In past articles, we discussed how to attract new talent and keep your current talent by providing offerings that can make your organization and team stand out amongst the thousands of other opportunities. In some of our recent articles, hiring managers are losing candidates and not retaining them due to various factors that range from work flexibility (remote/hybrid work structure) to salary adjustments and lack of growth opportunities and recognition in the workplace. Not every single factor can be changed overnight, but it is important to be aware of how the workplace is changing and how candidates are in the driver’s seat. A vital step to retention and attraction is ensuring you have a solid and structured starting basis aka the interview process. Now let us look at how you can lose candidates because they either turned down an offer or they quit within six months.
Here are 10 Steps to Ensure you WIN in the Talent War and Onboard your Superstar
1. Have You Managed Your Reputation?
-Do your online reviews and social media reflect you properly?
-83% of people polled in a Redshift Research survey said that a company’s online reviews impacted their decision to apply to a job.
-“Compared with other job seekers, top performers are 46% more likely to be attracted by a better company reputation and 29% more likely to be attracted by more interesting, challenging work.”
-Turn your best employees and new hires into brand ambassadors
2. Have You Identified What Really Matters?
-Define what your ideal candidate looks like, what do they bring to the table? How will they drive efforts? What does their growth trajectory look like? How will they blend in with the work culture?
-Often times hiring can feel like a blind date- everyone is on good behavior. The Hiring Manager is on good behavior because they have a gap on their team. The Candidate is on good behavior because they want to be selected for the position or have multiple offers.”
-Figure out the end goal and then proceed with taking the steps to meet it
-Does your job description reflect the actual daily responsibilities of the role? Verify job requirements before you post them, it the posting is not the full job description, make sure to provide the candidate the full description prior to an interview.
3. Did You Plan on How to Find Them?
-The “How”? What is your recruiting plan and which technology platforms do you plan to utilize in your search?
-70%+ applications come through mobile devices, make sure you use statistics like this to appeal to talent through the right mediums
-Don’t hesitate to reach out to your network as well and ask for connections
-Which tools will you use to assess them to see if they are a fit to interview?
-Is your job description accurate?
4. Have you Asked the Tough Questions?
-As a recruiting agency when working for a client, ask the tough questions first to ensure they are a potential fit by establishingà their location, their salary requirements, their wants.
-When interviewing, implement the 80/20 listening rule, make sure you are engaged and be present in the moment
-Listen to what is being said and what is NOT being said, what are they leaving our or avoiding?
5. Did You Effectively Communicate the Interview Process?
-Similar to dating, it can be a hot and cold between communicating.
-Ensure that you are staying in communication! Time gaps in communication can KILL the deal because candidates will assume they will not hear back and that they are not important enough to call on and keep in touch with, neither which drive positive opinions about your company
-Set the timeline, try your best to set days and times for follow-up and answers for next steps or if you decide to not move forward in the process. Communication and transparency is key!
-If you take more than 4 weeks, it can have a 7.25% impact on the quality of the hire contributing to turnover and lack of commitment
6. Were You Honest with Your “Challenges”?
-Do not oversell the role by leaving out important requirements of the position even with the downturns of the position. The highest turnover rate is amongst new hires because the job does not match initial expectations.
-A role can be extremely challenging but also ensure that you are compensating accordingly by keeping up with market trends.
-Describe the path to success at the company, what works? What does not work? – People like to know how they can succeed.
-Describe the goals for the individual, (Minimum/Target/Outstanding) and how to get promoted and learn efficiently. Growth is a two-way relationship, based upon the individual and the Hiring Manager. Explain how you define growth (vertical or horizontal) to set expectations up front.
7. Are You Assuming You are the Only One They’re Talking To?
-Your ego can be your worst enemy when it comes to hiring and driving the process.
-In a candidate-driven market, they make the decisions and they have the upper hand, the world is their oyster and you as an employer have to find a way to show them that YOU are the match for THEM.
-There are hundreds of jobs for each one candidate, you can guarantee that they are talking to multiple companies, especially in-demand talent and candidates are actively employed.
-Remind them that there’s a reason candidates come in for interviews. They’ve cleared many hurdles and are strong possible matches. They may have taken a vacation day off to interview, moved meetings or postponed a doctor’s appointment to meet with you and your team. BE respectful.
8. Did You Think it was All About You?
– “What is in it for me?”-see things from the candidate’s perspective
-Why do they want to work here? What are your perks that you can offer?
-68% of Candidate/Employees believe their experience as a job seeker reflects how the company will treat their people.
-31% of candidates want a customized interview message
9. Did You Plan for the Perfect Date?
-Make them feel special and that you value their time
-The perfect date= interview planning
-Participants–> Who needs to sit in on the interview, which managers are involved, is HR there, who benefits from meeting the candidates?
-Preparation–> Taking the time to familiarize yourself with the candidate resumes, at least some of the work highlights and accomplishments
-Process–> Know which steps are next and share those accordingly, follow a time bracket and maintain appropriate questioning orders.
-Professional/Private Setting–> Ensure you have privacy and are able to give your full attention sans distractions.
10. Were You Dazzled by their Performance?
-Fit to position-Can they do the job?
-Fit to manager-Are they aligned to the manager? 70% of engagement stems from their relationship to their manager
-Fit to team- Will they add value to the team overall?
-Fit to culture-Do they align to the organization values?
All in all, the decision a candidate makes to either offer/decline an offer or to leave after a few months because they are unhappy, is their decision as much as it is your decision. You decide where the effort is placed, which steps are taken to ensure a seamless process, which skillsets are needed on a technical side and cultural side. Listen and acknowledge your reviews on platforms such as Glassdoor and have post interview surveys to help with process and gage the best and most honest reviews…from candidates themselves. Do not leave candidates hanging by not updating them or giving them a decision, they are spending time talking to you and as a company, you need to return that courtesy as best you can.
Email us at team@agency8recruiting.com for any staffing assistance or if you are wanting to improve your company’s hiring process.