The Recruiter’s Guide to Post-Hire Relationship Building

Disengagement is a profit killer. In fact, American businesses lose between $450–$550 billion each year due to disengaged workers. And where does that start? Right at the very beginning, during onboarding and those crucial early days in a new role.

Even if you’ve built strong engagement with top talent throughout the hiring process, you can’t afford to drop off the radar the moment they’re placed. As a recruiter, your job doesn’t end at placement. There’s a duty of care that continues well beyond the signed contract.

Why? Because a candidate’s experience with your agency post-hire directly impacts their success in the role, as well as your long-term business. A well-supported candidate is more likely to thrive, refer others, and return when it’s time to move on. It’s the foundation of repeat business and long-term reputation.

Post-hire engagement is a distinct competitive advantage, one that drives repeat business, strengthens relationships, and reinforces your brand.

Here’s our top tips for how to maintain engagement after you’ve placed the perfect hire.

It All Starts With Onboarding

The onboarding process is the most crucial element in maintaining post-hire engagement. It sets the tone for what a candidate can expect in their new role, and from their new employer. It’s also one of the easiest places to make a real difference.

Let’s be honest: if your clients are sending a dusty, generic “welcome pack”, that just won’t cut it. It’ll be ignored, skimmed, or deleted.

Ideally, this process starts even before their first day in the office. You have to set up your candidate for success, acting as a “safe space” for them to voice any concerns about their new company or role. To help alleviate concerns, you need to make sure your clients have the best onboarding process in place.

Candidates may be thinking:

“Have I made the right choice?”

“What will my first day look like?”

“How quickly can I contribute to the business?”

Your job is to help them feel confident, so ensure your clients are doing all they can. Start with a warm, personalised welcome. Send through any essential documents early on, including details on their manager, location, onboarding schedule, or even where to grab coffee near the office.

Where possible, encourage the client to assign a buddy or mentor to help integrate the new hire into the team. Not only does this ease anxiety, but it accelerates a sense of belonging.

Provide Regular Check-Ins

One of the simplest, and most effective, ways to keep engagement levels high is through regular check-ins. And we don’t just mean a rushed “how’s it going?” email a month after they start.

Whether you’re looking to keep up your passive candidate pools or are just going above and beyond, establishing regular check-in points will help settle top talent in their new roles. 

This could include both formal and informal check-ins, allowing for automated candidate engagement to do some heavy lifting and in line with their communication preferences.

Create a simple post-placement rhythm using your ATS or automation tools. Consider:

• A WhatsApp or LinkedIn message on day one

• A call at the end of week one

• A short feedback form at the one month mark

If they prefer more casual communication, stick to it. If they’re more formal, mirror that. The point is to show up. Let them know you’re not ignoring them once the commission cleared. This is also how automation improves candidate engagement and reduces drop-offs, as long as you’re using it effectively.

If there are problems or red flags, you can spot these early to support the candidate and help them overcome them, before they drop out.

Set Clear Expectations

92% of candidates consider a company’s culture as a vital factor in their decision making process. A candidate might have all the right skills, but if they’re misaligned with company values, behaviours, or communication style, cracks can start to show.

That’s where recruiters can add real value, not by trying to reinforce culture after the hire, but by setting the stage before it.

During the hiring process, it’s your job to help candidates understand what a company’s culture looks like in practice. Whether that’s their approach to hybrid work, team structure, communication style, or ESG values. These insights help candidates picture themselves in the business before they say yes.

If cultural concerns do come up later (during a check-in, for example), you’re in a good position to flag this with the client. Acting as an external sounding board means you can offer early insight, and help both sides avoid a slow-burn mismatch.

You’re not there to onboard, but you are there to advocate for alignment. When that’s done well, it helps candidates settle faster and gives clients confidence that your placements are built to last.

Gather Feedback

Once a candidate is settled, don’t just assume everything went smoothly. Ask!

High-engagement candidates are often more willing to share feedback, and the insights they give can help sharpen your edge across the board.

Send a short survey around the one-month mark (even by using Bullhorn Automation). Ask questions like:

• How well prepared did you feel for your first day?

• Was the role what you expected based on our conversations?

• What could we have done differently to support you?

This is also a great time to track placement outcomes. Monitor NPS, retention rates, and repeat hires. This data helps with internal reporting and also gives you a benchmark for success that you can share with clients and prospects alike.

And don’t forget: positive feedback about the candidate experience is content gold. With permission, you can turn kind words into testimonials, case studies, or social proof that reinforces your brand.

Maintaining engagement after a placement isn’t just about being polite. It’s a strategic move that keeps your pipeline warm, your candidates happy, and your clients loyal.

At the end of the day, recruitment is a relationship business. And relationships don’t end when the offer letter is signed. They evolve.

Candidates remember how you made them feel across every stage of the journey. If you’re there for the after, not just the before, you won’t just be the recruiter who placed them; you’ll be the one they trust next time too.

Need help building an automated post-placement engagement process or using Bullhorn to scale your recruitment business?

Talk to the RE:STACK team. We’ll show you how to streamline follow-up, maintain meaningful connections, and turn great placements into long-term partnerships.