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By Simone Lockhart

 

With so many vacancies to fill, employers are looking at how they can stand out from the crowded and competitive marketplace to get their vacancies noticed – an enhanced candidate journey could be the key.

A lot of effort and investment is going into developing employee value propositions, designing creative messaging, and making sure the right people are being targeted across multiple channels. These are all important, but they only amount to stage one of at least six equally critical elements in the candidate journey.

These six steps are: awareness; consideration; interest;l application; selection; and finally, hire.

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Every element has multiple "touch points" so these six steps can easily multiply into 50-plus steps before someone actually joins your organisation. This means there are several points of interaction where you have the opportunity to get it right – or the potential to get it wrong.

In the current market, good candidates have multiple options, therefore how they feel and how they are treated throughout the process will make or break their decision to accept or decline a job offer.

Begin by mapping the end-to-end process and evaluating how your business looks and sounds to prospective employees at every point including online, by phone, email or in-person. It is important to strike a balance between engaging and friendly while also remaining professional and informative.

Implementing and sharing a standardised timeline for a recruitment process can also improve a candidates' experience. For example, acknowledge all CV applications within 48 hours, arrange interviews within one week and provide feedback – a vital but often overlooked stage.

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The whole process should be simple with clear instructions at each stage, and everyone involved must understand their role. Preparation is key for both sides, therefore the candidate should have easy access to information, knowledge of the process and a contact to ask questions, while recruiters should thoroughly read applications, craft tailored questions and provide a warm welcome in an appropriate interview setting.

Throughout it all there are several opportunities to make people feel great about the company and strengthen their desire to work there. Little things like following up an interview with a "thank you" text, offering a site visit or sharing a branded welcome pack can each make a big impact on the overall result.

It pays in the long run to invest in ways that not only make the process slick but also inject some of your company’s personality from the very first interaction with a candidate. Adding some wow factors can make the journey memorable, and ultimately help secure the best talent.

Simone Lockhart, commercial director of the Taranata Group, is a guest writer on behalf of s1jobs.