In a landscape where talent is tight, it is very important to impress candidates by showing them what a great culture the organisation has, in addition to the learning opportunities and the work-life balance it has to offer.
Important Facts
- About 70% of senior management unhappy in their current positions
- Only 48% respondents convey organisation has efficient and effective onboarding process
According to the recently launched 2022 KellyOCG Global Workforce Report – Re:work, about 70% of senior management are unhappy in their current positions, so much so that they are looking to leave in the next 2 years.
These are the people who are interviewing prospective employees and the question is how are they going to convey the positive, happy, collaborative culture needed?
It is extremely important to have solutions in place for higher management retention which would eventually translate into a smooth process for the overall employee attraction and retention.
Therefore, candidate experience starts with taking care of boss loss so they can be the right advocates to convince candidates that your company is the right one.
Key Pointers
- In the cut-throat race for talent acquisition, improving the candidate experience remains a vital and a decisive factor
- Offering a great experience could inspire candidates to focus on showing their best qualities and skills
- The onboarding process is the most important experience for new employees to crystallise their positive or negative impressions of the company
- Important to check with your new employees on their likes and dislikes and gather continuous feedback from them.
Now, let us understand what exactly is considered a bad candidate experience. One’s basic expectation from a company would include clarity in communication, time efficiency, and friendly conversations, along with transparent and honest feedback.
On the other hand, a bad candidate experience involves lack of clear communication from the employer, a complex job application process, unfriendly interviews, no room for asking questions, and lack of opportunity to provide feedback during the interview process.
The consequence of a bad candidate experience could result in missing out on top talent and potentially losing valuable employees due to a dissociation between what is promised during the hiring process compared to what is eventually offered.
As per the survey data, 67 % managers in India have a high level of discretion when it comes to making decisions that impact the experience of employees. Given that many senior leaders are opting out gradually, it becomes increasingly important for organisations to have clear communication channels for employees in order to provide them with a good overall experience.
Offering a great experience could inspire candidates to focus on showing their best qualities and skills. What are some simple but often overlooked follow-up actions in creating a great candidate experience? It is an imperative step to update the candidate and inform him/her explaining the decision or the delay in each step of the interview.
A phone call or an email to provide clear and detailed feedback to the candidate after each session leads to a good and transparent experience for them.
They are not left in a muddle on the outcome and will have a clear understanding and expectations of where they stand at each juncture. And having the right technology to implement timely updates with the candidates, especially when managing high volume of hires is critical to ensure no one has slipped through the cracks.
Measuring candidates’ experience to know exactly how felt during the whole process is just as important. And there are some common mechanisms to measure that. This could include asking them to fill out a short survey at the end of the hiring process to get an idea of what they thought, and what could be improved. This can be done via email, phone call, or message.
It is important to check with your new employees on their likes and dislikes and gather continuous feedback from them in order to improve the overall employee experience. Only 58% respondents conveyed that their organisation conducts regular employee surveys to help track and measure employee engagement and feedback. Improvement on this front would help retain employees as well as attract potential new candidates.
Getting the candidates to say “yes” at the end of the interview process is just the start of their journey with the company. The onboarding process is the most important experience for new employees to crystallise their positive or negative impressions of the company.
The survey shows that only 48% respondents conveyed that their organisation has efficient and effective onboarding processes for new starters/employees. Henceforth, it is also important to interview your current employees to learn about what they know about the onboarding process and their perception of how well new hires are integrated into the system.
In the cut-throat race for talent acquisition, improving the candidate experience remains a vital and decisive factor in attracting and retaining the top talent needed for the success of the business. Aligning with this, it is equally or more important to take good care of the current employees as their overall satisfaction and experience would only lead to attracting more potential candidates ahead.
