A recent study by U.K.-based Reed Consulting reported a few revealing statistics as regards graduates’ experiences with recruiting:
- Not hearing back from a company at all (66%);
- Job that was advertised changing or no longer being available (32%);
- Lack of information about the organization or role (31%);
- Long delays before attending the final interview (23%);
- Some 80% of candidates do not make it past the first interview, adding up to hundreds of people for a single company to fill just a few positions. And among these candidates, how many are likely to be clients of the organization?
Courtesy, professionalism, respect and speed of response may appear givens, but are pre-requisites that many recruiting professionals are slow to acquire or have apparently chosen to neglect. Unfortunately, in the current war for talent, both the hiring company and the candidate are the recruiter’s clients, since astute management of this dual client relation will make a major difference in the success or failure of the process. Recruiting professionals working as internal or external advisors both represent the employer in this relation. By not considering recruiting in the context of a relationship strategy, recruiters run the risk of harming, i.e. sullying a company’s reputation, since all candidates are potential decisive ambassadors of this reputation and will share their negative experiences with others. Accordingly, the organization will slowly see a drop in the number of applications over time, make recruiting increasingly difficult. In addition, employer experiences and information are now available online via sites like www.ratemyemployer.ca, which contribute to building or depreciating a company’s image. And in many cases, candidates are actual clients of the organization. A filled position will not necessarily result in success, especially if the process has involved several dozen candidates with whom relations were badly handled.
Each action performed or omitted, from posting though to the offer, plays a role in nurturing (or not), the client experience between future employees and the organization. The recruiting process, when considered and conducted like a client relation with candidates, is a unique external showcase (most of the time underused by small businesses) for the company. Sometimes, it is hard to even conceive of a real person doing the recruiting—so distorted has the process become—that it remains at the level of a simple financial transaction in which any show of interest is skirted. The establishment of trust, the basis of a relation that could allow a candidate to be won over and attracted by a distinctive aspect and pleasantness and that would benefit the company—is ignored.
Recruiters go right to the heart of the matter, concerning themselves only with answering the ultimate question: does the profile perfectly match the need? This is definitely a strategy, but one with quite negative effects for the company if the need is badly defined or based on a narrow vision. Being focused exclusively on results is often a short-term preoccupation. Such an approach can be perceived by a candidate, leading to unease and especially a sudden adaptation to what he or she feels is the desired profile. The goal should remain the discovery of talents and potential, while ensuring some fitting of values. Sometimes, a relation is begun when a candidate’s profile matches the job description. In such a case, he or she will be treated with more interest and courtesy, but not more consideration. At any of the subsequent steps, if this “fit” is no longer perceived, the feeling will be tangible and follow-up, along with any form of courtesy and professionalism will quickly disappear, as if the candidate were suddenly a bother.
Long and tedious recruiting processes
Advantages of properly communicating your recruiting process to candidates
Regrettably, it still happens, even for strategic positions, that firms or companies promise a thorough follow-up, but do not keep their promise, leaving candidates with a bad impression of their professionalism. Of course, some recruiting processes are longer than others (e.g. administrative reasons), but if each candidate is properly notified, this will not be a disadvantage or lead to negative perceptions. It is sometimes hard for jobseekers to wait for news. The real problem lies in communicating with candidates. A lack of transparency or information is a bigger mistake for companies than having an unusually long process. Keep in mind that the longer a process drags on, the higher the risks are of losing a candidate to a company that is faster or more efficient in its recruitment.
In summary, recruiting is a vehicle for a company’s image that generates the bases of a relation with future potential employees. The way in which it is conducted and managed says a lot about a company. For a company to come out a winner on all fronts requires recruiters to master a few additional skills. All potential candidates should be handled differently by integrating the client relation aspect, while promoting the organization and position to be filled, for companies will be judged on the quality of their client approach. Effectively and professionally managing this relation, i.e. deepening it, and thereby exceeding the objective of simply completing a transaction—now there’s a challenge!