Talking to talent day in and day out, both active and passive, we are always hearing stories of their recruitment experiences, either directly with an organisation or through an agency. Some experiences are less than positive, unfortunately.
How a recruitment process is done can have a significant impact on your brand. Regardless of whether someone gets the job, the recruitment process can have a lasting effect on that person’s perception of your organisation. However, a good recruitment process can create a positive image of your organisation, which can in turn help with referrals and helping attract top talent.
Practices to consider that can really make a difference:
- Consider your advertising – regardless of whether you publish them on your website, social media channels or other advertising platform, the quality of a job ad will directly affect how candidates perceive your company and the likelihood that they will apply for a role (Are your agencies representing your roles professionally – do they understand what you need?)
- Advertising a role to many times can create the impression that there’s something wrong with the position.
- Do you know the recruitment process for the role? Make sure that when talking to talent they are understanding the process from start to finish. This will ensure a much smoother process and create no surprises that may detract their interest in the role and the company.
- Demonstrate in your social media branding what your orgnaisation offers talent.
- Work with agencies that understand the role they have been asked to fill. This is imperative in ensuring talent have a positive recruitment process and impression of the organisation.
- Connect with an agency that is value-aligned with your organisation and who will represent it professionally.
- Be clear about your budget or remuneration level for the position – this is a key consideration for potential employees.
- If you’re keeping a role in-house, make sure the responsible managers and recruitment teams understand how to interview and sell the role to potential applicants. If you’re using an agency, make sure you engage a specialist that has the expertise to understand your needs. If the agency falls short on the expertise front, you risk sending a negative message to the market.
- Provide prompt feedback to a candidate or agency after a candidate interview or meeting – the candidate has taken the time to meet with you, extend them the same courtesy.
- Make sure you have a clear position description, defined role responsibilities and understand why the role is valuable to your organisation. You need to be able to communicate this to candidates or agencies.
- While you may not be able to contact all applicants by phone in cases where you receive a large volume of applications, consider personalising your written responses. For those candidates you have interviewed but have ultimately not selected for the role, a call is a must to help ensure those candidates see the engagement as a positive experience.
Whether you work internally with an organisation or in an agency setting, taking the time to understand the recruitment process can only contribute position to your brand identity.
Good talent is hard to attract and even harder to retain – don’t underestimate the value of getting your first contact with talent right.
Konnexus – Recruitment Specialists across Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, AI & Machine Learning.
