is Employer Branding enough to attract talent?

Most of the companies we speak to in the past one year have been speaking about lack of talent in the market caused by the wider competition of attracting candidates in this digital era, wherein many of the talents are grabbed mostly by the so called grown up – startups. Candidates often compare working environment, brand, benefits and many other things between the traditional business and the digital business. So what are the secrets of those still able to attract these qualified talents to join them despite of competing with tech based companies or startups?

The answer we often get is Employer Branding, and it is true as well as effective, many have started implementing and creating great employer brands in order to be competitive, either through online of offline. However, based on our experience speaking to candidates, many are impressed by the branding but not the follow up which makes them later decided not to pursuit the opportunity. Basically, these branding are supposed to mean advertising i.e. showing how good working for the company is, can include company growth, working environment, success stories, training and fun events and many more which would create interest in the eyes of applicants. But, many don’t realize that after applying comes the process and at any given time in the process, one can withdraw, even worse spread information to other applicants.

What I am trying to explain is that, candidates are humans, customers, buyers, and like any other, they have customer behavior patterns just like when we are buying a product. First we see the ad, then we research about it, we find it interesting and we buy it, but the experience of purchasing it also matters, if it is not convenient, then it can push back the wanting to buy in the first place and ruins the effort of advertisement. Likewise, during the recruitment process, when a candidate has already applied and saw the great branding on the company, they come and follow the interviews or the steps given by the employer, whereby mostly the employer don’t pay attention on this process which is a crucial part as this is an applicant’s experience in entering the company and should match with what was advertised about the company or even better than that.

Giving you a comparison on the common steps between the two:

 Traditional Company - Steps

1. Candidate fills up Application Letter at Employer's premises or through email

2. Candidate comes in for a face to face preliminary interview

3. Candidate waits for 1-2 weeks to get a feedback or the next step

4. Candidate needs to come back for the 2nd and 3rd or even 4th round of interview

5. Waits another 1-2 weeks to get a feedback or the next step

6. Candidate goes for a Medical Check up

7. Candidate goes for a psychological assessment

8. Waits another 1 week to see the results

9. Candidate gets an offer from the client

10. And finally needs to come back to sign the contract of employment

Tech or Startups - Steps

1. Candidate fills up application online together with an online assessment

2. Candidate is called within 1-2 days for a phone/video interview - considered as preliminary

3. Within 1 or 2 days candidate gets a feedback and information on next step

4. Candidate comes in once for an interview with the user or the panel interview

5. The next day gets a digital offer subject to Medical Check Result

6. Completes Medical Check and signs Digital offer and informed within 3 days about the result

7. Leaves current employer and joins the new Employer and signs the contract on the first day of work

Simplifying the process, speeding up the process, making it more efficient, making it more convenient is also very important to maintain the interest of the talent attracted through branding. A recruitment mistake I often see is where companies decide too long to select the candidate or takes much time into consideration, even having a lengthy process which disappoints the applicant’s experience during the process despite of having found a great talent, not considering that the same talent are customers like I said who can decide not to buy at any time. Adding up to this is the little details on the experience of the applicant when visiting the company’s office during interview, that impression becomes the first and last impression of the candidate about the company and it includes professionalism of interviewer, welcoming attitude, waiting period in the process, and many more. It is actually like having a customer visit your office and we want them to like what they see and feel.

Try implementing these in your recruitment process and feel the difference in your successful placement and hope to hear from you on how this tips helped.

And always know that at Quantum Select International, our experienced Consultants are not only helping you source the correct candidate but always also open to advise matters that could escalate and make the hire a successful one. We also are providing the Online Assessment tools that you can use in the process that would get you a detailed and easy to understand result within the same day the applicant completes it. Talk to us anytime to find out more on below contact details.