What it takes to bring the best talent into your organization?

The importance of a thinking through your Candidate Experience

Success is the best aphrodisiac and attracts talent.

But not everyone is in the Nr 1 Top Tier driving seat and need to find still the best talent. Not the best available talent, but the best talent out there.

For top talents it is a great time to explore. Candidates in demand, actually realize they have more power on their hands when looking outside. Top talent prefer companies who would allow them to control how, when, and where to work.

These types of employees are willing to learn new skills to make it. One of the top reasons people leave the company is a lack of learning and development opportunities. When employees quit their job, they have time to focus on learning new skills to move into the kind of roles they actually want. This is made possible with the acceleration of freelance work, continuing education, and potential for advancement. An article from a16z describes this perfectly…”It is like throwing a pack of cards in the air: you can eventually put the deck back together, but not everyone will end up on the same spot.”

The importance of culture as your brand

Your brand is your reputation before you enter the room. Candidates check you out, not only through glass door or other social media but the world is connected much more than we think. There will be ways to find out how inclusive, traditional, forward looking or centralized/decentralized a culture is. Ideally your CMO will work hard to help embed the positive vibes of your office, how people celebrate success or go through tough times together. If not, be aware that for 72% of candidates it will be crucial to understand your culture before accepting an offer.

Candidate Experience is becoming a key differentiator in the process

Companies need to understand better why people leave organizations as much as what will hinder top external talent from from accepting offers. 49% may turn down a job offer if they had a bad recruitment experience. It turns out that the recruitment experience as a candidate has massive influence, more than many would like to recognize.

So, on what areas can recruiting improve on? By investing in a thoughtful, data-driven candidate experience, you give them a better understanding of the role, and your company before they even get started.

HR and the business needs to work together to build not just a Humanizing recruitment helps attract and win over top talent. The personal touch builds strategic relationship with candidates. It will be ideal to have a transparent Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to give candidate insights into what working for your company is like, and how they will benefit from joining your team. Employees will also expect a robust onboarding experience. Rethink how you onboard new hires and how to position the onboarding process during recruitment.

Here are key aspects of improving your organizational Candidate Experience:

• Create and map a candidates experience and not a "process", walk in the candidates shoes!
  

• Think Hybrid and offer Flexibility. What jobs really do need to be at the office? Even after the pandemic, 65% of jobseekers want remote work options while 31% want hybrid work options. Hybrid work is a top reason to make employees stay and want to work for you.
  

• Transparency. A lot of candidates become frustrated with the lack of transparency in the job description. Find a concise balance in outlining the core responsibilities of the position and highlight what makes your company unique. Be upfront on how long the interview process is to your candidates. Offer insights on compensation, benefits, and equity. Elaborate on the specific impact they will have in the role.
  

• Provide career growth opportunities. Succession Planning is key to your company's success. Bring in talent to take on more senior roles in the organization and use talent development tools to showcase your true intention. 33% of candidates view career growth as an important factor when choosing an employer.
  

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. One of the biggest barrier in improving diversity in the workplace is finding and attracting underrepresented talent.
  

• Health and Wellness. 70% of employees enrolled in a company wellness program produce greater job satisfaction. This aids in employee retention and attracting top candidates.

While this is kind of basic, it is truly not done by most of the candidates we speak to and it is our mantra to provide Feedback.

Always provide feedback to candidates. Ideally not by a bot!

52% of candidates say that if they are able to do job-related feedback, it increases their relationship with the company. Remember, the hiring process is part of your company’s brand. Around 30% of enterprise talent leaders say that a weak employer brand impacts their hiring goals. Employer branding is often a deciding factor when a candidate is torn between two companies. Whether the candidate gets hired or not, you do not want to leave a negative impression on them.

Creating a memorable candidate experience will add meaningful hires to your team, and leaving non-hired candidates with a positive outlook about your company for future roles. Who knows? They might even refer the best talent from their industry and allow you to grow your talent community network!

Sources:

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/hr-recruiting.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2022/02/24/recruiting-trends-for-2022-include-a-focus-on-diversity-employee-branding-data-and-the-candidate-experience/?sh=4c44050edb4b

https://www.lever.co/blog/the-great-rehire-and-candidate-expectations-in-2022/