Professional Documents
Culture Documents
paper
a tale of two
candidates
What Richard Bransons PA and a tank of petrol can teach us about the power of the
candidate experience
Take these two candidate stories. Which
would you rather hear about your brand?
1 Back in 1998, Sam Cox applied for, but didnt get, a job as
in todays world,
unhappy candidates
have as much power
as unhappy customers
to break your brand.
The candidate wasnt at all happy with this
treatment. So she posted the story on a graduate job
site. Her post attracted a lot of attention, and lots
of people who read it said they didnt want to work
for the firm, while others said they wouldnt buy
its petrol. So one decision to save a small amount
of money ended up costing the firm a lot more in
damage to both its employer and its consumer brand.
Its clear which story would put a smile on your CEOs face
and which would give them nightmares. The difference
is that in the first one, Virgin Atlantic treated Sam
Cox with the same care and consideration it would its
customers; while in the second, the organization made a
quick decision without recognizing that in todays world,
unhappy candidates have as much power as unhappy
customers to break your brand.
Fortunately, the opposite is also true. Give candidates a
good experience and theyll use the same channels to
talk positively about you. Which will help you to improve
your employer and customer brand, attract more and
better candidates (even people who werent actively
looking for jobs) and ultimately make you more money.
Weapons of
mass rejection
As economies around the world recover from recession, the number of applicants
particularly for front-line roles, apprenticeships and graduate vacancies is on
the rise. And many of them are taking advantage of quick and easy click-to-apply
processes on job sites.
This means that companies are handling and rejecting
applications in ever-growing numbers especially as the
global talent shortage means they sometimes struggle
to find people with the skills they need. Meanwhile,
unhappy candidates have endless opportunities to vent
their frustration online. No wonder 56 per cent of global
talent leaders say that managing rejections properly is a
top priority in their organization.
four ways
to create
a great
candidate
experience
1 Follow the laws of attraction
2 Communicate, communicate,
communicate
3 Assess to get the best
4 Give feedback that candidates
feel good about
1 2
3 44
Publish
keep an eye on
what candidates
and employees are
saying about you
on social media.
Think
Keep
1 2
3 44
Communicate
communicate
communicate
You want to find the best talent on the market. But youll only spot those people
if youve created the conditions for them to perform at their best. And that means
communicating with all your candidates throughout the process and giving them
the chance to prepare properly.
But candidates complain of over-long application forms,
of doing assessments without knowing whats being
assessed and of being left hanging between stages without
knowing why. Some even report never finding out if they
were rejected or not.
Explain
Make sure the tone of your communications is positive
Engage
1 2
3 44
Make
Use
Check
Give
Review
1 2
3 44
Give feedback
that candidates
feel good about
Research from LinkedIn shows that 94 per cent of professionals want to receive
interview feedback, and people would be four times more likely to consider a
future opportunity with a company if theyd had constructive feedback from
them the first time.
But the same research showed that only 41 per cent
of professionals have received feedback before.
Thank
Consider
Final word
Do all, or even some, of the things weve recommended and
youll be on the way to creating a great candidate experience.
One that makes you a honey pot for the best people in the
market, whether theyre actively looking for a job or not.
And one that will give you the edge over your competitors.
hay group
talent q
linkedin.com/company/hay-group
linkedin.com/company/talent-q
facebook.com/HayGroup
facebook.com/talentqgroup
@HayGroup
@talentQ
w www.haygroup.com
b blog.haygroup.com