Research shows that a majority of prospective applicants research online before applying or accepting job offers. The organization’s social media presence, website, and employee reviews are just a click away. Thus, elevating the brand image plays an essential role in increasing the talent pool applying to the organization.
As online forums are the first place any candidate gets their information about the company, it is integral that the content is well-thought and covers all the aspects such as work culture, revenue, values, vision, mission and more.
Nearly 84% of candidates do their research online before reaching out to recruiters. It is a proven fact that candidates assess the company’s social media presence to understand the work culture and employee reviews and decide whether the organization is a right fit for them. It is about time that employers comprehend the importance of Candidate Experience equally, if not of higher importance than Interview experience.
Candidate experience begins when you put across the availability of jobs until a candidate joins. Though direct communication does not occur until the interview, it is essential to understand and ensure that the online content can interest the candidate enough to apply.
Here are some tips to help recruiters turn their onboarding process around for better candidate engagement :
1. Focus on Candidate Experience right from the beginning
It is not surprising that nearly 83% of candidates emphasize that a bad candidate experience negatively influences them to perceive the employer. If a candidate has a negative experience, they may share their opinion online and not accept the offer even if the compensation is enticing. The interview process and the experience the candidate has post-offer needs to be planned, structured and customized to the candidate to influence the choice he makes among the various offers he might have
2. Make Sure your User Interface is convenient.
Many organizations tend to have a long process of filling multiple forms and details before interacting with the candidate. The process can be simplified by creating a simple form with relevant information. Initial interaction with the candidates can occur, and if the candidate seems fit for the next round, gather the rest of the details needed to move ahead.
3. Give employees a reason to boast about the organization
Employees don’t usually post company-related posts on their personal Twitter or Facebook accounts, but giving them an intensive to market the organization can be motivating. It can be team outings, gifts, recognition, awards and more. This way, they would want to boast about the company and share your work culture with candidates.
4. Contextual Marketing
Any kind of marketing has a promotional component to it. This is something to focus on to attract employees as well. Candidates are constantly checking online for job opportunities, making targeted advertisements a relevant strategy does the trick. Targeted advertisements regarding the organization, work culture and job opportunities can increase the interest of the talent pool you are looking to hire.
5. Recruitment Events:
Recruitment events are a way to informally interact and understand candidates before picking the candidate that best suits the job role. Recruitment events attract many candidates as they allow them to interact with multiple employers at a semi-formal forum and answer some of their questions. Details about the company, job openings and the attention given to every candidate at the event become a vital marketing tool.
6. Have an Employee Referral Program
We underestimate the Employee Referral Program, but it is one of the best ways to hire. It has numerous benefits, including lower turnover rates, less time on the recruiting process and onboarding, and minimizing cost per hire. Research shows that 88% of employers rated employee referrals above all other sources for generating quality in hiring.
7. Create Content for Applicants
Even though you do not have ample time to answer numerous queries from candidates, creating self-explanatory content for the candidates is the perfect way to go. A comprehensive FAQ page that will cover your candidates’ most commonly asked questions and detailed answers to them will prove beneficial to tackle this issue.
8. Let Candidates meet their potential colleagues.
Allowing candidates to meet potential colleagues would help create a bond and understanding and peek into the work. The candidates can discuss the various aspects of the job with their potential managers and comprehend the work culture by being a part of a ‘Meet & Greet’ instead of just reading about it, making it beneficial to both the candidate and the company.
Some of the above points will reduce your dropout rates and enhance your talent pool. Candidate experience is a highly relevant aspect for companies to focus on. Once a candidate decides to explore a job opportunity, the candidate engagement process should be carefully monitored until onboarding.
As this is a highly time-consuming process, few platforms like HireLoop aim to take this off your hands. Keeping employees engaged and interested in being a mediator between the company and the candidate, HireLoop, impacts how onboarding occurs in an organization.