You Recruited Them. Now What? Why Authenticity Matters Even More After Recruitment Ends
What Now?
It’s September. The letters are hung, the chants have quieted, the bid cards are signed, and your new members are in the group chat. You recruited them. You did your job. Right?
Not quite.
This is the moment that often separates chapters that grow from chapters that just recruit. Because here’s the truth: Recruitment doesn’t end with Bid Day. In fact, for long-term engagement, retention, and real chapter growth, the most important part is just beginning.
Authenticity isn’t just a recruitment strategy to hook PNMs in…it’s a promise and an expectation.
Throughout the recruitment process, you made unspoken (and sometimes very direct) proclamations. You said, “This is who we are. This is what we value. This is what you can expect when you join us.”
Whether you realized it or not, your vibe, your values, your conversations, and your actions set the tone for what new members believe their next four years will look like. And if you delivered an authentic experience, great! Now the task is to live up to that every single day.
But here’s the challenge: many chapters present their best, most-polished selves during recruitment, and once bids are handed out, that version disappears. The energy fades. The communication slows. The relationships go from daily to occasional. And new members are left wondering, was that real? What did I get myself into?
*Enter Misaligned Expectations*
Aligning Expectations
If what you showed during recruitment doesn’t match what you deliver afterward, you’re not just at risk of losing members, you’re damaging the trust and culture of your chapter.
Why do people leave organizations within their first semester or year? More often than not, it’s a disconnect between what they expected and what they got.
This is why aligning expectations post-recruitment is pivotal. The promises you made about friendship, belonging, purpose, leadership, impact don’t fulfill themselves. They require intentional follow-through.
That means:
● Continuing to build real relationships beyond bid day.
● Creating space for new members to show up as their true selves, not just the version they think they’re supposed to be.
● Making sure your chapter experience is as inclusive, warm, and engaging as it was during recruitment.
● Holding your members accountable for being the culture they pitched to PNMs.
Retention is the real flex.
Every chapter can have a successful recruitment week. Not every chapter can retain and engage the people they bring in.
If your chapter wants to grow, not just recruit, you have to recognize that retention is a growth strategy, not something that naturally happens. Think of all the energy, time, and effort you spent preparing for recruitment, practicing conversations, planning events, and refining your message. Now ask yourself: What would happen if you invested even half of that energy into retaining your newest members?
Imagine how your chapter could thrive if every person who joined felt seen, valued, and still wanted weeks and months after they joined.
Action Planning:
Now, let authenticity do the talking again. Here are some things you and your exec board can do to check in.
New Member Educator (NME):
● Set a tone of openness and curiosity in the new member process.
● Emphasize getting to know the full person, not just teaching them to “fit in.”
● Check in often. Ask how the experience matches what they expected, and adjust accordingly.
● Collaborate with other leaders to make sure what you’re teaching aligns with what the chapter actually lives out day to day.
Executive Board:
● Revisit the recruitment message: Are you delivering on what you promised?
● Make retention and belonging part of your strategic goals, not just numbers.
● Encourage chapter-wide involvement with new members (beyond just the NME).
● Regularly talk about culture alignment, ensuring your values are visible in actions, not just in rituals or ceremonies.
General Members:
● Be consistent. If you hyped up sisterhood or brotherhood during recruitment, show up to events and invite others in.
● Start real conversations. Ask your newest members about their experience so far and listen actively.
● Model vulnerability. Share your honest experience – what you’ve loved, what’s been hard, how you’ve grown.
Remember: You’re always recruiting, and the cycle of Attract-Select-Secure-Retain-Repeat is always at play.
That kind of culture doesn’t just keep members, it attracts the right ones year after year.
So you recruited them. Great. Now what?
Be real, show up, and deliver on the promise of belonging you made in the first place.
Stay Phired Up!
