On November 22, 2017, we hosted our second Future Perfect event, Humanizing the Candidate Experience. We created the Future Perfect event series with the goal of gathering People and Culture Leaders from a cross-section of industries to collaborate and share insight on issues that impact organizations.
The candidate experience is how job seekers feel and react to the interactions they have with your organization and employer brand during the recruitment process – from before they hit apply until after their onboarding is complete -Brianna Blaney
Over 100 human resources and marketing leaders joined us to hear how our talented panelists are humanizing the candidate experience at their organizations. We were lucky to be joined by 5 great people leaders: Natania Mathany with A Thinking Ape, Sarah Rejbakoz with Vega, Luca Patrk with City of Vancouver, Ashley Hoytema with Garibaldi Glass Industries Inc, and Dan Southern with Seaspan ULC.
Our panelists got real with our audience, sharing their successes and their learning moments, their tips and their tricks, and areas where they saw opportunities to elevate the candidate experience. In case you missed out on the event, here are 5 things you can do right now to improve your candidate experience:
1. Create an automated “We Received Your Application” response.
There is nothing worse than spending hours on a job application just to send it off into the resume black hole. Many candidates are left wondering what happened to their application, or if you even received it. A quick and easy way to fix this is to set up automated email responses letting candidates know that their application was received. This provides you the opportunity to create an employer brand touchpoint and put a personalized touch on the message, which makes candidates feel good about applying to your business.
2. Provide an overview of your recruitment process to your website.
Adding a visual overview of your recruitment process to your career page sets expectations for job seekers. This will help candidates to interpret expected timelines and reduce the amount of emails in your inbox with process related questions. For many people, fear of the unknown during the recruiting process can cause a lot of anxiety. Sharing your process transparently is a simple way to reduce that anxiety.
3. Spice up your job ads!
Add some flavor to your job ads by targeting them specifically to the candidate persona for each job. Include language that reflects your culture and make sure to highlight what makes working at your company so great! This is your chance to stand out from competitors and give candidates an idea of what life is like at your organization and what they will be doing each day.
4. Have a chat with your receptionist about how to greet candidates.
For most people, the first person they see when entering your office is reception. This is especially important for candidates because it is the first in person impression they will have of your organization. Have a chat with your reception team about how you want to make candidates feel when they enter the office. Make sure their behaviour is aligned with your culture and reflects your optimal candidate experience.
5. Send a ‘Welcome to the Team‘ email from the hiring manager.
A great way to engage new hires before their first day is to have the hiring manager send them a quick email welcoming them to the team. This allows a relationship to start building before they even enter the office. It also provides your new employee with at least one person they will feel comfortable with on their first day. A quick email shows new hires that you are thinking of them and that you’re excited to have them on board!
Small changes can have a big impact on your candidate experience and attracting top talent. By actioning these 5 easy tips, you can have an immediate impact on a job seeker’s experience with your hiring process.
Are you ready to make your candidate experience human again? Download our Candidate Experience Audit tool to get started!
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