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From No to “Not Now”: Tips from L’Oréal USA and Avature on turning dispositions into opportunities.

By Evelyn Duskey, Senior Content Producer, Avature

Intro:

Your candidates have applied, made it through pre-screening, and interviewed. By this stage in the process you’ve spent considerable time and money “wining and dining” your candidates — the best of whom will probably have multiple offers. Every move you make can make a huge impact on their decision experience, and on your brand as a whole — offer or no offer.

While not traditionally thought of as key candidate experience opportunities, offer management or disposition is quite possibly one of the most important moments for your organization. If your candidate has been chosen, you need to make an offer quickly, and then respond to questions or negotiations in a timely manner, lest your competition beat you to it. The right ATS system can be extremely useful at this stage, providing recruiters and hiring managers clarity on where candidates are in the process and all the information they have or have not been exposed to.

However, if your candidate was not successful, there’s just as much (if not more) on the line. A disposition that fails to properly engage candidates, either personally or using intelligently automated processes, has the potential to damage both your brand and your relationship with the candidate. On the other hand, a correctly handled disposition can become a golden opportunity to promote your brand, engage long-term with candidates, and stand out from the competition.

Natural Dispositioning

In a recent conversation with L’Oréal, Director of Recruitment Intelligence and Innovation Edward Dias shared a couple of the ways they deal with the 1.5 million applicants yearly and the importance of properly handling dispositions on a large scale.

To begin with, L’Oréal tries to encourage natural dispositioning for unqualified or disinterested candidates by being as transparent as possible. As the company is open about expectations and compensation from the very beginning, applicants can decide for themselves whether they feel they are a right fit.

As a second measure to encourage natural disposition, Edward explained they use knock-out questions in early application stages to help recruiters and hiring managers to easily identify candidates that meet basic requirements. If the candidate doesn’t currently meet these requirements, they are then sent soft email communications explaining that they don’t meet basic requirements at this time, but encouraging them to apply in the future.

Keeping Pipelines Open

Recruiters take detailed notes on all candidates with whom they have spoken, keeping pipelines open and often presenting new opportunities to silver medalists. Edward had this to say:

At L’Oréal we never say no — it’s always a “not now.” We have many brands to consider, so dispositioning doesn’t always have to be a sad ending. Sometimes a candidate may not be the right fit for a brand such as Maybelline, but the perfect fit for another such as Kiehl’s.

Using an ATS like Avature allows L’Oréal USA to collect as much data about a candidate as possible and provide insight for a future fit. In this way, the brand nurtures and engages even unsuccessful candidates, maintaining the relationship to keep their brand present and top of mind.

If a candidate makes it to the interview stage, but doesn’t make it further, Edward talked about how recruiters will then disposition directly and transparently over the phone, providing insight on where the candidate could potentially fit in the future.

“If a candidate needs to improve their skills or knowledge in a certain area, the recruiter may provide suggestions for courses they can take or even suggest asking their current manager for more exposure to certain areas which will give them the necessary skills to develop.”

Such career advice helps candidates identify the ways to better take ownership of their career development, and further avoid a negative disposition experience. Many candidates are a great fit, but might be passed over due to timing or competition — the last thing you want to do is alienate these candidates in whom you invested time and money.

In summary:

A disposition doesn’t have to be negative, especially with the right tools at your disposal. In fact, it’s a prime opportunity for your organization to protect your brand, engage long-term with your candidates, and ultimately stand out from your competitors as a brand that cares.

Just remember to:

  • Stay timely and transparent
  • Build and maintain your candidate relationships, regardless of outcome
  • Never say no — say “not now”

 

Did you find this post useful? Share it with a colleague, or check out other Avature blog posts where we dig deeper into what makes a great candidate experience:

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