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Candidate Experience: Getting It Right #TChat Recap

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“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not strategies.”
–Lawrence Bossidy, Author & Former CEO, Honeywell

If talent is what matters most at the end of the day, why do so many companies struggle to provide a stellar experience for job candidates? And how can we finally fix that?

This is the hot topic the TalentCulture community tackled this week at #TChat events — with guidance from two of the HR community’s most knowledgeable candidate experience experts:

• Elaine Orler, President of Talent Function Group and chairman of The Talent Board;
• Gerry Crispin, Staffing Strategist and Co-Founder of CareerXroads Colloquium.

(Editor’s Note: See #TChat highlights and resource links at the end of this post.)

Building Brand Advocates One Job Opening At A Time

What is candidate experience, anyway? Of course, it starts long before a potential employee ever arrives for an interview. In fact, some #TChat-ters say it’s smart to think of it as an ongoing brand experience that begins the moment an individual envisions a future with your organization, and continues throughout the recruitment process, and beyond.

Smart employers consider all the touch points in that process, not just the tone and content of a job description. Every interaction helps shape a candidate’s impression — from the way a company website portrays its workforce, and the way it engages with employees on social media, to the pace and flow of ongoing communication with applicants. No detail should be overlooked.

Why do details count? Because, according to our guests (and the 2013 Candidate Experience Survey Results), these factors make a lasting impression on job seekers. And cumulative impressions can determine a brand’s destiny.

Early results from nearly 50,000 former job candidates confirms what common sense tells us. Once candidates develop a perception of an organization, they’ll share their thoughts with others. And that word-of-mouth behavior can have a measurable impact on your business — for better or worse.

Roadmap For Improvement

Early next year, The Talent Board will publish a detailed survey report to help employers make meaningful changes to their candidate experience. But in the meantime, here are some self assessment questions:

• Have you walked a mile in your candidate’s shoes? (And documented that walk?)
• What kind of first impression does your company project?
• Do you acknowledge job seekers when they apply or submit a resume?
• What proportion of inquiries are completely ignored?
• Is information about your company culture available, accurate and complete?
• Are your employees empowered as brand ambassadors?

Inspiration From Candidate-Friendly Companies

How do great employers like Zappos and Microsoft make their candidate experience stand out? They treat everyone with respect and common sense. They also display other “best practice” behaviors.

These actions leave a lasting positive impression – even when candidates aren’t hired. Even when they’ve invested significant time and energy to conduct company research, customize a resume, apply for the position, prepare for and participate in interviews, and follow-up with hiring managers.

Of course, word now travels incredibly fast on social channels. And with organizations like The Talent Board paying close attention, the voice of the candidate is getting louder all the time.

So, if you care about influencing the way your organization is perceived by candidates, consider the resources and highlights from this week’s #TChat conversation, below. Thanks to everyone who contributed opinions and ideas. This is how we can move the meter in a positive direction!

#TChat Week-In-Review: Candidate Experience Survey Insights

Gerry Crispin (2)

Watch the #TChat “sneak peek” video now

SAT 12/7:

#TChat Preview: TalentCulture Community Manager, Tim McDonald, framed the week’s topic in a post and “sneak peek” hangout video with guest, Gerry Crispin. Read the Preview: “Candidate Experience: Survey Insights.”

SUN 12/8:

Forbes.com Post: TalentCulture CEO, Meghan M. Biro looked at how employers can improve their hiring process to achieve better business results. Read: “5 Tips For A Winning Candidate Experience.”

MON 12/9:

Related Post: Guest blogger, Matt Charney, recommended a provocative approach to improving the status quo. Read “Compliance: Why It’s The Only Fix For Candidate Experience.”

WED 12/4:

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Listen to the #TChat Radio replay now

#TChat Radio: Our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman spoke with guests Elaine Orler and Gerry Crispin about the early findings from the candidate experience survey. Fascinating stuff. Listen to the radio recording now!

#TChat Twitter: Immediately following the radio show, Meghan, Kevin, Elaine and Gerry joined the TalentCulture community on the #TChat Twitter stream, for an open crowdsourcing conversation centered on 5 related questions. See highlights in the Storify slideshow below:

#TChat Insights: Candidate Experience Survey Insights

[javascript src=”//storify.com/TalentCulture/2013-candidate-experience-award-insights.js?template=slideshow”]

Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

GRATITUDE: Thanks again to Elaine Orler and Gerry Crispin for sharing your perspectives on candidate experience trends and implications. We value your time and expertise!

NOTE TO BLOGGERS: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about how companies can offer a more effective job candidate experience? We welcome your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we’ll pass it along.

WHAT’S AHEAD: Next week, #TChat welcomes leadership development expert, Steve Gutzler, to discuss the role that emotional intelligence plays in our job performance and our effectiveness in leading others. Look for more details this weekend.

Meanwhile, the World of Work conversation continues. So join us on the #TChat Twitter stream, our LinkedIn discussion group. or elsewhere on social media. The lights are always on here at TalentCulture, and we look forward to hearing from you.

See you on the stream!

Image Credit: Pixabay

Candidate Experience: Survey Insights #TChat Preview

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(Editor’s Note: Are you looking for full highlights and resource links from this week’s events? Read the #TChat Recap: “Candidate Experience: Getting It Right.”)

“Candidate Experience.”

The concept has been gaining visibility in HR circles for years. Along the way, we’ve explored the topic multiple times at #TChat events, and on this blog.

The term isn’t yet part of a typical job seeker’s vocabulary. But people don’t need to speak HR lingo to know if a prospective employer treats them with courtesy and common sense. Regardless of whether a candidate is hired, those impressions make a lasting impact. And in a world where both top talent and brand loyalty are scarce, companies ignore these fundamentals at their peril.

Candidate Feedback: Thunder Rolls

Of course, word now travels incredibly fast on social channels. And with organizations like The Talent Board (the “CandE” Candidate Experience Awards people) paying close attention, the voice of the candidate is getting louder all the time.

In fact, response to this year’s “CandE” survey was thunderous. Nearly 50,000 former job candidates invested 40 minutes each to tell The Talent Board how employers managed their application and interviewing process. Imagine the insights that will come from all of those data points!

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait much longer to find out, because this week, we’ll hear “early returns” from two of the leaders behind the survey:

• Elaine Orler, President of Talent Function Group and chairman of The Talent Board;
• Gerry Crispin, Staffing Strategist and Co-Founder of CareerXroads Colloquium.

Sneak Peek Survey Results

To kick-off this week’s discussion, Gerry joined me for a brief G+ Hangout, where we discussed the focus and importance of this year’s analysis:

If you’re an HR professional, or a business leader who wants to know how to win hearts and minds through recruiting best practices, you won’t want to miss this week’s #TChat conversation!

#TChat Events: Candidate Survey: Early Insights

#TChat Radio — Wed, Dec 11 — 6:30pmET / 3:30pmPT

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Tune-in to the #TChat Radio show

Our hosts, Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman talk with Gerry Crispin and Elaine Orler about early findings from the candidate experience survey — and implications for HR. Tune-in LIVE online this Wednesday!

#TChat Twitter — Wed, Dec 11 — 7pmET / 4pmPT

Immediately following the radio show, our discussion moves to the #TChat Twitter stream for an open chat with the entire TalentCulture community. Everyone with a Twitter account is invited to participate, as we address these 5 related questions:

Q1: Why does “candidate experience” continue to be a hot topic?
Q2: As a “perpetual candidate,” what would you like employers to fix?
Q3: What hiring process improvements have you seen that worked?
Q4: Why don’t more companies request + act on candidate feedback?
Q5: What technology traps keep the candidate experience painful?

We look forward to hearing your feedback, as talent-minded professionals — so bring your best ideas from both sides of the hiring table.

Throughout the week, we’ll keep the discussion going on the #TChat Twitter feed and on our LinkedIn Discussion Group. So please join us share your questions, ideas and opinions.
We’ll see you on the stream!

Hiring Is Hard: May The Best Brand Win #TChat Recap

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The hiring scene today is like two sides of a rolling coin. On one side, five generations of diverse candidates are clamoring for what’s on the other side — a mash-up of full-time, part-time, outsourced and freelance jobs that continue to be redefined on-the-fly by disruptive economic, business and technology forces.

This controlled chaos challenges job seekers to demonstrate professional value through new social channels — while simultaneously challenging employers to recruit the right talent through those same social channels. It sounds like a perfect candidate fit should be easy to find. But as #TChat-ters know, the world of work isn’t perfect — and it leaves a lasting impression, for better or worse.

The Candidate Experience: A Reality Check

Let me illustrate. As a member of The Talent Board Candidate Experience Council, I have more than a passing interest in the topic of hiring practices. And frankly, last year’s CandE Awards insights concerned me. Here’s a good news/bad news slice of life from employers who sought CandE recognition in 2012:

Good News: The so-called recruiting “black hole” (that awkward space where employers fail to share any status or notifications with job candidates) is fading.

Bad News: There’s still room for improvement, even among pace-setters.

– Only 1 in 3 companies ask for feedback from job candidates who don’t advance to the final evaluation round. And +90% of rejected candidates say they weren’t asked for feedback after they learned about their status. This means employers are missing meaningful insight from a broad spectrum of candidates.

– More than 50% of candidates say they’re likely or very likely to tell close friends about their experience — regardless of whether it was positive (74%) or negative (61%). Connect the dots and you’ll see huge implications for employer brands.

So, how can we improve upon today’s standard of practice? That’s exactly why applications for 2013 CandE Awards are being accepted. It’s also why #TChat focused on the topic this week — to encourage creative thinking and knowledge sharing among members of the TalentCulture community. We’ve captured highlights and resources below — feel free to review and comment anytime, and share with others who might benefit.

Together, we can raise the bar — so every brand can win.

#TChat Week in Review

SAT 6/1

GerryElaine

Watch video interviews in the #TChat Preview now

#TChat Preview + Sneak Peek Videos: Our Community Manager, Tim McDonald, introduced this week’s topic in G+ Hangout interviews with our special guests, Elaine Orler, president of talent acquisition consulting firm Talent Function, and Gerry Crispin, staffing strategist and co-founder of CareerXroads. See the videos now in Tim’s post: “Does Your Hiring Process Speak for Your Brand?”

 SUN 6/2

Forbes.com Post: In her weekly Forbes column, TalentCulture CEO, Meghan M. Biro examined some of the key ways companies can recruit top-notch talent by improving their recruiting experience. Read “4 Steps Of Leaders Who Win Stellar Talent.”

TUE 6/4

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Listen to the #TChat Radio show

#TChat Radio: Guests Elaine and Gerry sat down with hosts Meghan and me to examine the candidate experience in detail — the increasing importance of recruiting as a living “face” of corporate brands. Listen to the recording now: “Hiring: The Candidate Experience is Everything.”

WED 6/5

#TChat Twitter: #TChat-ters came together on the Twitter stream to share thoughts, concerns and opinions about the impact and influence of the candidate experience in today’s world of work. If you missed the real-time Twitter action, or would like to review highlights, watch the slideshow below:

#TChat Twitter Highlights: “Does Your Hiring Process Speak For Your Brand?”

[javascript src=”//storify.com/TalentCulture/tchat-insights-does-your-hiring-process-speak-for.js?template=slideshow”]

Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

SPECIAL THANKS: Again, a nod to this week’s guests Elaine Orler and Gerry Crispin. We’re inspired by your expertise and passion for improving the candidate experience.

NOTE TO BLOGGERS: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about your hiring experience? Suggestions perhaps? We’d love to share your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we’ll pass it along.

WHAT’S AHEAD: Next week we move on to the topic of open leadership with enterprise learning expert Dan Pontefract. We’ll talk about collaborative leadership models that drive productivity, engagement and improved business results. Stay tuned for details this weekend!

Until then, the World of Work conversation continues each day. Join us on the #TChat Twitter stream, or on our new LinkedIn discussion group. And feel free to explore other areas of our redesigned website. The gears are always turning at TalentCulture, and your ideas and opinions are always welcome.

See you on the stream!

(Editor’s Note: This post is an extension of commentary that originally appears in Kevin Grossman’s “Reach West” blog. Read the full original post: “Go Ahead And Roll Your Big And Gaudy Candidate Experience Dice.”)

Image Credit: Pixabay