Rightly, there are a lot of discussions these days about the candidate journey or candidate experience, as it’s also known. A good process matched with a competitive salary and benefits; regular and useful contact; clear and precise information etc.
These are things that any recruiter would like to expect from all of their clients. And sometimes that’s what we get, yet some Hiring Managers still get frustrated that it’s not happening quick enough, that they are not kept in the loop and they, therefore, miss out on filling their roles with good people. There is always a risk involved in any hiring process but there are things you can do to try and make it a great experience for yourself as well as all the potential candidates.
Hiring will become a frustrating burden if you don’t invest time and effort getting it right from the start. For example, make sure that the pay and benefits on offer are competitive and that the recruitment process and advertising are not letting you down, otherwise, you will get the wrong sort of CVs.
Then those CVs aren’t being read and time isn’t put aside to call people back until its way too late! Understandably, the good candidates will either have got another job or are tired of waiting for a reply and by then might not be interested in working for you anyway. But the Hiring Manager is busy and can’t understand why people won’t wait!
It really doesn’t have to be like this, there are plenty of genuinely excellent examples of really great candidate journeys. The real issue is one of communication and commitment. But to help get this right here are two key elements to consider:
The Recruitment Process
It’s been said before, but Recruitment (in-house or agency) is not Rocket Science it is all about effort, communication and doing what you said you’d do when you said you’d do it.
Decent Recruiters know how to recruit and what they need to do at the different stages of the process. Whether you’re hiring directly or working through a Recruitment Consultant you have to have ENGAGE in the process, sketch out a CLEAR AND MANAGEABLE PROCESS and then COMMIT to it. That means SETTING TIME ASIDE to review the CVs, discuss with the recruiter what they thought of the submitted candidates, then SETTING TIME ASIDE to interview and give useful considered feedback.
If you’re able to agree dates to review CVs upfront and respond to all those interested in the role, then everyone will know what’s going on and when it’s going on. The results will be clear and obvious – even if you don’t get the right candidate first time and have to go again you will at least have communicated efficiently and effectively with everyone who applied. They will go away with a good story to tell about the experience they had with your business.
Attitude and Approach
Your attitude and approach are absolutely key. Being engaged and positive, even excited about hiring new people is going to have a much more impactful outcome than if you approach this as a chore that has to be done. Recruitment is a service industry and it’s vital, no matter what your role in the process is, that you get this straight away. The candidate is expecting you to manage them through a process. They actively want you to impress them as much as you want them to impress you, it’s a two-way thing! You need to be flexible, open-minded and totally committed. And you need to communicate brilliantly as well.
At Purple House Recruitment we can not only help you with your recruitment needs but also help prepare your HR departments for the future by placing great HR people. Here’s our website purplehousehr. If the above resonates with you, then do get in touch for a confidential conversation.
Tom Mornement
Managing Director
At Purple House Recruitment, we have been helping firms acquire talent and HR job seekers find their ideal roles for over 21 years, and during this time, we’ve helped hundred’s of companies solve some of their recruitment challenges and placed thousands of candidates;
If you want to find out how we can help, call us at 0117 957 4100 or email me tom@purplehousehr.com
