You have extended an offer to a stellar candidate…and they have accepted!  Good news indeed.  But unless you continue to feed and nurture your new hire, they may not make it to the start date.

There is a tendency on the part of organizations to feel that once the offer is accepted, the problem (of an open position) is “solved”. And that should be the case; after all, the new hire has given his or her word and committed to your organization.

But this is a vulnerable time for the new employee. Professionally, they are at a crossroads. They are taking a leap of faith that the position at your organization is better than the one they currently hold. A variety of factors will be at play…

Their organization may try to entice them to stay. Other recruiters may continue to contact them. They may even continue the interview process with another employer whose process takes longer than yours.

So stay engaged with your new hire!

We at Crandall Associates do what we can; we have literature on why accepting a counter-offer is never a good idea, and we will share this with the candidate. But the transition is now in your hands. Please don’t go silent on your new employee.

Here are some ideas to help your new hire remain confident that they have made the right decision:

• The CEO of the organization should send a personalized “Welcome Letter”
• Their new boss should invite them out to lunch, drinks or dinner after the offer has been accepted and before their start date
• Send some corporate swag; t-shirts and the like
• If the employee will be relocating, send some fun goodies representing your city (ie; Cheese from Wisconsin, Bagels from New York.)
• Print and send business cards right away. This indicates that you have already committed to them, and reinforces the commitment they have made to you. (And generates excitement)
• Communicate the scheduled onboarding events that have been planned
• The hiring manager should call at least once a week and convey excitement for the upcoming start of the new hire and enthusiasm for the contributions they will soon be making

I hope you find this advice to be of use. These ideas are easy to implement, and most of them don’t even cost any money. But they can make all the difference in allowing your new hire to remain convinced that they are joining a winning team.