I recently had a candidate accept an offer to join my company in our Mississippi location. He has already signed the letter, put a down payment on a new residence, and has returned his direct deposit form. However, I still get calls nearly every day asking for one last bit of assistance, advice, or direction. This got me to thinking - when will my commitment to this soon-to-be employee end?

First, we need to recognize that there are varying degrees of responsibility in the recruiting world. Some people just source, some do research, some do nothing but cold call, and some do full-cycle. For those who go the distance, when does your process stop? For everybody else there is a very clean break and a nice, neat, process by which they can hand things off to the next person. What about those of us who do everything? When does our hand-off come?

The simple answer: never.

Depending on your role, there are a couple of reasons why it is important to maintain contact with a candidate. The focus of the contact, the relationship formed, and the motivation for keeping in touch will be very different whether the recruiter working independently/for a firm or is of the corporate ilk. Allow me to elaborate.

For those of us in the corporate seat we have a very direct tie to HR and in many cases have a crossover role. This leads to a built-in relationship with the new employee. He or she will likely contact you for information on benefits, life event changes, paid leave, employee relations issues, and the list goes on. The reason is quite elementary. You were their first contact with the company. You built a solid relationship with the employee and he or she put enough trust in you to stake their career on a position within your company. You have now formed a relationship that will last as long as you both work there, and likely even longer. In addition to creating some extra company goodwill and heightened morale, you will also develop your network and have an easier time getting quality referrals if the relationship is ongoing. Aside from referrals and morale, you could even help with retention issues if you are really a trusted confidant of the candidates you hire.

On the flipside, a recruiter working independently or at a firm also needs to keep in touch, but for a very different reason. First and foremost, keeping in touch regularly will keep you in the loop with your candidate and what is going on. If there are problems on the job that could lead to termination, you can act quickly to head them off at the pass and avoid the risk of losing your fee. This not only keeps your candidate (and your wallet) happy, but will strengthen the relationship with your customer and may help in the goal of becoming part of their overall HCM strategy. Perhaps more importantly, though, you will continue to be at the tip of the candidate's tongue when they do decide to make a move. Depending on what your customer agreement is, you may be able to use them for future placements, or at the very least lean on them for referrals.

Now, I am not an advocate of biting the hand that feeds you. However, if the candidate is going to seek a new position anyway and you are not in breach of contract, the relationship building process could work in your favor. If you are upfront with management it could afford you the opportunity to place your candidate elsewhere and even work on a backfill at the same time (again as part of the HCM strategy).

In an economy such as this, it is very easy to forget the relational side of the business and move on to whoever is cutting the next check. However, we need to be careful of conducting strictly transactional business because although it can make a quick buck now, the long term payoff simply won't be there.