How to manage job offers

Author: Claire Watt
XpertHR editor: Laura Kimpton

Summary

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• Recognise that recruiting new employees is a costly and time-consuming process, so it is essential to get it right.
• Consider making a conditional job offer so that it can be withdrawn if the conditions are not satisfied, without breaching the contract.
• Ask candidates, particularly those applying for senior or specialist roles, whether they are subject to any restrictive covenants under their current employment contract.
• Decide the contractual terms and conditions to offer.
• Make the job offer.
• Inform all unsuccessful candidates who have attended an interview that they are not being offered the role.
• Conduct the necessary background checks quickly to help ensure that the recruitment process keeps moving along and the new employee is in post as quickly as possible.
• Be aware of the different circumstances in which a job offer may be withdrawn and how best to do this.
• Communicate with the new starter before their first day, to maintain the relationship that it formed during the recruitment process.
• Plan the induction/onboarding process well before the starter's first day.