Acceptance Care
Acceptance care and after-sales service
Once a successful appointment has taken place, a number of consequential actions must be managed successfully.
Unsuccessful candidates should not be ‘abandoned’. To reflect well on your company, they must be informed in the appropriate manner so that matters can reach a satisfactory conclusion. In time you may wish to revisit an unsuccessful candidate so declining their services at present should be done in a sympathetic and constructive manner. Feedback on why they were unsuccessful is always very useful. The recruiter should be used to doing this and can support you in this.
The communication loop
There is always a chance that a candidate may be persuaded to remain with their current employer (counter-offered) or be cajoled into attending other interviews from third party sources whilst serving their notice period. This needs to be carefully monitored and managed for everyone’s benefit. At this stage, 99% of the work has been done and the assignment will have consumed a lot of consultant and client time. It goes without saying that it is totally demoralising for both parties to lose the chosen candidate at this late stage. To this end the successful candidate and the client need to be kept in contact with each other, particularly where there is a protracted notice period, e.g. 3-6 months. There should be no barrier to clients and candidates talking directly – in fact, this should be actively encouraged for the benefit of all parties. – Invite the successful candidate into the business, this will help to bond the individual to the business and reinforce their decision to join the company. Invite them to meetings. If possible set up any training that is required prior to commencement. Include them in the company intranet.
The successful canddiate should receive all the paperwork/contracts/employee handbooks they require in a timely manner. Welcoming and personal introduction letters sould be attached. Details of the package including bonuses, holidays and benefits should all be included in this. Any pre commencement medicals/visas/permits required should be arranged in enough time to effectively manage any potential problems.
Ongoing contact
Many consultancies will stop their work as soon as the appointment is filled. However, a good consultancy will continue to work with the client and candidate long after the appointment to ensure the appointee’s smooth induction into the business. Typically, the consultancy should make contact with both the client and the candidate after 2-3 weeks to ensure that the new appointee has settled in well, and thereafter on a regular basis over the first year. The consultant should continue speaking to the client on a regular basis after a successful appointment. If any minor issues arise which can be addressed at an early stage, problems can generally be avoided in the longer term.
Post appointment visit
The consultancy will wish to visit the client around 3-4 months after the candidate’s start date to, ensure the continued success of the appointee and to discuss future plans and recruitment strategy.
Testimonials
The consultancy may request a testimonial on how they handled the assignment. Most consultancies openly welcome advice from clients as to how they can improve its service levels.
Guarantees
Does the consultancy offer you a guarantee? Ensure that the detail within the guarantee is correct, e.g. starts on first day of employment.
For senior positions three months is not always long enough to assess a new appointee’s suitability. Cork Griffiths looks differently at candidate replacement guarantees and offers a 12 month no-quibble-guarantee. We believe that the comfort of the 12 month guarantee will ensure that the appointee is given sufficient time to prove their capability without the client worrying about what to do if, for any reason, early expectations are not fulfilled. If you wold like to discuss the guarantees we offer further please complete the form below and we will get back to you immediately.