Candidate & Employee Experience – An Insight!

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Candidate & Employee Experience – An Insight!

THE CANDIDATE
The decision to join an organization or not starts right at the time they experience the interview process, right from the time of the call invite till the selection process – a smart candidates decides for sure! Candidates are evaluated for thinking pattern, flexibility, communication, spontaneity, problem solving skills, and working in teams. We have the
practice of having lunch one on one with such candidates where we get deeper  understanding of their background, family, the ambitions, achievements and other core aspects that remain unspoken during the interview phase.

COMPANY TOUR
In few cases where especially the organization needs niche talent, they are invited to join Company tour wherein all the digital walls and history of the organization are shared with them. Opinions and suggestions are usually invited from these candidates. So it is mutual gain.

ACCEPTANCE & FEEDBACK
For those whom the organization is not able to proceed further, there we clearly stated our inability to accommodate the strengths of the candidate.  Others go through subsequent stage of interviews.

INVOLVING OTHER LEADERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
Where the organizations are more and more moving into matrix structure models, it is essential we involve all the decision makers. It is on the due course of discussion, we identify certain key strengths of the candidate and progress to connect with leaders outside the country to check the need.

KEEPING THE CANDIDATE INTEREST WARM
The candidate is contacted till their date of joining at various intervals and reasons including providing details like company website, materials, articles, messages on social media, the leadership team,questions that are still unanswered, if they spoke to
their family about the company, any membership they would be keen to participate in the town (in all knowledge hiring practices), articles and news-feed they participated recently in social media, etc.
This gives ample data points on the interest levels of the candidate and the likelihood of joining. In one of the organization, my colleague was invited to be part of the HR Leadership Conclave itself before the date of joining to get a glimpse of the organization, culture, the team, the flexibility and the empowerment the organization was vesting
each leader with.

CANDIDATE CONNECT WHILE NOTICE PERIOD
While they serve notice in their current organization, there are ways and methods to approach and speak to the prospective employee. There is a dedicated note sent to the families thanking them for the support and trust they have on the organization. A clear
communication stating the organization is keen in building career and not mere job was constantly reinstated and shared with the candidate, signed by one of the Senior Leadership Member. The e-magazine of the month is also shared with the family. This contains the “Family Talk” that is an experiential feedback from erstwhile joiners and what
their families say about the organization.

AS AN EMPLOYEE

UPON JOINING
According to the preferences of the new starter, the engagement activities are planned. For instance if there is keen interest towards playing tennis, chess, swimming, etc, all the existing contacts who have similar interests are shared. The best part was to choose a title of their own retaining the level they are hired in. This virtually means, the new starter may choose any title that he prefers to retain to the external association. This is a boon to those who have client interfacing roles.

KNOWLEDGE SERIES
Second, the day of joining also comes with a “Knowledge Day”. This is planned for anchoring a topic on the role of the new starter. This makes it clear to the new starter on the beliefs of the organization and the past history. Along with this the goals are agreed between the manager and the new starter and signed along with the mentor who
comes along till the confirmation process. The mentor shall join every conversation and facilitate the process to ensure success both to the manager as well as to the new entrant.

MY PLAN FOR MY ORGANIZATION
This is typically a 100 day planner that is drafted and presented by the new starter. There are two groups where one is mandatory presence is key (immediate manager, mentor, HR) and other employees may also participate with few approvals. As transparency is key and highly preferred option, trust and confidence are correspondingly built in ease.

HOME GROWN TALENT SPEAK
As the culture of any progressive Organization does not allow anyone to fail, the robust system had mentors who can be chosen from the list that is already emailed to the prospective employee along with their social media profiles. Apart from the hiring manager, there is also motivational talk by one of the employee who is home grown talent who explains the various benefits and career path in the organization.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN SESSIONS?
In less than 2 months, we plan for mentor – mentee association meet and understand in detail the understanding of the new entrant and his ideas and suggestions. There are suggestions that can be offered from any other employee who witness this. Nevertheless this must be conferred in the meeting in front of the mentor.

EVERY SUCCESS IS CELEBRATED
Most often we assume success is expected and must be accomplished and those who attain the success have the benefit of rewards and recognition during PMS and hence now why celebrate? This model no where works in today world. People work hard and party harder.
So we deliberately ensure the new starters join on any one of these success days. There are loads of fun and joy planned and anchored by the Fun at Work Committee.

WHY WORKING HERE IS A PRIVILEGE?
For those who are nature lovers, eco friendly lovers or be it CSR lovers there were discussions on how we can take along them. In case of keen interest by the members in the family, the company had plans to enroll them as partners! We wanted the new starter to always hold the view of “This is the place where I can prove my talent in a competitive
atmosphere and at the same time have a wonderful work and life balance”.

PEOPLE PRACTICES & POLICIES SPEAK
The people practices and the policies help connect with the employee rapidly. In one of the organizations I had been lucky to draft and launch policies. Certain policies ensure the families of the employees. The experience journey is a fabric that has to be consistently woven in healthy atmosphere. Every leader will aim at making it the best for every employee or candidate they come across making it meaningful to both ends!

Image Credit- http://www.keywordlister.com

Author-Shreevidhya Subramanian has around 14 years of experience in understanding human behavior in a deeper manner through interviews, assessments etc, Shree is keen to making human and AI work together amicably. Shree enjoys purposeful conversations that bring credibility to either parties, exploring the unexplored part of human brain and the patterns of the behavior.

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