14 Sep 2022
By Martin Norris, Head of Recruitment, Realise HR
I think I speak for all of us when I say, attracting talent in 2022 is tough. And I’d be lying if I told you there was a magic formula that made it easy. However, there a few things we can do as businesses which can set us apart from the crowd and improve our effectiveness when it comes to recruitment. For example, the way people feel about your company while going through the hiring process can have a major impact on whether someone would choose to join your company, especially in the current circumstances where they may have several job offers on the table.
Creating an amazing candidate and overall people experience is key to attracting and retaining talent today.
For most of us, we are well versed when it comes to customer experience. We go above and beyond to provide a platinum level service that leads to repeat business, five-star customer reviews, recommendations and loyalty. Focusing on candidate experience can yield similar results, rewarding us with team members that are already motivated and engaged prior to starting their employment.
To truly understand how your hiring process is making people feel and whether it’s good enough in today’s market, you need to view your existing candidate experience through the eyes of your employees (and those who dropped out of the hiring process). Only then can you start to identify areas for improvement and the little things which can make a big difference.
Here are our top tips to create an amazing experience.
If your vacancies are hidden on some random web page, or it takes 10 clicks to get to the actual job advert, this will undoubtedly reduce the number of applications you receive. People don’t want to jump through hoops to find your jobs – make it easy, make it accessible, remove the barriers.
What will the person be doing on a day-to-day basis? Who will they interact with? What skills and experience are you looking for? You want your advertisement to be easily understood. It’s frustrating, for you and your candidate, to apply for a role thinking you’re a perfect fit only to find out that you need additional skills. Oh, and a top recruiter tip, please be transparent and advertise the salary.
Let’s be honest, when was the last time you got excited by a job that said the salary was “competitive”?
Ask people to apply by simply sending you their CV. The days of lengthy application forms that need printed, filled in, scanned, and submitted are gone. People just don’t have the time or appetite to do this anymore. Details that you might need in addition to those on the CV can always be gathered at a later stage in the process.
Stay in regular contact with candidates. It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised by the amount of candidates who are left without a clear understanding of the hiring process. Manage their expectations, let them know when they can expect to hear back from you, and prepare them for all interview stages, right down to where they can park their car. All these little touch points will give a great candidate experience and you will get the best out of the interview.
Need we say more ...
Until next time!
For further information on Realise HR, visit: https://realisehr.co.uk/
