Walgreens
Walgreens
Walgreens is an American company for pharmacy, photo and health & wellness products
1. What changes have you made to your candidate experience recently? What improvements are you most proud of? How do you know that your changes are making a difference?
Our top priority is candidate experience. Follow-up throughout the process is critical, so we have established strict parameters that our recruiters and hiring leaders operate within. We require all hiring leaders to provide candidate feedback, whether at the point of submission or after an interview, within 48 hours. Additionally, our recruiters update candidates within 48 hours of receiving hiring leader feedback. To ensure the candidate experience remains best in class, we survey candidates monthly. The survey data is then shared with our recruiters to help them recognize areas of opportunities to improve that candidate experience.
An easy, fast and convenient way of applying for or learning about an opportunity creates a positive experience. At Walgreens we use technology to boost our candidates’ experiences. Chatbots are used to answer basic questions prior to committing to the position. Also, mobile-enabled, self-scheduling and automated interview technology provides flexibility for those unable to meet with recruiters during traditional hours. Lastly, virtual career fairs help potential candidates get more information about open positions, without the commitment and scheduling constraints of attending a live event.
We also try to familiarize candidates with Walgreens’ company culture early in the process. We do this through sharing videos and team-specific content to build enthusiasm and to provide insight into the innovative and exciting projects we’re currently working on. In addition, we take an extra step to introduce our candidates to our company culture through a tour of the work environment prior to presenting an offer to ensure the position is as much of a fit for them as it is for Walgreens.
2. Why did you decide to make changes to how candidates were being treated? What data or evidence prompted you to make a change?
Due to the low unemployment rate, today’s job searches are very candidate-driven. This highly competitive market not only increased our turnover but also resulted in lowerthan- normal candidate application activity. By analyzing candidate survey data, we learned quite a bit about the opportunities that may exist to increase candidate satisfaction. As a result, we realized the need to create a more convenient, fast and easy application process that recognizes unique situations specific to current applicants, such as the utilization of technology to assist with nontraditional work/personal schedules. Walgreens is an American company for pharmacy, photo and health & wellness products.
To ensure the candidate experience remains best in class, we survey candidates monthly. The survey data is then shared with our recruiters to help them recognize areas of opportunities to improve that candidate experience.
3. How did you build support and commitment within your team and the broader organization? How did you demonstrate the importance of candidate experience?
Our candidates are our customers, so the importance of a positive candidate experience is extremely important, not only in situations where we hire a candidate, but more importantly in situations where we do not. We coach not only our recruitment team, but also our hiring managers. Hiring managers are educated to empathize with candidates throughout the hiring process and about the importance timeliness serves in creating a positive candidate experience.
Speedy feedback drives positive results, whether it’s the candidate joining the company or being allowed to move on to other opportunities.
4. How do you measure candidate experience? How do you report on your recruiting process? How do you use that data to demonstrate financial impact as well as manage recruiter and hiring manager behaviors?
Measuring and analyzing candidate experience is critical to helping us understand where opportunities exist to update or optimize our recruitment process. Surveys are sent both to candidates who are hired and those who are still in process. Our survey approach allows for a very quick and easy opportunity to provide candid and customized feedback.
Additionally, we measure and track how quickly candidates move through the recruitment process. If we notice any themes that result in a slowing of candidate movement, we can further investigate and take immediate action to correct the issue.
Ensuring that candidates are moving through the process as quickly as possible also allows us to fill positions faster, ultimately resulting in a lower financial impact due to vacant positions being open a shorter amount of time.
