Three post-acceptance minefields
by Miki SaxonIf your corporate culture stresses hiring as a core competency, you already know that when the candidate accepts and signs the offer is not the time to relax, because, after all your effort, you don’t want to lose him to cold feet, difficulty in resigning or counter from the current employer. People waver because they aren’t water faucets. They don’t turn off emotions and feelings in the morning when they leave for work. They’re present in all their chaotic, sloppy splendor—but rarely admitted or discussed. Many of these emotions and insecurities surface during traumatic times, and changing jobs, even voluntarily getting out of a terrible situation, is one of the great traumas that people face.
The best way to deal with this is to openly discuss their existence.
Even if a headhunter is involved, you still want to discuss these things, since this is another opportunity to bond with your new employee. Because these points are in the same category as closing questions you want to use the same technique—bring up and shut up!
Buyer’s Remorse
Everybody knows the term “buyer’s remorse.” Realtors and salespeople of big-ticket items are intimately familiar with it. It’s that sinking sensation in the pit of your stomach immediately after signing a big-commit document of any kind. That’s what some candidates feel within 24 hours of accepting and signing an offer letter. Sometimes it’s serious, other times only a knee-jerk reaction. Recruiters say that even candidates who hate their current position get the feeling.
If you believe you need to address it, then it is important to do so at the time of acceptance. A good way to bring it up is by using yourself as the example—even if you’re one of the fortunate few who aren’t affected. Try to use an example that is real, whether it happened to you or to someone you know, but f you create it, be sure you can carry it off. If it sounds fake, the candidate will pick up on it and may feel patronized. The approach you use, whether serious or light, depends on the candidate.
In many cases remorse never really hits home until the person resigns and then it’s “ohmygosh, what-have-I-done time!”
This brings us to the next minefield.
Resignation
Resigning is not easy. It’s not comfortable. People don’t like doing it. The longer they’ve worked for the manager/company, the harder it is, especially when nothing is really wrong in their current position.
Start by asking when she plans to resign, whether she’s comfortable with the process, what she thinks her boss will do, has she written resignation letters before, does she expect a problem. (Note: These are all closing questions.) Listen carefully! You are looking for clues to what will happen when she resigns. Then zero in on the areas she needs support or assistance and open a discussion.
The craziest resignation through which I’ve coached a manager follows, with names changed to protect everybody.
Jerry, an engineer, accepted another position and went to his boss, Tom, and told him he wanted to quit. Tom said he was busy and they could talk about it Monday. On Monday, Jerry found out his boss was out of town for one week. The hiring manager, Jean, called Jerry on Monday to see how the resignation had gone. He told her what happened. Jean suggested he write a letter to Tom and copy HR. She offered to help with the letter and suggested a specific phrase be used: irrevocable decision. The letter went like this:
Dear Tom, Please accept my resignation effective June 15. I have made an irrevocable decision to pursue another career opportunity. I want to thank you for the opportunity of working at Dumptech. I’ve learned a lot during my time here and believe that l I’ve also contributed towards the company’s success.
Yours truly,
Jerry Trentcc: Human Resources
Jerry put the letter on Tom’s desk, took the copy to HR, and had the requisite “won’t you change your mind” talk. His boss never acknowledged the resignation, but on Jerry’s last day, a Friday, Tom said something about “discuss it on Monday.” Jerry said it was his last day. Tom flipped out, claiming that Jerry had never resigned, etc. HR finally intervened, saying that the engineer had resigned and that Tom had been notified.
Obviously this was a manager in denial, big-time. But variations abound, especially in a hot labor market or with an exceptionally talented person whom managers aren’t going to let go lightly.
This brings us to the third minefield.
Counteroffers
Counteroffers are counterproductive. They hurt the company, the group and the individual. The ones that work are the exception to the rule—probably less than 5%.
As far back as 1983, the WSJ National Employment Weekly was printing articles warning about the dangers of accepting counteroffers. Nothing has changed, if anything, it has gotten more so.
Counteroffers come in other forms than the obvious ones of money, stock, position, duties, etc. The worst happen during the hottest hiring cycles. Companies/managers have used guilt, fear, and intimidation in their counters—some even hire industrial psychologists to craft them.
First, ask your candidate how she thinks her current employer will react to her resignation; listen carefully and stay quiet until she’s responded; then address the specific issues, no matter what they are, in a friendly, concerned way.
Focus on the fact that you haven’t hired a clone, so it’s likely that some, or even all, of her concerns may be non-issues to you, but that doesn’t devalue them or reduce their impact on her. With honest effort you can defuse 98-99% of them, but the other 1-2% are up for grabs no matter what you do.
If all this sounds like a lot of extra work, recognize that she is no longer a candidate, but an employee, and you are her manager—and that’s what managers do.
