As digitization, coupled with the global pandemic, propels contingent hiring online and with more individuals relying on employer reviewer sites to evaluate businesses, delivering a positive[...]
As digitization, coupled with the global pandemic, propels contingent hiring online and with more individuals relying on employer reviewer sites to evaluate businesses, delivering a positive[...]
March 10, 2021
Read MoreThink about the last time you applied for a job and never heard back. It was sort of discouraging, right? Days, weeks passed by as you eagerly awaited a response. Were you overqualified? Under-qualified? Maybe your cover letter wasn’t eye-catching? All these unanswered questions likely left you feeling confused and perhaps even a little bit angry.
Now, imagine the roles are reversed and you’re the potential employer who left the applicant hanging on the line. Somewhere out there, your rejected candidate is telling others about their negative experience. And if that candidate was also a customer, you might have a problem on your hands.
In 2014, Graeme Johnson conducted a study for Virgin Media, the largest subscription-based telecommunications company in the UK. Using feedback data from thousands of rejected candidates, Johnson and his team analyzed how candidate experience affected Virgin Media’s customer base. They found that 6% of the candidates were former customers who decided to switch providers after having a negative recruitment experience. The loss cost Virgin more than £4 million.
Of course, this example is on a massive scale. Most employers don’t have hundreds of thousands of applicants whenever there’s a job opening. But just because your company isn’t an enterprise doesn’t mean these findings are irrelevant; candidate experience is just as important – and a bad one can be just as detrimental.
The Virgin study references one candidate in particular: Louise, a hairdresser who was looking for a part-time job. After having a negative experience during her assessment interview (the interviewer took a phone call and then kicked her out!), she left feeling upset and embarrassed. Naturally, she told her family what happened. Soon afterward, both her and her sister dropped their Virgin Media subscription and switched to another provider. Hey, you know what they say: bad reviews reach twice as many people as good reviews.
After the study, Johnson rolled up his sleeves and decided to do something about it. He sought to improve the hiring process for everyone, including recruiters and hiring managers. If job applicants were treated more like customers, he wagered, it would lead to better hires and improved brand reputation.
The trick was finding a way for busy employers to ensure that applicants are treated fairly, without expending too much time or money. Working hand-in-hand with the sales and marketing departments, Johnson came up with the “Gold Standard” for candidate experience. Perhaps not surprisingly, it looks a lot like the buyer’s journey:
Making candidates feel valued isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t have to be a fully-fledged, inter-departmental movement like Virgin’s. However, it should still be one of your top priorities. As Graeme Johnson says:
“Candidate experience is a strategically important business imperative, not only to protect against customer churn but more importantly, to add value back to society and those in most need of help.”
So, how can companies hope to improve their hiring processes without expending a ton of resources? Let’s take a look:
Everyone on the planet wants to feel like they matter. Just like customers, candidates who feel they aren’t treated well are going to remember it – and they’re probably going to tell their friends about it. Instead of losing valuable business, treat your candidates like the customers that they are. Even if they’re not the right fit job-wise, you still have the opportunity to change what could be a negative experience into a positive one through personal and helpful communication. Who knows? You might even find that rejected candidates become your biggest brand advocates.
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