Candididate Care and the Employer Brand

Large numbers of active candidates due to layoffs have flooded the marketplace requiring more vetting, due diligence and overall work. At times like these, candidate care may be reduced potentially harming the company brand.

A positive experience translates into quality hires, strengthens your company's employment brand, and reduces its cost per hire. A negative experience can result in a decline in the acceptance of employment offers, a decrease in the quantity and quality of applicants applying, and a negative image of the company throughout the labor market.

Take care during these times to respect the candidates, and their time and interest, by leaving them with the best possible experience outside of landing the job. This will not only help your brand in the future but will avoid any damage in the present.

Working with a recruiting firm can enhance the employment process by providing candidates with the high touch experience that will ultimately be associated with the employer and strengthening the brand you've worked so hard build.

I'd like to hear from you and how your clients are taking care to protect their brand....or not.

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Comment by Travis Furlow on February 3, 2010 at 3:14pm: Dianne,
I consult for a number of organizations who have battled with the "what to do" discussion regarding the high volumes of applicants and a few of them have integrated applications into their ATS to provide more customized response emails (versus the traditional, thanks..but no thanks email) and some have even gone to lengths to align professionals to make calls to those qualified candidates who are not going to be considered because a role filled internally, prior to needing external candidate flow.
I couldn't agree with you more that we need to respect the professional who gets the job AND the 100's of professionals who do not. After all, we are in the "people" business, right?

Comment by Dianne Delich on February 3, 2010 at 3:21pm: Thanks Travis. Good comments and yes we are in the people biz.

There are horror stories out there. Like candidates who were flown in for interviews never to hear from the company again! It's been a strange year, to say the least.

Comment by Travis Furlow on February 3, 2010 at 3:28pm: I read an HR.com survey that said 92% of candidates who apply for jobs, never hear back from ANYONE in the organization they applied to (little scary). I wrote an article on it; www.fearlessleadership.wordpress.com (feel free to take a look). Talk soon, Trav

Comment by Dianne Delich on February 3, 2010 at 3:48pm: Good article and I guess your right. It is what it is.

Di

Comment by Chris Hood on February 3, 2010 at 4:01pm: This is such a delicate subject. While I am not perfect, I try to accomplish a few things consistently with individuals I speak with. The main one is setting the expectation regarding follow up and communication. I let them know that I typically do not call to tell them that I do not know anything, and that my intention is to always reach out the second an update regarding a resume or interview is available. My "door" is always open or someone to check in - but by setting the expectation of contact with content, I find acceptable success in keeping my candidates and clients sated.

The real challenge comes from maintaining brand equity once a candidate's destiny is in the hands of the hiring manager.....

Comment by Dianne Delich on February 3, 2010 at 5:00pm: Thanks, Chris. That is exactly my point....the hiring managers...or HR. I try to impress this on my clients. While we may be the ones on the front line, they are ones with the most to lose if their follow up is lacking.

Comment by Brad Zirulnik on February 4, 2010 at 11:39am: For candidates that will no longer be considered for a position after an onsite interview, it STILL amazes me how scared or fearful hiring managers are to respond or reply to the "wondering" candidate . . . Hiring managers should really try stepping up to the plate and letting the candidate know, "hi, we ended up selecting someone else . . . " Many managers have simply not been trained on how to give people bad news, period. There's a real fear factor there. Whether or not you think it's better to avoid the possibility of conflict, managers chicken out. Not a good excuse in the profession.

Comment by Dianne Delich on February 4, 2010 at 12:10pm: I remember when I first started recruiting, I hated having to give that news to a candidate. I did learn that having feedback as to why always seemed to help the candidate and give them something to take away. I soon found that just being frank and, if possible providing that feedback, was the best solution.

Comment by Brad Zirulnik on February 4, 2010 at 12:23pm: Yes, a piece of mind is what most job seekers seek, especially these days. It goes a very long way and hits that company branding concept over the fences. Thank you, Dianne.

Comment by Jason Elkin on February 4, 2010 at 12:24pm: Hi Dianne,

So I'll go out on a limb here and reply with the comment:

For clients to protect their brand it this instance it would require real thought within the organization about human capital, and real management skills. Sadly both are in short supply in far too many ventures these days.

Brad's example just one of many that we all know to be the rule rather than the exception.