The Talent
Board just released its 2012 Candidate Experience Report, a 48-page
document that summarizes the findings subsequent to the Candidate
Experience Awards (the "CandEs”). You can download
it here.
A competition started in 2011, the CandEs provides employers with a survey of how candidates perceive their hiring
process and gives them the opportunity to benchmark their candidate
experience against that of other companies. The 2012 report analyzes
17,500 candidate surveys (compared to 11,500 candidate surveys in 2011).
Purpose of the CandEs: Give a Voice to Candidates
"It is our mission to better understand the impacts of
recruiting, screening and hiring processes from the viewpoint of every
stakeholder, but especially the participant who historically has the least
influence – the candidate," the report states. Such mission is also a
challenge and its success is undoubtedly linked to the personal clout of the
people behind the initiative, Chris
Forman, Elaine Orler, Gerry
Crispin, Ed Newman and Jeremy
Tipper... Very few employers used to care
about the candidate's experience, the less so as the
tacit assumption was that employers have the privilege to “offer” jobs. For
decades, the hiring process has been designed
for the candidate to respond to a job requisition or job requirement, NOT for the company
to be responsive to an inquiry or expression of interest — let alone to bother
about candidates' opinions about the hiring process.
The success of the CandEs is
part of an irreversible trend heralded by the John Sumser's CandidateVoice in
2003. Treating candidates well is all the more important as the popularity of
social media has enabled every single individual to speak up: "More than
half of candidates surveyed indicated they are Likely or Very Likely to tell
their inner circle of friends about their experiences, whether it is positive
(73.5 percent) or negative (60.7 percent)." Treating people poorly is risky
business. A 2010 research by Alexander Mann
Solutions found that "More than half (52 per cent) of
[candidates] across the world said a negative interview experience would likely
impact on their buying products or services from that organization in the
future."
Key Findings in the Report
The report analyses the candidate experience through four
phases: Candidate attraction, Expression of interest, Candidate dispositioning
before the finalist stage, and Candidate evaluation and selection.
- Candidate attraction: Around 10% of the respondents said that employers were interested and willing to listen (about half of what employers reported). Yet, paying attention to the attraction phase may help employers who are afraid to collect too many unqualified candidates to take a "strategic approach to early communication and assessment questions that immediately inform the candidate of their suitability for the position."
- Expression of interest: 63% of the candidates "said 'no' when asked if employers were interested in learning about their experience in applying for a job." This percentage shows that employers still have to bring predictability into the application process even if the report states that many organizations are making strides in this area by providing various improvements: email notifications online helpdesks, allowing candidates to save and complete applications at a later time, etc.
- Candidate dispositioning before the finalist stage: This is an area of significant discrepancy between employers and candidates still exists: "While nearly half (43.7 percent) of employers report that they are able to communicate effectively with both qualified and unqualified candidates, just 17.9 percent of candidates say they were treated well when not selected. In fact, the majority (43.6 percent) reported a negative experience, followed by 38.5 percent who reported a neutral experience."
- Candidate evaluation & selection: The reports provide extensive information on how the candidate experience is dependent upon the valuation funnel, screening and interviewing capabilities used by employers, as well as their ability to explain the process to the candidates. In the end, the criteria for a positive candidate experience might be to check if a candidate would apply again or refer others to apply at that company: "While the response rate is skewed to the favorable end, it also documents that many candidates (about 30 percent) are left with a neutral or negative impression for future personal interest and a low willingness (just half at 50 percent) to enhance a company’s sourcing though their referral actions."
The employer's brand at a critical touch point
Employer branding follows the
overall rules of any branding strategy, and consists of casting a far-reaching
inclusionary net to attract as many people as possible. And then what happens? The
CandEs' report encourages companies to better understand
their internal processes in order to manage their brand at a critical
touch-point: when people are not simply an anonymous population, but human beings actually showing up at the company's doorstep. Employers
have to master a paradox: if too few people apply for a job, it may be easier to
treat candidates nicely, but chances are that the brand is not compelling. If the
brand is compelling, it's critical to make sure not to be perceived as uncaring
if 100 candidates apply for a position — just because the company is overwhelmed
with the number of applications.
The
perception problem could even be more complex to manage than first thought: "More
than half of candidates surveyed (53 percent) indicated an existing
relationship with the company prior to applying, either as a customer, advocate
or with family/friends already at the company." So what happens if
referring sources also have reasons to be disappointed in the company's
process? And if "referred job candidates are
four times more likely than non-referred candidates to receive an offer,"
should the company wonder about its ability to identify fresh blood, or come
across the "rare find?"
This remarkable report is a must-read for HR
professionals, but also for executives who care about the image, the reality and
the culture of their company.
