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Proven Recruiting Practices from the CandE Winners’ Playbook

Our latest CandE Benchmark Research Report contains a section titled “What CandE Award Winners Do Better.” It appears under each of the four candidate experience stages and highlights the specific recruiting tactics and strategies that differentiate CandE-winning companies. You’ll find this section on pages 32, 40, 49, and 58 of the 2020 North American Report.

Give this section a close read if you’re looking for proven practices to elevate your company’s candidate experience. You’ll not only learn exactly what CandE winners do better than most other companies but you may also discover how your competitors are besting you in the battle for qualified talent.

Here’s a brief overview of some of the practices leveraged by 2020 CandE winners at each stage of the candidate journey.

The Attract Stage

This stage encompasses employment branding, recruitment marketing, and sourcing. CandE winners gain a competitive advantage at this stage by making it easy for job seekers to research their company. They do this in a number of ways:

  • By producing more multimedia content and publishing their career sites in multiple languages more often than other companies participating in our research.
  • By using chatbots and career newsletters to communicate with potential candidates 40% more often than other companies.
  • By doing a better job of making it clear why people want to work for their companies.
  • By making employee testimonials available more often than other companies.
  • And by utilizing employee brand ambassadors and advocacy programs to a greater degree.

The Recruit Stage, Part 1

This first part of the Recruit stage encompasses candidate applications. CandE winners differentiate themselves at this stage by doing the following more frequently and/or consistently:

  • Letting candidates know where they stand in the application process (e.g., how long the process will take, providing a progress indicator that shows how much of the application has yet to be completed, next steps in the process, etc.).
  • Telling candidates how to check on their application status.
  • Notifying candidates that they’ve been rejected.
  • Explaining why the company uses specific assessments.

The Recruit Stage, Part 2

The second part of the Recruit stage encompasses screening and interviewing. CandE winners separate themselves from the rest of the pack here by:

  • Communicating with candidates more consistently before and after screening and interviewing.
  • Conducting structured interviews, which are crucial to reducing unconscious bias and ensuring greater consistency from interviewers and in selection criteria.
  • Ensuring that candidates feel they were given a fair chance to present their skills and experience … and that the job interview process was fair.
  • Providing feedback to final-stage candidates, which helps ensure these desirable and potentially future-fit candidates apply for other jobs.

The Hire Stage

This stage encompasses offers and onboarding, and CandE winners don’t take their foot off the gas even at this stage of the candidate journey. They understand that a poor or disjointed hiring process can erode new hires’ productivity and enthusiasm. CandE winners outperform other companies at this stage by:

  • Continuing to communicate proactively with candidates who received a job offer as well as new hires.
  • Asking final-stage candidates and new hires for feedback about their experiences.

Again, these are just some of the highlights of the proven practices that CandE Award winners use to their advantage. You can access much more comprehensive insights and data points by downloading our North American Research Report.

As always, the best way to benchmark the quality of your company’s candidate experience is by participating in our annual research program, which you can do here. You’ll learn how your candidate experience stacks up in terms of candidate perceptions, fairness, efficiency, and the impact to your business.

 

Be safe and well.

Kevin Grossman, Talent Board President

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