Candidate experience is about much more than just making sure somebody’s feelings do not get hurt. In order to become a Talent Magnet organization, candidate experience is imperative. Candidates hold the key to your future business success and the referral of like-minded individuals into the business.
During a recent webinar, Cielo’s Dawn Hollingworth, Director, Brand Strategy, and Sally Hunter, Senior Vice President, shared insights into how to build the business case of upgrading your candidate experience and measure the results in meaningful ways.
Improving candidate experience is a matter of putting yourself in their shoes, and remembering that they are not only candidates but customers. 69% of jobseekers say they are more likely to buy from a company that treated them with respect during the application process. They will also talk to others about their experiences, making their opinion that much more amplified.
The candidate journey is filled with many touchpoints that impact the overall experience. Consider these topics and questions:
- Timing: Where can you condense timelines and accelerate processes?
- Communication
- Is your tone appropriate?
- Are you in touch frequently/soon enough?
- Are you sharing relevant content?
- Personal touch: Are you balancing technology touchpoints with sufficient personal interactions to maintain engagement and avoid dropout?
Once all these efforts are put in place, their effect can be measured in several ways, including:
- Faster time-to-hire
- Faster time-to-productivity
- Increase in number of quality applications
- Decrease in number of non-viable applications (improved self-selection/de-selection)
- Reduced attrition
- Reductions in media spend
- Reductions in agency usage
While many business leaders acknowledge the importance of candidate experience, there are many who still do not donate the resources toward making it better.