How Communication Can Increase The Quality Of Hire.
10/01/18 16:23 Filed in: Quality of Hire
There’s been a lot of talk in the Media about Brand image marketing for your company. For most companies that can be an abstract concept or at best an idea on what logo to include in your advertisement. Corporate branding is more about communication – what do you want to portray to the outside world. In the case of this article - how you communicate with potential employees really portrays your brand. Are your Job Descriptions a list of duties and responsibilities? How does a candidate know what is expected of them when they see your postings? Keeping your business a mystery will not encourage candidates to apply to your company. You will attract higher quality candidates the more you communicate.
Do your adverts portray a sense of your culture and what it’s like to work at your company?
Do they portray what technology or USP you have that makes yours the best place to work?
We aren’t advocating that every company has to have ping pong tables, foosball and 1 day a week for creative projects, but we do suggest you learn how to portray your company culture, environment and the type of work you are able to offer so that the “right” candidate sees that adverts and has an emotional response. You want the right candidate to say “hey, that sounds like the perfect job/career for me.”
Once you have garnered their attention – how are you reeling people in? Do you expect every person to fill out a tiresome application online? More than ever, candidates are “bouncing” from ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to ATS as they seek a more personalized approach. In particular, those with skill sets that are in high demand feel it’s time to push back. No longer are they willing to submit resumes into a black hole and wait for an indeterminate amount of time for a response. Worse still, are those companies who can’t be bothered to respond to candidates at all. What type of “goodwill” will that gain for your Brand? Companies like Facebook use internal competitions to attract and evaluate the best talent. It is a creative and engaging way to attract candidates to your business.
We suggest you make it as quick as possible to submit a resume from “suitable” candidates. By suitable, we mean those that have the minimum you need to move forward. Try creating 3 – 5 qualifying questions that help weed out those “looky loos’ who aren’t too interested. If those qualifying questions are well written, then your applications will come from relevant and interested parties.
Once you have filtered the resumes and found relevant candidates, what are you going to do? Again, will you wait until all applications are in – possible 1 -2 weeks down the line. Or will you create a sense of urgency and reach out to the right candidates. After all, this is the “courtship” phase of the recruitment process. You want to wow people and make them feel wanted! So, reach out quickly and set up initial calls. Keep them formal and friendly at all times while communicating your intent to move forward and “get this right.”
Now that you have your 3 – 5 screened and interviewed candidate’s you will need to move forward to the in-person phase. How will you communicate your intentions? Will it be “Hello Mr. Jones, your interview is arranged for –blah, blah, blah” OR will you keep it going by being Formally, friendly?
“Hi Jim, I really enjoyed our conversation and can’t wait for you to meet our team next Tuesday. You can dress casually. Be prepared to meet several people.”
Keep the candidate interested, excited and ready to meet you. That will stop them taking calls from “pesky” recruiters OR, worse still, taking offers from competitors.
When those selected candidates come in for interview – they should already have a perception of your company. Don’t take your foot off the gas now – keep up the tempo and get your team involved. That means making sure the receptionist knows who’s coming in and at what time. Imagine if the candidate is greeted by name - or you could even have their name up on the Welcome board. Your aim is to make them feel welcome – so they are already feeling they are part of the team.
Communication is not just the words that come out of your mouth. The content on your webpages, your workplace atmosphere, the timeliness of your discourse, even your customer reviews all communicate your brand. Your potential employees will be interacting with all of these aspects before they decide if your job opening is right for them. When looking for high quality talent, take a step back and look at the message you are trying to deliver. Is it shouting, “We are a boring place with no interest in who we higher and no upward movement and impact.”? Or do you want to tell them how awesome it is to work with your company? These touchpoints are where you attract or discourage candidates from applying. It is the difference between high quality candidates sticking through the application process, or moving on to another opportunity.
Do your adverts portray a sense of your culture and what it’s like to work at your company?
Do they portray what technology or USP you have that makes yours the best place to work?
We aren’t advocating that every company has to have ping pong tables, foosball and 1 day a week for creative projects, but we do suggest you learn how to portray your company culture, environment and the type of work you are able to offer so that the “right” candidate sees that adverts and has an emotional response. You want the right candidate to say “hey, that sounds like the perfect job/career for me.”
Once you have garnered their attention – how are you reeling people in? Do you expect every person to fill out a tiresome application online? More than ever, candidates are “bouncing” from ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to ATS as they seek a more personalized approach. In particular, those with skill sets that are in high demand feel it’s time to push back. No longer are they willing to submit resumes into a black hole and wait for an indeterminate amount of time for a response. Worse still, are those companies who can’t be bothered to respond to candidates at all. What type of “goodwill” will that gain for your Brand? Companies like Facebook use internal competitions to attract and evaluate the best talent. It is a creative and engaging way to attract candidates to your business.
We suggest you make it as quick as possible to submit a resume from “suitable” candidates. By suitable, we mean those that have the minimum you need to move forward. Try creating 3 – 5 qualifying questions that help weed out those “looky loos’ who aren’t too interested. If those qualifying questions are well written, then your applications will come from relevant and interested parties.
Once you have filtered the resumes and found relevant candidates, what are you going to do? Again, will you wait until all applications are in – possible 1 -2 weeks down the line. Or will you create a sense of urgency and reach out to the right candidates. After all, this is the “courtship” phase of the recruitment process. You want to wow people and make them feel wanted! So, reach out quickly and set up initial calls. Keep them formal and friendly at all times while communicating your intent to move forward and “get this right.”
Now that you have your 3 – 5 screened and interviewed candidate’s you will need to move forward to the in-person phase. How will you communicate your intentions? Will it be “Hello Mr. Jones, your interview is arranged for –blah, blah, blah” OR will you keep it going by being Formally, friendly?
“Hi Jim, I really enjoyed our conversation and can’t wait for you to meet our team next Tuesday. You can dress casually. Be prepared to meet several people.”
Keep the candidate interested, excited and ready to meet you. That will stop them taking calls from “pesky” recruiters OR, worse still, taking offers from competitors.
When those selected candidates come in for interview – they should already have a perception of your company. Don’t take your foot off the gas now – keep up the tempo and get your team involved. That means making sure the receptionist knows who’s coming in and at what time. Imagine if the candidate is greeted by name - or you could even have their name up on the Welcome board. Your aim is to make them feel welcome – so they are already feeling they are part of the team.
Communication is not just the words that come out of your mouth. The content on your webpages, your workplace atmosphere, the timeliness of your discourse, even your customer reviews all communicate your brand. Your potential employees will be interacting with all of these aspects before they decide if your job opening is right for them. When looking for high quality talent, take a step back and look at the message you are trying to deliver. Is it shouting, “We are a boring place with no interest in who we higher and no upward movement and impact.”? Or do you want to tell them how awesome it is to work with your company? These touchpoints are where you attract or discourage candidates from applying. It is the difference between high quality candidates sticking through the application process, or moving on to another opportunity.