In the midst of the Great Resignation, competition for talent is fierce. 2022 remains a candidate driven market, which means that companies need to examine both their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) but also carefully consider their recruitment process and leverage this as a competitive advantage when hiring “best athlete” talent. Here are three ways companies can improve and simplify their recruitment process to provide a better candidate experience, keep talent engaged, and present an offer before a competitor.
Create A Better Candidate Experience By Auditing Your Recruitment Process.
The faster an organization can onboard a new hire, the sooner he/she/they can begin adding value to the team and drive performance. The longer an organization takes to find, interview, and present an offer to a candidate, the more opportunity is at stake across the board. To remain competitive, audit your recruitment process and look at where candidates withdraw and examine roadblocks internally and externally. These can be delayed feedback, scheduling conflicts, miscommunication, the total number of interviews held, or the length of time it takes to go from sourcing to making an offer. All of these can have a negative impact on the candidate's experience. If possible, combine steps to shorten the time in between different stages, prioritize feedback and, most importantly, respect a candidate’s time. Today, having a seamless and positive candidate experience is critical to keeping talent engaged.
Identify Who Needs Buy-In.
During the interview stages, identify and include only the stakeholders who deeply understand the goals and responsibilities of the role and who will be interacting with a candidate on a day-to-day basis. Decide who needs “buy-in” for a candidate and prioritize these interviews over others. Putting a candidate through multiple interviews with many different people within the organization can slow the hiring process down and frustrate a candidate. For those individuals that will be more peripheral when interacting with the role, consider a panel interview and allow each person a certain amount of time or questions to ask during the interview. Keep important one-to-one interviews limited to those immediate players that will be working with this individual on a regular basis and use these more personal conversations to gauge cultural fit and overall working style.
Leave Space For Negotiation And Empower Recruiters
The supply of highly qualified and skilled talent is at an all-time low as a result companies and organizations will need to be prepared to pay a premium in terms of salary and benefits. Conduct market research with Talent Mapping to uncover what other organizations may offer for salary, equity, benefits, rewards, etc., and align your expectations with these. Consider publishing a salary range within the initial job description to immediately filter out any candidates that may have inflated or unrealistic expectations. Additionally, keep compensation in mind throughout the conversation internally once you arrive at a shortlist. Prepare for senior leadership discussions around compensation and provide recruitment teams with the tools and approvals (within reason) to speed up the negotiation process at the end of a search.
Hiring Best Practices In A Candidate Driven Market.
2022 will continue to be a strong candidate market as candidates are exiting the workforce, changing industries, starting new businesses and transforming the world of work. Employers need to keep this in mind when looking for “best athlete talent” and will need to be flexible, agile and patient to remain competitive such as:
Being flexible in terms of a candidate’s timeline and possibly delaying a start date
Adapting a role to better suite a candidate’s background or skills
Remaining patient to find, engage and attract the best candidate for the role.
Providing flexible working arrangements (working from home or a hybrid model)
Proactively staying ahead of your competitors within the recruitment process
Focusing on talent retention to avoid turnover and losing high performers
Taking a closer look at your EVP and tailor it accordingly
Similar to the housing market, the transfer of power from a “Candidate Market” to an “Employer Market” will not happen overnight. Companies can expect Candidates to continue to influence conversations and dictate hiring outcomes as we move into 2023. If a company remains agile, flexible and patient and places the Candidate Experience in the center of their recruitment process, they are more likely to win and hire highly sought after top-level talent.
About The Author.
With over 10 years of experience in search and business operations, Julian is a highly diligent and efficient marketer and operations manager. He is a proven leader who combines creative thinking and strong communications with operational strategy, business development, recruitment operations, and digital marketing. Julian joined Chapel Hill Solutions to modernize the recruitment industry’s approach. He is passionate about creating a transparent and collaborative relationship with his clients.