How to Improve the Offer Acceptance Ratio

After going through the entire interview process, screening the candidates, and interviewing the best of the lot, you have finally arrived at the perfect candidate for your job opening.

You may be confident that the candidate will accept your job offer, and you may be right. But sometimes, for various reasons, a candidate turns down the offer.

An offer acceptance ratio provides insight into the percentage of those candidates who accept your job offers out of the total number of offers extended. Understanding why a candidate declines an offer (after investing their time, too) holds the key to improving your offer acceptance ratio.

There are a few methods you can implement to improve your hiring process and, as a result, increase your offer acceptance ratio.

Improve the Candidate Experience

The candidate’s experience begins the instant they open the link to the application. From here on, your company culture is on display. Be respectful of each candidate’s time and contribution. It will make all the difference.

Keep the application process simple. An overly complicated application is unnecessary, and an excessive number of fields to complete becomes an annoyance.

During each stage of the recruitment process, follow up with the candidate. Assign someone to be their guide, answer questions, and set expectations. While it certainly will improve the chances of offer acceptance, professionalism leaves an everlasting impression. Fostering goodwill is always good for business.

Provide a Competitive Package

One of the most oft-stated reasons a candidate turned down an offer is that they got a better offer elsewhere. From some candidates’ perspectives, the salary package can be pivotal.

But often salary is not the only criterion for choosing to go with a different organisation. Company culture, leave policy, work hours, and other perks and benefits will also play a significant role.

Candidates will take the entire package into account. If your salary range meets at least market standards and you’re offering impressive perks and benefits, you’ll stand a better chance of winning the candidate.

Be Transparent About the Job Roles

Fully apprise the candidate of the roles and responsibilities of the job. Give them a clear idea of what they’re getting into if they sign on. A candidate is more likely to accept a job offer if they feel comfortable about the ins and outs of the role.

Is there more hiring to be done? Is the department short-staffed for the near future? Will they need to pitch in and fill other roles temporarily?

And what opportunities are there for career advancement in the organisation? How does that work? Be forthcoming and honest about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Establish Good Communication with the Candidates

Good communication between you and each candidate is a must-have, and a harbinger of your future working relationship.

As the candidate moves through each stage in the hiring process, reach out to them and congratulate them before informing them about the next step.

Small yet courteous gestures pay off. Never imposition the candidate. Always confirm that they’re available to take a call beforehand.

It’s a good practice to establish communication through email, allowing the candidates to respond at their convenience.

Address the Candidate’s Concerns

Moving on from one organisation and taking up a new role in another can be essential to a candidate’s career advancement. They are bound to have specific queries and expectations regarding their future employment.

Even when just starting out, there are always lots of queries. Be empathetic and address their concerns. A candidate might hesitate to voice questions about their salary, holidays, promotions, etc. As the recruiter or hiring manager, convey a receptiveness and a willingness to listen.

Encourage a candidate to contact a current employee from the same department for further discussion. This sort of transparency in the company culture is reassuring and shows a candidate that the company is serious about addressing their concerns.

With good communication between you and the candidate, you can address any reservations a candidate may have about the position. Before generating the offer letter, clear up any outstanding issues.

Reasons for Low Offer Acceptance Ratio

However, an organisation can improve its offer acceptance ratio by tweaking, if not rectifying, some of the most often given reasons candidates turn down offers.

However, an organisation can improve its offer acceptance ratio by tweaking, if not rectifying, some of the most often given reasons candidates turn down offers.

• The candidate received a better offer from another company
• The candidate had a bad recruitment experience
• Inadequate communication between the candidate and the company representative
• The candidate perceived a lack of future career advancement opportunities
• Dissatisfied with the perks and benefits package
• Long commute
• The company culture was not a good fit
• The salary is not commensurate with the roles and responsibilities of the job

Conclusion

Recruitment is an expensive process. And to go through the entire cycle, only to be turned down by your candidate of choice, takes you back to square one. Not to mention, the position continues unfilled and unproductive.

So while the reasons for turning down a job offer may vary amongst candidates, organisations can do much to improve those aspects of the hiring process that are not serving their purposes.

Take the steps necessary for improving your offer acceptance ratio. Not only will it be illuminating, but your organisation will reap the benefits of employing up-and-coming talent in their field.

LogicMelon

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