You know how important it is to retain your employees, but how is your candidate retention rate? Are you losing great people after you make an offer?  A confusing or drawn-out hiring process or a mismanaged offer can send candidates straight into the arms of your competition. Use these strategies to improve your candidate experience and land your ideal new employees.

Keeping Candidates Engaged in the Hiring Process

You will turn off great candidates if your hiring process is complex, disorganized or frustrating in any way. It is important to keep things moving, remain communicative and reduce friction wherever possible.

1. Make sure your online application is simple to use, quick to navigate, does not ask invasive questions and candidates can save their application and return to it if need be.
2. Write clear job descriptions that accurately depict the job requirements and the expectations for the role. This will reduce applications from grossly misaligned candidates.
3. Use an autoresponder to let candidates know their materials have been received and candidates selected for interviews will be notified.
4. Be prompt for interviews and make sure all relevant parties are present. Being late or making the candidate come back sends the message you do not respect their time.
5. Stick to your timeline as much as possible, and reach out to top candidates if your timeline changes so they know you are still interested.

Increasing the Odds Your Offer Will Be Accepted

Few things are as frustrating as investing time in a candidate only to have them reject your offer. If you approach the hiring process correctly, you can improve your close rate to nearly 100 percent.

1. Have frank discussions during the interview phase about salary requirements. Find out what the candidate is looking for and be honest about whether you can meet that range. Have those same discussions about benefits.
2. Try to uncover the candidate’s real motivation for leaving their current job. Someone chasing money might leave you high and dry for a better offer. If their motivations are things like advancement, work-life balance, etc., make sure to highlight those during the offer phase.
3. Get verbal confirmation before committing to an offer. Before putting an offer in writing, call the candidate and say, “We are ready to move forward with an offer. Are you ready to have that conversation?” If they say no or seem noncommittal, ask what their reservations are and determine whether you can overcome their objections.
4. Set tight deadlines for acceptance and paperwork. The days between presenting an offer and acceptance are a danger zone for other offers and counteroffers from their employer.

Are You Ready to Improve Candidate Retention?

If you are ready to improve your candidate experience and retention rate, partner with Morris Bixby – expert ag industry recruiters. Contact us today to get started.