The Candidate Experience

What does it really mean and how can businesses do it better??

“You can have the best strategy and the best building in the world, but if you don’t have the hearts and minds of the people who work with you, none of it comes to life.” – Renee West

 It’s true what they say - first impressions count….. but making it a lasting impression is just as important. How you treat people during your hiring process is their first glimpse at how your company treats its employees. Afterall – especially in FMCG - your marketing team spends most of their time assessing the consumer experience and trying to maximise it at every touchpoint.

So why wouldn’t you put as much energy into marketing your company to eligible talent during a hiring process?

Believe it or not, recruiters really care about the candidate experience – when we represent someone we want them to be engaged with your brand, prepare well for interviews, smash said interviews and then get an offer until they eventually walk through your door on their first day as an employee and hopefully go on to achieve great things for your business.

Now, of course, in any hiring process it’s not ALL up to the company and I’m sure any hiring manager or recruiter can provide a list of examples when candidates have let them down (interviews cancelled last minute, not preparing properly etc), but that’s not what I’m talking about today!

There’s a number of touchpoints when candidates are engaging with your company’s brand – from reading an ad or speaking to a recruiter, to making their application and getting through the door on their first day. Every conversation and process sends a message to your prospective hires and it’s important to hit the right notes!

So, what are these touchpoints? The simple answer is – everything! Here’s a summary of some of the key areas I’ve come to learn are some the most crucial

-         Advert and Recruiter

What have you said about your company? Why is it a good place to be and what opportunities are you offering people both short and long term? A well written ad and a well-educated recruiter is your first hook to attract the best talent. People don’t need to be in a process to engage with your brand! This rings true to your website and how you sell yourself as a business too!

-         Application

Whether they’ve applied direct or via a recruiter – if unsuccessful then a quick message to explain they’ve been rejected goes a long way. It means someone who has taken the time to apply can move on and not be left waiting and wondering (even if it IS someone who delivers pizzas for a living applying for a Category Manager role with a specific skillset)

-         Timelines to interview

What’s the longest it takes you to arrange an interview for candidates? Waiting and keeping people hanging on to find out feedback and arrange next steps is a big turn off, but also increases the risk of you losing candidates to other companies. Does this mean you’re a slow paced and bureaucratic business? (Of course, people go on holiday and sometimes things happen out of your control, but then simple communication goes a long way – it won’t be perfect every time)

-         Interview feedback

Telling someone they’re successful or unsuccessful is great, but what good is it if there’s no feedback? If you’re progressing someone to the next stage, then it’s so useful for them to understand what they did well and what the interviewer may like to probe in the next interview. Help candidates prepare for the next round in the best way possible and you’ll get great results. Also, if someone is a no – taking a few minutes to prepare some constructive feedback and advice will add so much value to them moving forwards so they don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over. They’ve taken the time to come and meet you and the least that you can do is provide them with feedback to tell them how they performed

-         Offers

Waiting a long time to issue an offer, send paperwork or lowballing candidates on expectations is another huge frustration and tends to raise the most red flags. If you’re interested, let them know. Engage with them – make a phone call, arrange a coffee, introduce them to the team. Keeping people engaged at this point is so important as this is when they are leaving their current employer – who is probably going to try and keep them!

-         Notice period

This is another crucial time in the candidate process. With most industry notice periods going up to 3 months, that’s a long time for someone to go without speaking to a new employer, especially after all the excitement of accepting an offer – waiting ? a year to get through the door can be tedious! Regular check-ins will add value and also provides a good opportunity to start thinking of handovers and onboarding people

-         Onboarding

Let them know ahead of their first day if there’s any preparation they can do, what to expect on their first day or week. This doesn’t need to be some ‘flashy’ branded notepad and chocolate bar with their name on and a bunch of personalised pens….. but starting a new job is daunting so no matter how senior this person is, they’ll have nerves on their first day! Helping people understand what to expect when they walk through the door and having something to look forward to makes the transition as smooth as possible

“By putting the employee first, the customer effectively comes first by default, and in the end, the shareholder comes first by default as well.” – Richard Branson

What steps can you take to avoid a negative candidate experience?

-         Your own internal and external communication

Arguably, the most important part of hiring. Does HR manage one part of the process and the line manager the other? Being on the same page is crucial so you’re not sending mixed messages to candidates as this can have a big knock on effect. In most cases, good communication is the bare minimum that your candidate will expect from you

-         Making candidates jump through hoops to attend multiple interviews

Now we all know there’s some big brands out there like Amazon and Facebook who have 7-8 stage interview process –this is a HUGE task especially when people are having to take time out of their current position to attend an interview and are normally interviewing for a couple of positions at a time. There’s a saying that ‘looking for a new job is a full-time job in itself’. A little flexibility in your process and keeping it concise and effective is what people are looking for. We’re seeing more and more phone and Skype interviews which is a great way to make introductions. We live in the modern world and there’s so many tools available to us to make life easier and more convenient. Of course, I’m not saying to compromise on the quality of your interview and you do need to trust your process– but do you really need 4-5 interview stages followed by 2 phone calls and a game of ‘Hoopla’?

-         Every recruiter under the sun working on your role

When a candidate gets approached by loads of different recruiters for the same role, it sends a message that you struggle to recruit and gives a negative brand perception. Pick your recruitment partners, immerse them in your business and let them sell your brand for you in the best possible way to engage talent.

Obviously, when it comes to the reality of the day to day, there’s no perfect solution. That said, there’s small steps that hiring managers and talent teams should take to maximise the experience.

It can be easy for companies to disconnect from the fact that they’re dealing with people sometimes – behind all the internal processes, stakeholder management, stress of having to pin people down and coordinate diaries, portals, GDPR compliance and diary management… but it’s important to remember that people are your most important asset and if you can’t get people through the door in the first place, you’re never going to win at recruitment.

“Engagement has to be human, because people trust people more than brands. Our employees are the ones who personify Shell” Ana Alonso – Global Marketing Head of Recruitment, Shell

Don’t believe me? Here’s some more articles on the subject –

https://www.recruiteze.com/candidate-thoughts/

https://www.thetalentboard.org/article/top-11-candidate-experience-articles-2017-sugar-cookies/