Candidate Engagement: The reason you’re losing talent and how to fix it

If you’ve ever spoken with a consultant at Michael Page, you’ve likely heard us talk about candidate engagement. A lot. We do this because it’s the most common reason we see companies losing candidates to their competitors. In our initial meeting with you, prospective client, we might ask, "What is your interview process? Can you make your process shorter? Are you or anyone in the process going on vacation in the next month? Can you provide 24-hour feedback?" 

We don’t ask this because we’re in a rush. All we do is recruit, and frankly, my team would tell you I can easily talk for hours. I enjoy it. All kidding aside, we do ask these questions for your benefit.

So, prospective client, why does this help you more than it helps me?

It may sound like hyperbole for the purpose of an article, but not having an engaging candidate process will cost you the best talent, months of time and resources, and subsequently lots of money. More specifically you will lose:

• Time from revenue-driving business initiatives because you're reviewing job postings and interviewing
• Revenue from those initiatives you are NOT working on while you work on admin and interview
• Revenue from not having this role filled, especially this year if this vacancy is on eCommerce, Sales, or Marketing in an all-digital consumer landscape.
• Money on resources such as job postings, subscriptions, etc., which take away from other investments you could be making in your business

While a “go with the flow” mentality makes sense in some situations (i.e. networking with candidates for future, non-immediate roles), well-structured interview processes with strong candidate engagement are vital to your brand awareness and reputation as hiring managers in the market. How many times have you seen reviews about long, drawn-out processes from candidates following your interview process? Do you think they're purchasing from brands where they've had disengaging experiences?

The result is twofold; candidates are not just candidates, but often your consumers who are more likely to stay a consumer if they've had an engaging experience, even if they don't get the job. Just as you want to drive consumers to your brands over your competitors, keep the same mindset in hiring. Candidates will interview and shop with your competitors if they move more quickly and provide a more structured process. Note, brands are moving quickly even in the current landscape, and candidates will remember who was more engaging during an interview process when the market picks up.

The good news is, our clients have found working with us save them time, money, and stress often by making a few simple changes. Here are some easy ways to create more engaging candidate interview processes:

• Involve the decision-maker sooner – Don’t take several members of your team away from their work to interview a candidate, only to find the candidate doesn’t have a connection with the decision-maker (i.e. CEO sign-off). Candidates will appreciate this too. Save everyone time by including your decision-maker ideally in the 1st step if schedules allow, though including them in the 2nd step is certainly reasonable given you might want to only show them the candidates you've personally qualified. Save time = Save money.
• Only involve critical team members – If you’re hiring a Marketing Manager, they don’t need to speak with your SVP of Engineering, for example, unless they’ll be working with that person very closely. It takes up time from your team and gives your competition time to secure the candidate out from under you. If you aren’t able to reduce the number of team members the candidates need to interview, consider having group interviews to optimize your time and improve the quality of the interview questions. Other benefits to group interviews include having multiple perspectives on the same interview and saving time. Multiple perspectives promote diverse thinking, which improves culture. You save time not going back and forth on feedback. Win-win.
• Do not change your interview process at the last minute – I’d compare this to waiting in line for an hour at the DMV only to have the DMV closes when it’s finally your turn. A comical example, but you get the point. For candidates, unexpected, extraneous interviews are discouraging, cause interview fatigue, and will give them the impression you're not serious about hiring them. Whether your interview process is 3 steps or 7 steps, set an agenda with candidates at the start of the process and stick to it to keep candidates from burning out or turning to other companies that are more engaging. If you need to extend the process, explain to candidates how it's beneficial for both parties to have this extra step.
• Consider remote interview processes and fully remote hires – It would be an understatement to say this year has been challenging, but what it has given us is the confidence that people can do their jobs safely and effectively from home. There's only so much we can control right now, but what we can control is keeping candidates engaged remotely. While it's ideal to be able to meet in person, consider the current landscape and how imperative it is that person be sitting 6 feet from you to hire them. Also, for Digital/eCommerce hires, for example, most of the work is done on a laptop anyway. Consider fully remote hires, and if you're truly concerned about disconnection on the job, focus on hiring candidates in the same time zone to avoid delays in real-time updates or meetings.
• Hire an External Recruitment Agency - Candidate engagement is a work in process for many brands, especially start-ups where many hats are worn. With stronger candidate engagement, you'll be seen as a brand to contend with when it comes to securing the best talent. Michael Page consultants are not only recruiters, but subject matter experts who can support you in increasing your brand awareness through hiring. We specialize in recruiting across various disciplines including but not limited to Marketing and eCommerce, Creative and Design, Sales, Human Resources, Office Support and Admin, Legal, Accounting and Finance, Supply Chain and Procurement, Property and Construction, Technology, Tax and Audit, both temporary and permanent. Email me if you have questions on how you can improve candidate engagement at your brand. Like, share, comment, follow, and reach out to introduce yourself!

Sara Taryla – DTC Marketing and eCommerce Recruitment, Northeast Region

Email: [email protected]