In a word, no. The employee experience begins the moment the person applies for a role regardless of the way that actually takes place. It may be a direct application to an advertised position on a job board or LinkedIn or via a recruitment partner. Regardless, the way that person is engaged with is the beginning of their experience journey and how that journey unfolds can impact how they then view their employer.
Simplify:
- Make sure the application interface is easy to navigate and don’t ask for the entire resume to be transcribed. I appreciate the input of my Talent Acquisition network that some key things do need to be duplicated but surely not the entire work history and education
- Timely responses. The job market in 2024 has been challenging across many sectors and applicants are getting despondent. Set a closing date for applications and remove your ad when that expires. Respond to applicants quickly. The ones progressing will appreciate it but it’s the people who aren’t who appreciate closure more. Don’t send the auto-reject email 6 months after the application.
- Don’t advertise fake roles to ‘test the market’ or roles you have already earmarked for an internal hire. It will damage your brand. Similarly, make sure you take the advert off ‘auto-renew’ in LinkedIn.
Engaging Interview Experiences:
- Engaging interviewers: please select people who are going to promote both the role and the brand well.
- Make sure they show interest in the person and avoid formulaic or repetitive lines of questions. Make sure they are on time and prepared.
- Don’t bring people into an office setting for an interview and then spend 20 minutes with them. If the meeting is going to be so cursory, it can be done virtually. Be mindful of the person’s time and travel can be expensive.
- Set clear expectations around next steps
- Feedback. We seem to have moved into an era where ‘good news’ ie. taking someone to the next stage is a hiring process is shared but ‘bad news’ ie. not progressing someone isn’t. I understand that busy TA/HR teams and busy line managers don’t necessarily have bandwidth to share detailed feedback on every candidate but surely we can let a person know they are a ‘no’. Leaving people in suspense isn’t a good look.
Offer to Onboarding
- Technology is a wonderful tool but there is still a margin for error. If your offer process has multi-layer approvals, check your HRIS to make sure they are happening in a timely manner and check if approvers are on leave, ensure there is a delegation of authority in place.
- There are some great technology tools available which you can utilise to continue to engage with your chosen candidate while you are waiting for them to start. These use AI to generate personalised ‘check ins’ from HR or line managers.
- It is always a nice touch to engage with your chosen candidate in a less formal setting. A team lunch, casual dinner or even a coffee with their immediate manager. It shows a level of interest and engagement with the person.
- Make sure tech is set up for day one. If the person is hybrid and day one is remote, send the laptop the day before they start. If they are in the office, test the log ins and make sure they have all the necessary accesses.
- Have a formal onboarding plan even for an informal environment. Make sure the person has scheduled training/check ins/introductory meetings with as many of their co-workers and stakeholders as possible. They need to feel embedded into their new working environment.
Going through process to potentially secure a new role is similar to going to a restaurant, people remember the bad experiences far more than the good. They will also share the bad experiences and this can have a huge impact on your brand reputation. Even in a candidate rich market, we need to be better at rehumanising the hiring process.
Maidlin Mistry
Divisional Manager, Finance
Maidlin has worked in the recruitment industry for over 20 years with both boutique firms and listed multi-nationals. She has recently returned home to Melbourne after spending 4 years in Singapore where she partnered with global investment banks, hedge funds and growing technology firms focusing on HR and strategy roles…
