Ever thought of your candidate as your customer?

Every organization recognizes that the real power to make the business successful lies with its consumers. The sustainability of that success depends on how well the organization continues to meet the consumer’s changing expectations. However very few organizations seem to have paid attention to a similar shift in power from the employer to the employee. Just as proliferation of choice, accessibility of information, and the emergence of platforms amplifying customer voice made consumers all-powerful, a global skills shortage and the rising importance of talent as a differentiator, has created the “power candidate”. 

Power candidates are well-informed. They have been tracking your organization online and have already formed a first impression. They may have even used one of your products or services. Before applying to your job advertisement, they have most likely checked how you’re rated on Glassdoor or some equivalent platform – a 2016 survey of a popular recruitment site in the United States found that the majority of candidates looked at six reviews before forming an impression of an employer and nearly three out of four used these reviews to make a decision. The power candidate is usually well connected and will talk to someone who works in your organization to get a credible picture of the workplace.

If their skills are in demand, it’s plausible that yours is not the only organization they are looking at. They will choose between competing job offers based on their trust in the employer brand, it’s value proposition, workplace quality, and emotional engagement. Upon joining, if your organization meets the power candidate’s expectations, they will be a vocal advocate for your organization on social media; if not, they will be an equally vociferous critic. In other words, they behave exactly like your digital age customer. As a potential employer, you’ll simply have to convince them that you are worth their time and effort. 

Hence there is an urgent need to adapt your branding messages to the needs of talent management. The candidate-consumer is on a journey with several moments of influence along the way. Each moment is an opportunity for you as an employer to build a preference for your brand with this audience. Here are some pointers to do that in a highly competitive market where talent is always in short supply:

• Create an experience for the candidate like you would do for your customer. Seek to understand their biggest expectations – career advancement, great workplace environment, shared values, fulfilment, purpose and so on – and try to address these even before the candidate actually applies.
• Use online channels, such as company websites, blogs, and social media to paint a favourable but authentic picture of your organization. Get them excited about the idea of working for you.
• Leverage marketing tools and resources like LinkedIn to profile, segment, and target candidates; attract them with a powerful brand promise that you can live up to after getting them on board.

When a candidate reaches out to you, it presents a series of opportunities to reinforce the brand promises you made earlier. During the interview process make sure that the candidate sees evidence of what was promised, such as an open atmosphere, good work conditions, engaged employees, diversity, and so forth. Make sure the candidate experience is as seamless as your consumer experience by providing consistent messages across channels, and ensuring prospective employees get all the answers the first time they ask. Be sincere – remember that the savvy candidate-consumer will see through the narrative if you’re not, and that can bring your brand image crashing rapidly. 

For consumers, the post-sales experience is a moment of truth. It’s the same for the candidate-turned-employee, they will constantly measure the experience at work against what they were promised before they were hired. If you would like to retain talent, keep employees moving forward – not necessarily through promotion, but by providing opportunities to learn, grow, innovate, show initiative, and lead. Listen to your employees like you would to your customers, act on their feedback, and allow them to participate in decisions where possible. The power candidate/ employee wants to be heard. If your organization doesn’t hear them out, they will go to another employer that will.

While estimates of the cost of churn differ, they are unanimous that it is a lot – as much as twice the employee’s annual salary in some cases. But more than the cost, the most important reason to retain talent is that talent is what gives successful organizations their most sustainable edge in a time when all other sources of advantage – capital, ideas, first mover, and location – are becoming short-lived.