Candidates holding multiple Job offer letters

The most common issue that organisations deal with these days is that of "Candidates who have multiple job offer letters and are still looking for another offer" which is "Offer Shopping". The main reason for this might be Salary, however other factors like company size, candidate experience, and the problem statement the organisation is trying to solve etc., may also play a role.

Let's understand that offer shopping is not a new behaviour for candidates. In fact, it became more prominent after Covid-19, mostly as a result of virtual interviews and candidate engagement as the main trigger.

How shall we navigate through this

~ For every candidate, compensation is important, but not everything is about money. In my experience, top talent is quite specific about the function and salary they want from you. These days, candidates start the interview process by discussing what offers they have. It's okay to reject them if they don't fit within our budget instead of looking at our compensation range and trying to close a position. Please ask for professional references at the beginning of the interview process, or start with the process that ties to the trust, interest of the candidate.

~ Instead of focusing on traditional methods of sourcing profiles, organisations ought to coach recruiters on other approaches to headhunting profiles, which will provide them with more options to create a candidate funnel.

~ Based on my own experience, recruiters advise interviewers to use the win-win strategy, also known as the "candidate funnel," which is to continue interviewing candidates there may be another potential candidate who may be a good fit (in case one backs out at the last minute). I know a lot of recruiters are already following this.

~ Make time for an introductory call with your strategy team before you even begin interviewing candidates (Build relationship with the candidate irrespective of a potential fit or not). This helps us significantly in educating candidates about the type of problem statement we are solving, the significance of our presence, and our growth plans. In this manner, it will be quite beneficial to even gauge the applicant's approach and make a call depending on how the candidate expresses interest. The majority of organisations struggle to establish a rapport with the candidate.

~ I've frequently heard that Recruiters are responsible for both identifying candidates and placing them; Agreed, discovering talent is the work of recruiters, but how often do we forget that interviewers have an equal part in interviewing a candidate, how they conduct themselves throughout the interview is vital, as is how they engage the prospect, and so on. In my experience, I've even heard comments to the effect that interviewers are incompetent in terms of their terminology, questions, time spent, and manner of speaking. Company should spend on "Training the interviewers to be influencing rather than simply asking questions and closing the interview".

~ The role of recruiters is to find candidates and fill positions; the Partnership team ( Human Resources ) works with the candidate to further engage them; however, there is a dearth of training on how to interact with candidates, gauge their interest, and win them over to the organisation. These days, businesses do not care about investing in the growth of their HR departments because they assume they would be able to handle their job obligations right away. HR Engagement and Communications play equally important roles in the organisation and should always be invested in to influence employees.