The day the signed offer is received, the hiring manager should call the candidate and welcome them to the team, answer any questions, and tell them what their first 90 days will look like. You might even want to share some project details with them.
But it doesn’t stop there. Remember, if this person is an All-Star, they will be faced with a counteroffer. It is your job to bring them into your environment and create a bond so tight that no counteroffer can entice them to stay.
We recommend to our clients that within the first week after signing the offer, the hiring manager should take the candidate and their spouse to a nice dinner or invite the candidates to lunch with a couple of key people from the team. This, again, tightens the new bond.
All in all if your candidate experience is flawless and easy, you have a much high chance of landing All-Stars, but if you falter on any of these steps you risk never seeing an All-Star enter your process or even worse, they accept a counteroffer at the 11th hour.
Neither one of those scenarios is ideal so it is critical that you know what the application, interview, follow-up, offer, and onboarding process looks like so you can optimize any flaws.
If you bypass this exercise you run the risk of a potential mis-hire or just never seeing an All-Star enter your process. Either way, both can have a negative effect on your leadership career.