Industries worldwide are laboring under the burden of severe skills and employee shortages. The lack of appropriately experienced workers has left organizations scrambling to procure the talent they need. Many businesses have realized the importance of offering new hires attractive salaries and benefits, but few recognize how critical it is that potential employees enjoy their recruitment process. After all, if an applicant is perfect for a position but didn't find the experience pleasurable, the likelihood they'll accept an offer is slim (or even non-existent), HR News notes.
Workers these days are citing far more considerations when deciding whether they'll apply to or stay in a position. In the past, income was the sole determining factor. And, while earnings are still a major element of how people choose jobs, they also want to know that they'll be a good fit with the company culture. Applicants are increasingly weighing businesses' values and ethics against their own, and that's where a good candidate experience comes in.
The way recruitment is handled on the organization's end speaks volumes about what it stands for and how it conducts its operations. Here are a few components of the hiring process and its effects that managers should pay attention to:
Time and consideration
We say "time is money" for a reason. As Business Wire explains, a survey conducted by the staffing software company Bullhorn found that almost 70% of job candidates give up on job applications because the organization takes too long to respond or, worse, didn't respond at all. A business should respond timeously to every applicant, irrespective of the nature of their query or whether their application was successful. More than 20% of candidates say they actively discourage others from applying to organizations that don't respond to their questions or submissions.
Convenience and communication
In an increasingly digital landscape, organizations need to welcome online technology with open arms and this begins at the recruitment stage. Managers should be cognizant of candidates' preferred communication platforms and offer to conduct at least the preliminary interview via applications such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams. Bullhorn's research found that email is the most favored communication medium, followed by phone calls and LinkedIn.
Morale and productivity
A good recruitment experience is essential for helping successful applicants get off to a good start. A candidate who accepts an offer begrudgingly because the position and remuneration are lucrative, but had a bad hiring experience isn't likely to be engaged or want to go the extra mile for their employer once they've been onboarded and ramped up.
Companies who want to create a more positive recruitment process for potential employees are advised to ask applicants (both successful and unsuccessful) for feedback about their experiences and implement measures to improve in weaker areas. This way, they can enjoy securing only the best talent in their industry.
