With unemployment steadily dropping back down to pre-recession rates, the ratio of candidates to jobs now tips in favour of the candidate. Therefore, the need for Employers to focus on the Candidate Journey and Experience is vital now more than ever to ensure they are competitive and retain the best talent. Every touch point throughout the Candidate’s journey, from their initial engagement with the company to the negotiation and onboarding stages, is critical for not just the decision making at the initial offer stage but whether to stay at the company in the long run. The statistics linked to the impact of onboarding on likelihood to stay in a company after the first few months prove exactly why this experience is so important. Moreover, not only is it important for that individual candidate's experience, but it's proving increasingly important to the employer’s brand reputation. A poor candidate experience can lead to candidates not wishing to engage in the employer's product or experience their software and it's likely they will share this poor experience with their network.
So, what can you do to ensure a smooth candidate journey? Here are a few top tips:
- Enable your talent team with the right software. Ensure the software is easy to use and easy to access once a candidate has applied so that they can easily check their progress. Sage People Recruit is superb for this as it allows you to automate and integrate your recruitment, selection and onboarding processes. (https://www.sagepeople.com/hris-software-overview/talent-acquisition-software/ ). I’ve personally found it to be easily configurable as you can tailor it to suit your business needs.
- Ensure every application is reviewed in a timely manner and that every candidate gets a tailored response. It might sound simple, but when a candidate spends hours agonising over their CV for a job they are applying for, having a generic rejection 1 minute or even 7 days later can be somewhat discourteous
- Be open and honest with the candidate about their application and about the job you are advertising. If they don't have relevant experience or do not fit the salary budget, tell them. They will appreciate honesty instead of thinking they stand a chance when they don't
- Use a personal and human approach. Whilst technology is brilliant and efficient for many things, nothing beats a personal email to a candidate from the recruiter
- No surprises: no candidate or hiring manager likes surprises. Manage expectations from both sides throughout the process
- Onboarding: Who looks after this in your business? Sometimes it's the People/HR team, sometimes it's the Talent team, sometimes it's left to hiring managers and more often than not (especially in small businesses) nobody really owns it. Occasionally there is a dedicated Onboarding team. Make sure that there is a process in place and make it is just as slick as your recruitment process. You can do just as much damage with a poor Onboarding process as you can with a poor recruitment process. As a place to start, ask your recent joiners what would have been helpful for them when they joined. There is nothing worse than feeling like the 'new kid on the block' with no where to eat lunch and no one to talk to. Seriously. This affects attrition and retention stats for any business. What better reason to get to work on your Candidate Journey today?
“The candidate experience has grown increasingly important, especially given today’s limited talent pool,” adds Randstad’s Kelly. “By providing a positive candidate experience throughout the entire journey, employers have a better chance of attracting talent.”
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