Again and again, candidates pull out after long application processes that have been demanding for both sides. When candidates go through the whole process and still decline at the end, most of them cite personal reasons. The “reason” given is often the invisible third party: the partner, the children, the parents. At a very late stage (a verbal acceptance given or a contract on the table), that’s often hard to believe.
Other reasons usually lie behind it. The most common:
· I think I’d be drawn too much into political conflicts at this company
· I don’t like the new company’s culture
· What’s expected of me in this job and what I’d get in return aren’t in balance
· I have a problem with how fair the salary negotiation was
· I’ve negotiated a better contract elsewhere and needed competing offers
Or:
· I didn’t like how the interview process was run
· I didn’t like how the interviewers came across (too conservative, too pushy, not respectful enough and so on)
That’s why it’s so important to track how the interviews actually went. We ask both candidates and clients for feedback on every interview in as much detail as possible, warn the client and the candidate early, and push for issues to be addressed openly. The client can use this as a valuable pointer to where its own culture is getting stuck. Particularly on diversity, we see a gap between aspiration and reality. Employers often see themselves as more relaxed, open-minded and accommodating than candidates experience them.
Where the search consultant and the client trust each other, it can help the hiring company enormously, provided both sides have the courage to raise these topics. If search consultants are used opportunistically and at arm’s length, the headhunter will take care not to say anything critical. So it pays to build relationships on an equal footing.
