changes adopted in company viz. free wifi, TV in the cafeteria, etc., introduce the candidate with project teammates.

4) Follow up call -

Keep some time aside to make a follow-up call with offered candidates, and I believe call should be made once in a week.

5) Coffee connect -

Arrange for tea/ coffee or lunch/dinner for the candidate in the office. This is required to make the candidate feel he/she is very important to the company and the company is excited to hire him/her. This is the psychological way of dealing with the candidate.

6) Sharing job description with the candidate -

Most of the time it is observed that the recruiter does not share the JD with candidate & respected candidate also do not bother to ask for it.

But it should be made sure that the JD is shared in advance before the interview and after the offer is made. 

7) Joining bonus -

This is a very effective tool to make the candidate join. I could have placed this in the first or second point but since the money is involved, I thought to use it in the last options.

8) Buying the notice period -

Currently, there are very few companies that allow for the early release of the candidates. But yes, the recruiter can always try the luck approaching the candidate with the option of buying the notice period.

Very few recruiters know the fact that when the company is spending money against "Notice Period Buyout" or proposing "Joining Bonus" then as per company policy the candidate is bond to serve 1 year in the organization. And in case he/she resigns before that, the company can recover the amount in "Full and Final Settlement".

9) Hire offered candidate's friend/relatives -

This is another very effective and impressive way of increasing the joining ratio. But again recruiter can hire offered candidate's a friend/relative subject to the available position.