Candidate Experience: How Small Tweaks Can Make a Huge Impact

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by Melinda Canino, MS, CIR with strategic HR inc.

If you work in human resources, you’ve surely heard people talking about the importance of the “candidate experience.” But what does that really mean, why is it important, and how can you address it? These are critical questions to answer if you want to position your company for success. If you haven’t asked them of yourself or your organization, there’s no better time than the present!

What is Candidate Experience?

Candidate experience has been defined in many ways, but essentially it can be viewed as the collective whole of a job seeker’s interactions with and perception of a company during the recruitment and hiring process. It encompasses every touch point the job seeker has with your company from learning about your company background, products, culture, and the job to applying for the job and going through your selection process.

Why Candidate Experience Matters?

With record low unemployment rates across the country, coupled with new job creation in many industries, the competition for talent is at an all-time high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ratio of unemployed persons per job opening reached a historic low of 1.1% in 2017. If you look at recruitment today through the basic principles of supply and demand, it is without a doubt a job seeker’s market. With a plethora of employment options, job seekers are being far more selective about their job and company choices.

Candidates are acting more like consumers – they research a potential employer similar to how they research products and services before buying. With more informed candidates, it’s all the more important for your company to have a well-developed brand and culture and to actively engage consumers and potential employees to ensure they have a positive experience with your company.

According to CareerArc’s candidate experience survey:

  • Nearly 60% of candidates surveyed said they have had a poor candidate experience.
  • 72% percent of those respondents said they shared their negative experience online or with someone directly.

Your brand integrity is key for both customers and job seekers. When either of these groups have a negative experience with your company and share it publicly, it can negatively impact your ability to recruit top talent and lead to loss of current/future customers.

Company Culture – What Candidates Want to Know?

In order for candidates to be excited to work for your company, they need to know who you are.  You can share about your brand and culture through the careers section of your website and social media platforms (i.e., LinkedIn, glassdoor, Facebook, Twitter, etc.).

Candidates Look For:

  • Candidates want to see a realistic picture of what it’s like to work at your company. They want to know about your company culture and how it is lived every day.
  • How are employees treated and what’s the potential for growth? This is your chance to give candidates a compelling reason of why they would want to work at your company and be part of your team.
  • Connection and commitment to community. What role does your company play in the local or broader community and why?

If you’re concerned that your company culture is contributing to fewer applications, applicant drop off rates, higher turnover, and/or an overall negative candidate/employee experience, this is a critical foundational piece on which to focus your care and attention.

Using Videos to Promote Company Culture:

An effective way to share about your company culture is through videos, and the good news is that doesn’t mean expensive over-produced company videos. This presents a great opportunity to get your employees involved in telling their stories about what it’s like to work at your company. It’s also a way for recruiters and hiring managers to make a more personal connection with potential candidates early in the application/selection process.

According to a recent study by Lighthouse Research and Advisory:

  • 55% of active job seekers said employee-generated video would be more credible/trustworthy than company-produced video.
  • Candidates said that seeing the hiring manager on video would make them 46% more likely to consider the job and 30% more likely to respond to a recruiter or apply.

Communication is the Cornerstone of Candidate Experience:

We live in a world that expects immediate feedback, and the job search process is no different. Employers need to provide as much information as they can at every stage so that candidates feel that they matter. Put yourself in the job seeker’s shoes. Wouldn’t you prefer to know what to expect in the selection process if you were about to make a significant career/life change? You wouldn’t be alone – 78% of candidates report that their candidate experience is an indicator of how the potential employer values its people.

Also, choose your communication tools wisely. If you haven’t incorporated texting into your recruitment and selection process, you’re missing a huge opportunity to stay easily engaged with your candidates. If you want to incorporate texting in a broader and more consistent way, you may want to consider exploring a resource such as TextRecruit, which is a candidate management platform leveraging text, chat, and artificial intelligence in your hiring process.

If you’re not sure if your communication methods are currently working to your advantage, consider enlisting help from Hello Hire, a firm specializing in candidate experience solutions. They can conduct a candidate experience audit to help you identify your strengths and create an action plan to address any gaps.

Bottom line, be responsive and keep candidates informed in a timely manner if you want to continue to keep them engaged in your process. Remember, there are plenty of other employers out there who are also trying to get their attention. You risk losing candidates to a competitor if you don’t keep the lines of communication open.

Evaluating Your Candidate Experience:

According to Glassdoor, an average of 74% of candidates drop off during the application process. Have you looked at your current application and selection processes through the lens of providing an exceptional candidate experience? If not, below are some questions to ask yourself:

Job Application Phase:

  • Company Careers Website: Is it easy to navigate? Does it tell the story about what it’s like to work for your company? Can a candidate submit their resume even if there isn’t a current open job in their field? Does it explain your recruitment/selection process so that candidates know what to expect?
  • Job Advertisement: Is it a quick/easy read? Is it candidate-focused answering “what’s in it for me?”
  • Application: Is it quick and easy to apply? Is it mobile friendly? Have you tested it out yourself for ease of use?
  • Candidate Communication: Do candidates know where they stand in the selection process? Is there someone they can reach out to for answers? Do they get responses to their questions? How long does it take for them to receive responses? Do they get informed when they are no longer being considered for a position?

Selection Phase:

  • On-site Interviews: Are candidates prepared for what to expect in their on-site interview? (i.e., Who will they meet with? Where? For how long? What’s the typical attire at your location?) Do they get a chance to meet some of the people with whom they would work?
  • Staff Interview Preparation: Is training/preparation provided to interviewers and anyone with whom the candidate might come into contact to ensure the optimal on-site experience?
  • Candidate Communication: Do candidates know what to expect after the interview? Do candidates know where they stand in the selection process? Do they receive feedback? If the selection process takes longer than expected, is it communicated to all candidates?
  • Assessments: Are pre-employment assessments used appropriately (regarding time to complete and point at which they’re required in the process)?

Hire/Close:

  • Communicating the Hire: How quickly is the hire decision made and communicated to the selected candidate? Who is responsible for making verbal and written offers? Do you call runner-up candidates with personalized closure? Do you notify all candidates when the position is filled?

As you can see from the evaluation questions above, with some simple tweaks to your processes, you can make a huge impact on the quality of your candidate experience. In this tight labor market, now is the time to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

 

Melinda Canino, MS, CIR is an HR Consultant at strategic HR inc.  If you have any questions or would like to share your comments, contact Melinda@strategicHRinc.com.

 

Go Green! Electronic Communication and Recordkeeping

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by Patti Dunham, MA, MBA SPHR

It may be a small attempt but we as HR professionals can help our organizations “go (a little) green” by moving toward electronic communication and recordkeeping. As the green movement continues to grow, we know that everyone can help, even in small ways. One way which HR can help is to move to a paperless (ok…paperless may be a bit extreme…how about less paper intensive?) environment. The shredding and recycling of many of those documents we have kept as paper files can help us in a small way do our part to go green.

Electronic communication and recordkeeping has been and continues to grow in practice. Over the past ten years we have seen significant increases in the amount of data and communication stored and transmitted electronically rather than the traditional paper documents and files. Along with this, we have seen various governmental rulings providing guidance to employers to move to this less paper intensive mode. In 2002, the Department of Labor provided final rules on electronic communications as it relates to the delivery of most ERISA-mandated disclosures. This includes the electronic delivery of such notices as summary plan descriptions, summary annual reports, and even individual benefit statements. A few years later, in 2007, the IRS offered final guidance on non-ERISA “in writing” requirements for 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b) plans, just to name a few. The support of such legal guidance has allowed electronic recordkeeping and communication to become more prominent and has allowed us as professionals to become even more productive. Of course, productivity does not come without some significant legal concerns and challenges that must be considered when implementing an electronic system.

According to the IRS an electronic record is “any combination of text, graphics, data, audio, pictorial or other information representation in digital form that is created, modified, maintained, archived, retrieved, or distributed by a computer system”. This is an important definition to remember when we are considering electronic communication or recordkeeping of items. It does not always apply only to written (text) documents, but virtually any type of data maintained in any type of format. In addition, when considering “going green”, there are various types of systems available to employers for electronic recordkeeping services depending upon how “green” you would like to go. Your system can be as simple as beginning to provide your summary plan descriptions electronically to participants to a full fledged scanning system of all of your human resources records. Various vendors are able to provide electronic solutions that will allow an organization to implement such systems and assist in the management and destruction of records properly. Three types of such systems include:

  • Electronic Document Management System (EDMS);
  • Electronic Imaging System (EIS); and
  • Records Management Software (RMS).

All of these types of systems aid in electronic recordkeeping, just at different extremes. An EDMS system typically will allow for individuals to manage their information on a desktop system. An EIS allows employers to manage documents that are scanned and electronically stored. RMS is software which electronically manages paper files stored in a record center. RMS systems do not actually store electronic documents; it is only tracking software which you may use to manage information about where records are physically stored and to (hopefully) stay on up to date on destruction dates for documents to minimize the amount of records retained while staying legally compliant. All of the systems offer great electronic alternatives to employers wishing to move toward electronic storage.

In considering what type of system will work best for your organization, there are many items that must be kept in mind during the transition. A pre-implementation checklist of items (below) will help to reduce potential risks associated with electronic recordkeeping systems. These items should be considered and properly implemented prior the launch of such a system.

  1. Validation. The recordkeeping system must be validated to ensure that the documents are truly valid (i.e. accurate, reliable, non-altered documents).
  2. Readability. The system must be able to print an accurate, legible, readable copy of the record. The organization must maintain a “back up” filing system for documents that are unable to be clearly scanned or maintained electronically with reference to those “non-electronic” copies.
  3. Access. The system must take measures to protect from unauthorized access. This will assist with confidentiality concerns as well as inappropriate destruction of records.
  4. Protection / Confidentiality. The system must contain legally acceptable means to protect records. This can be through the use of encryption or other tactics but it must be a proven measure to protect legally required confidentiality rules.
  5. Retrievable. The system must provide a means for easily accessible files and retrieval. Complete descriptions of the documents and (depending upon your electronic system) destroy dates will allow for easy retrieval of documents when necessary. The system should be capable of indexing, retaining, preserving, retrieving and reproducing the electronic records
  6. Audit trail. Systems must use secure, computer-generated, time-stamped audit trails to independently record the date of time of operator entries to assist with validation. Record changes should be noted and retained any time a document is created, modified, or deleted.
  7. Back ups. For those of us always worried about “What If”…there must be a means to back up the data. This must be fool-proof and maintain documents in the same, easily accessible file it was initially stored. Most importantly, the organization should provide procedures/process for the electronic storage which provides:
  • Procedures for labeling of electronically maintained records
  • A secure storage environment, including an off-site storage location
  • Implementation of a quality assurance program of the data/storage, which includes regular review of the electronic recordkeeping system, including periodic checks of the records
  • Disposal of originals. The original paper records must be properly disposed of after they are transferred to an electronic recordkeeping system. Documents which have legal significance or inherent value as original records (i.e. notarized documents, sealed documents) should be maintained as originals.
  • Record retention. One of the most difficult challenges with electronic recordkeeping lies in accurate record retention. As an HR professional, one of the biggest challenges is keeping enough information to maintain compliance but not over-save. “Cleaning house” presents new challenges for electronic recordkeeping if your files are not stored accurately or with enough detail to evaluate destroy dates. The destroying of electronic records is challenging for a number of reasons. Some files may be placed on hold for audits or litigation and must be maintained separate than others. Some retention periods are event oriented. Some records change their “appearance” overtime which may change their record retention time. One consideration when storing files would be to store records via functional area, similar to how you store files today. Store applications by position, store advertisements by position name and date posted, store summary plan descriptions by plan design and year, etc…so they can be appropriately evaluated for proper destruction. Also pull potential audit or legislative issues in a separate file for frequent evaluation.

As usual, it may not be the easiest thing to do but we all know that doing our part to “go green” is the right thing to do. With a carefully thought out system, good policies and procedures, and proper training, going green with our electronic records will be a snap.

Patti Dunham, MA, MBA, SPHR is a Senior Human Resources Consultant with Strategic Human Resources, Inc. (www.strategicHRinc.com). If you have any questions feel free to contact her at Patti@strategicHRInc.com.