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Recruiting your candidate’s family

recruiting a candidate's spouseI had a great experience this past week. I have been recruiting pretty much 24/7 for some urgent hires, and I asked one of the candidates who accepted to stop by so we could get some paperwork out of the way. He said that his wife would be in the car since they were headed to another function, and I told him to bring her up so she could check out the office as well.

After finishing the paperwork, giving him the quick tour, and introducing him to both our CEO and Operations Manager, I spent a few minutes talking about some of our cultural aspects in the office with him and his wife.

We covered the usual topics-dress code (whatever you want), work hours (whatever you like), and other general information. However, I couldn’t help but smile when his wife checked out our little kitchen and gave it a nod of approval. I told her that we would take good care of her husband and that, in all honesty’s sake, it was the best and most professional workplace I’d ever experienced.

When they walked out the door, I knew that I had made a lasting impact on both of them, and I realized that it might be worth it to try and recruit a candidate’s family more often, because even after the offer has been accepted, there is plenty of time for second guessing and turmoil. Getting the family on the same page gives the candidate more support in the new role and solidifies it in their mind. Anyone else ever consider meeting the candidate’s family in an informal setting to help the person get more comfortable in the job? It wouldn’t work for everyone, but I think it’s one more piece of what makes Pinnacle a great place to work.

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Ben

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4 responses to “Recruiting your candidate’s family”

  1. Recruiting family members | upstartHR

    […] wife about the company and position. I wrote about it over on RocketHR today. Click through to read Recruiting Your Candidate’s Family. var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="Recruiting family […]

  2. Sheila Avatar
    Sheila

    I think it is a great opportunity to connect with and get to know the candidate better. I have been on all sides of this practice as the candidate, spouse and also as the interviewer.

    It would not be a first interview event, but great for the 2nd interview. I think for a position where a spouse is going to be putting in a lot of hours or traveling a lot it can have even more of an impact.

    As a consultant for a transportation company we took it a step further and set up a support system for the spouses that were left at home to handle the family on their own. We saw a tremendous drop in turn over and a higher employee satisfaction rating. Families impact our employees and their performance at work so getting to now them can have huge benefits.

  3. Lindsay Avatar
    Lindsay

    thanks for sharing this experience.
    In our experience, the wife’s approval is critical and can make or break a Job Offer’s acceptance

  4. Michael Brisciana Avatar
    Michael Brisciana

    Ben – – –

    Great story, and great idea! They say that when you get married, you’re marrying not just your spouse but the whole family. In somewhat the same way, when a company hires someone, you’re not just hiring the person, you’re hiring everyone who influences that person (most notably, their family). As the family’s opinions about the company will undoubtedly influence the way the employee feels about the company over the course of time, it’s a great idea to reach out and make the family comfortable and familiar with what the company is all about. Nice going!

    One way that some companies do this is to invite spouses to employee benefits meetings — so that they can understand the options and get their questions answered first-hand (especially if the spouse is the one who handles the family’s benefits, doctor visits, etc., rather than the employee).

    Michael Brisciana

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