High volume recruitment can be a laborious process, involving sifting through huge amounts of candidates and conducting multiple interviews to find those that sit well within your team.
Of course you want these candidates to have the best view of your company before starting their new position, but what about the hundreds of others who may not have even made it to the second round of the process?
”Why should we keep candidates happy if they’re not going to be hired?”
It matters how you treat people.
Regardless of general human decency, candidates are doing you a favour by applying to your open position, so it is common courtesy to treat them well in return.
There is a shortage of quality candidates.
And the situation is getting worse. Most companies cannot risk putting candidates off applying for other openings in the future.
They might be present or future customers.
In the world of ethical consumption and holding organisations accountable for their actions, portraying a poor image as an employer (through a shoddy recruitment process) could get you a lot of bad press. Whether this is the individual themselves, or their social circle, you could risk losing customers.
Candidate expectations are growing.
Due to advancements in mobile technology, we do everything online; from banking to dating, food shopping and gaming. But, applying for jobs has been left behind somewhat. Candidates expect the same ease and simplicity from your recruitment processes as they get from booking a flight to New York.
Word of mouth travels fast.
Or in most cases, word of keyboard. Sites such as Glassdoor, Indeed and Great Place To Work are popular, and a bad review could prevent a whole pool of candidates applying to your role.
It’s all well and good knowing that we should be treating candidates well, but how can we do it? And what does it even look like in the murky waters of high volume?
How to ensure candidates feel valued
A good candidate experience doesn’t need to be extravagant, just trusted. Established methods can be effective if they are executed properly… and psychometrics might help you along your way.
A fair recruitment process.
The best kind of recruitment processes make candidates feel like they are being hired for their skills and potential rather than other erroneous factors. Psychometric assessments offer some much needed objectivity to a traditional process that is often clouded by unconscious biases.
Cut the cr*p.
Having said this, just because an assessment is highly reliable and valid, it doesn’t necessarily belong in your recruitment journey. Make sure you only use psychometric assessments that measure attributes relevant to the role you are recruiting for. For example, if you are looking to hire a salesperson, you probably don’t need to measure their ability to understand mechanical processes, regardless of how good the assessment is.
Clarity and communication.
This is an exercise in managing expectations. Make sure to explicitly explain time frames and the structure of the recruitment process from the start to ensure that candidates don’t start looking elsewhere if they don’t hear anything from you. This can be as simple as an email letting candidates know dates of assessment centres, interviews, and when a decisions will be made. If you have the need, this could be helped by the use of an ATS or other HR software.
A good quality, strategic interview.
This is heavily related to having a fair recruitment process. A good quality, strategic interview will give candidates the best possible opportunity to show themselves and their skills off as well as give them a chance to clarify any uncertainties they might have about the role.
Our soft skills assessments can provide recruiters with the right strategic interview questions to ask candidates, which are specific to the candidate.
Provide a realistic job preview.
Offering a good candidate experience is easy when you’re genuinely trying to find a good fit, rather than forcing candidates into a job. This means communicating the nature and demands of the role honestly, so the candidate has the opportunity to evaluate for themselves whether they would be happy in the position.
A great way to do this is by adding a bespoke situational judgement test into your recruitment process, to immerse candidates in the day to day requirements of the role.
A process which is accessible to all.
This should really go without saying, but making sure any third party software or external resources you use are accessible for everyone is extremely important. If you are using online applications, check whether they have accessibility settings or are compatible with tools such as screen readers.
Provide feedback.
It is almost impossible to provide good, in depth feedback to every candidate if you are coming into contact with thousands of applicants. But doing so where you can will really make a difference and show candidates that you value their personal development. One great way to do this without any extra effort on your part, is sending a personal feedback report automatically through Clevry after candidates have completed their personality questionnaire.
If you include these key elements in your recruitment process, candidates will have an all-round better experience, and will be more likely to accept an offer, or recommend you to others as an example of a great employer.
Here at Clevry we take a ‘Candidate is King’ philosophy when designing our products & services. If you would like to know more about the benefits soft skills assessments can bring to your hiring processes, please get in touch.
