In a perfect world, you’d have an awe-worthy talent brand and a culture that frequents awards lists. You’d have all the assets and resources you need at your fingertips and a pipeline bursting with well-qualified, highly engaged candidates.
In the real world, these “nice-to-haves” aren’t always feasible. Yet you still have positions to fill, candidates to screen and employees to keep happy. And in the Covid-19 world, we could all use a few quick wins.
And, the best part about it is that if you have limited time, resources, or budget, you’re not out of luck. Read on for easy ways to improve the candidate experience.
Relaunch your referral program.
Would you rather spend hours submitting resumes on Indeed, or receiving an email from an old colleague with an opening at their company?
Referral programs aren’t just great for you – they’re great for the referred candidate as well. Studies show that referred employees stay longer, are better culture fits, and are hired at a higher rate than employees hired through other sources. For the candidate, this translates to less time job searching and a higher confidence fitting in (and being happy at) the company.
And it’s never been more timely to relaunch your referral program. Due to the economic impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic, over 50 million people have filed for unemployment since mid-March. That’s more than 1 in 6 Americans across industries, experience levels and areas of expertise. It’s very likely your employees have friends or colleagues in their network that they’d love to refer to a role. This is your opportunity to connect good people to good work.
As an added benefit, studies have shown referred hires are the superior source of candidate hires for 88% of employers and are the largest source of return on investment.
Revamp your job descriptions.
For many jobseekers, the job description is the first point of contact with your company, and you need to put your best foot forward – especially if you hope to attract top talent. There are three questions you can ask yourself to instantly improve your description:
- Do expectations reflect reality? Take the time to talk to department managers about the actual qualifications and soft skills needed for the position you’re hiring for (we’ve all seen that viral tweet).
- Am I being transparent? Make sure you include transparency around process, salary, benefits, and expectations.
- Is this authentic to the company? If you include an “About the Company” section on your job description or employer page (and you should), make sure it matches the culture and tone of your company. If you don’t have to use technical jargon and buzzwords, don’t.
Get personal.
Candidate pain points are no secret. They don’t want to be left hanging. They don’t want their time wasted. And they want to be treated like people, not resumes.
Spending a little extra time reaching out to candidates with feedback when rejected, or just giving them a heads up if the position has been filled can have a tremendous impact on the candidate experience. Even if the response is automated, it’s better to know than to spend months waiting and wondering.
Similarly, when sending InMails or reaching out in general, adding personal details as to why they’re right for the position and culture will improve response rate. If you’re able, mentioning salary range and perks and benefits will create the appearance of transparency and help engage candidates more quickly.
In summary…
There’s always room for improvement, and often, combining small actions and authenticity is enough to make a big impact on the way your company is perceived by candidates.
- Reach out to your employee base and encourage them to refer friends in need of work.
- Revisit your job descriptions to make sure they’re engaging, informative, and accurate.
- Build in steps to make sure the hiring process – starting from the very first touchpoint – is human.
And remember, alway be branding.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
