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Perception Is Reality: Talent Magnets Attract The Best People

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‘We don’t much care about having you as an employee. Move along.’

I’m hearing a lot from top performing talent at leading technology companies jumping ship in droves. When it’s an AOL or a Yahoo facing tremendous uncertainty, dropping stock price, and competition on all fronts, it’s not difficult to understand. At some point you have to look out for number one. When it’s a LinkedIn, which negotiated its IPO with reasonable grace, it’s also not hard to understand – stock option lockups are expiring and people are finally free to look for the next big career thing. When it’s a Microsoft or an IBM, the reasons may be more about company culture, bureaucracy, or lack of leadership vision – also not hard to understand.

Not everyone is a top performer, though. Not everyone can be in the top one percent with nearly limitless opportunity. Most employees are distributed somewhere on the curve between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent that Jack Welch made famous. For these employees – and for those new to the job market – candidate experience matters. Candidate experience relates to how a company handles the recruitment, interview and hiring dance and influences everything that follows. I mean everything.

For today’s social-media empowered candidate, it’s not trivial to pan a company for a bad candidate or work experience. Sites like Glassdoor.com do more than give salary ranges and titles to job seekers – they provide the tools to strike back at a former employer or critique a prospective employer’s hiring process. That’s why it’s more important than ever for HR and hiring executives to manage the candidate experience very closely.

A report by The Talent Board revealed the results of a series of surveys the organization ran as part of its CandE Award, an annual (2011 was the first) competition designed to let companies benchmark their candidate experience against peer companies and organizations. This is worth a read, the report can give Leaders and HR new perspectives on what it’s like to be on the other end of the hiring experience – and where to improve. Something I’m passionate about of course. Not surprisingly, 2011 CandE winners proved to be extremely financially successful. Adidas ADDYY +% saw stock prices soar by 38% over that year, Herman Miller stock climbed 20%, and State Farm stock grew by over 11%. These companies are attracting – and keeping – top talent, so it stands to reason that their success will not be short-lived.

I came away from reading the report again thinking about my top 5 reasons for improving the candidate experience as this notion finds a wider audience each year. While many leaders might not believe it matters, with far more candidates available than jobs, it does. Someday unemployment will drop below eight percent and the economy will recover. When it does, you want employee prospects to have a productive candidate experience, or you may find hiring and retention of your talent to be problematic.

Here are my top 5 reasons why candidate experience matters to hiring leaders and recruiters alike:

1) First impressions are lasting impressions. If your career website is clunky, or if it takes an hour and 50 mouse-clicks to find a job listing and apply, you’re sending a not-so-subtle signal to job prospects: ‘We don’t much care about having you as an employee. Move along.’ Does anyone really want to work for this type of company?

2) Employees who like their jobs often try to get their friends on the same team. Many companies weight the hiring process toward employee referrals. Some even have a hiring bonus system in place. But if you force all candidates to go through a poorly thought out career website, even when their resumes have been hand-delivered to hiring managers, you haven’t optimized the process at all. And employees may begin to question the company’s culture or motives if people they recommend fall into the hiring black hole.

3) Job seekers want feedback. If you’re not going to hire a person, tell him or her quickly, and if possible tell the candidate why so he can improve his approach – or resume. It’s not enough to simply acknowledge the receipt of the resume or application and then drop all communication. You’ll create a negative impression – one which might find its way to Twitter or Facebook.

4) People move around in the course of a career. It’s inevitable. People are hired, work, and then something more exciting, challenging, meaningful, or profitable comes along. In the process they’re talking to lots of colleagues, people your company might be interested in hiring. If they had a bad experience during your hiring process or as an employee, the word will spread.

5) People want to believe they made a good choice. If you make the hiring process difficult it will be less likely, even if an offer is made, that you’ll be able to retain the employee. The hiring process sets expectations. It’s your opportunity to convince candidates your company is well-managed, fair to employees, and a good place to work.

Think about your first experience applying for a job. Was it frustrating, embarrassing, demoralizing? Odds are high you’ve had that experience at least once. Odds are it still stings. Don’t be that person, and don’t be that company. Be better now. Don’t wait until your talent slams the door.

A version of this post was first published on Forbes.com on June 18, 2012

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7 Ways Candidates Blow A Phone Interview

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I’m consistently amazed by how unaware the average job seeker is of how to establish a positive first impression on a phone interview. I hear the same frustrated complaints from employers of all industries and sizes – that candidates who voluntarily submitted their resumes in hopes of discussing a position they’re supposedly interested in just can’t seem to get it together. Remember when all you needed was a solid resume to be guaranteed a face-to-face interview? For the sake of saving time, resources, and money, recruiters have become much more selective on who they decide to meet in person. In an effort to weed out time-wasters and soft-skill-deficient candidates, recruiters are conducting phone screens to find out who’s off their game.

1. They’re unprepared to take the call.
If you’re 4 beers deep at a Yankees game or trying to wrestle a dirty diaper off a screaming baby, you probably shouldn’t answer a call you don’t recognize. Yet, most of the candidates my recruiting team speaks with are under the impression that it’s better to answer a call you’re not completely prepared for than to miss the call altogether. It’s not. If you find yourself in a situation that isn’t suitable for a professional conversation, don’t pick up. Instead, call back within 24 hours, after you’ve collected your thoughts, can speak confidently, and have locked down a quiet location.

Not to mention, they start timing you from the second they leave a voicemail, which brings me to my next point. If you’re actively looking, you should have a professional voicemail with specific instructions to avoid an unwanted game of phone tag. For example, “Hi, you’ve reached Mark Smith. If you’re calling in regards to my resume, please leave your name and number as well as the best times for me to reach you.”

2. They expect the recruiter to fill in the blanks.
“Hi, what job did I apply for again? What company are you calling on behalf of?” It pains me to admit this, but these responses are the norm when an employer reaches out to a candidate, even for high-level positions. You’re a job seeker, which means you probably apply to several jobs each week. We understand that it’s tough to keep track, but it’s essential – if only for the sake of a recruiter’s sanity – that you start taking notes. Just by picking up the phone and saying, “Hi Wendy, you must be calling in regards to the Customer Service position I applied for last week.” Mind blown.

3. They conduct an unorganized job search.
This goes hand in hand with my last point. Today, it’s not enough to print out a handful of resumes and call it a day. We always recommend that our candidates keep a spreadsheet of every job application they submitted with corresponding dates, company names, and relevant contacts. Or, if you’re a tech wiz, try these awesome job search apps. That way, when the phone rings, you’ll have a handy guide that’ll save you from playing guessing games. Also, it’s important to keep your background information and portfolios within arms reach to provide some quick material for preliminary questions. It says a great deal about your personal brand if you’re prepared to answer a challenging question, and even have some on-hand stats to back up your argument. And for bonus points, don’t forget to browse company websites and connect with HR personnel on LinkedIn. Taking that extra step makes a huge impression.

4. They don’t understand why recruiters really call.
More often than not, recruiters aren’t calling to simply schedule a personal interview; they’re calling to conduct a prescreen. In other words, to decide whether they want to move you forward. Remember all that research you were supposed to do when you applied for the gig? Use it to show recruiters you know something about how their company culture works and that you’re serious about the job.

5. They have a bad “radio personality.”
Phones are tough – all you have to make an impression is your voice. Candidates, especially introverts, often fail to heighten their energy over the phone. Nobody’s expecting you to sound like Ron Burgundy, but you should at the very least sound excited, confident, and prepared. Excessive “umms,” stammering, or sounding like you’re dead inside are huge turnoffs to recruiters. The only way to overcome this obstacle is through practice. Record yourself on any device you have handy, and ask yourself this difficult question: “Would you hire you?” Getting your career narrative down in a way that engages and connects with an employer is essential to winning that face-to-face meeting.

6. They have a weak or unprofessional online presence.
Chances are, if recruiters are interested in what you have to say, they’ll be googling you before then end of your conversation. A half-complete LinkedIn profile or a racy Facebook picture is all it takes to eliminate you from the game. Just last week, one of my recruiters found a candidate with a stellar background and scheduled her for an interview right away. But just minutes before their call, she discovered an R-rated photo online that involved a stripper pole. Needless to say, the recruiter’s mind was made up before the conversation started.

7. They fail to treat a phone interview with the same decorum as they would a personal one.
Just because you didn’t put on a suit or block out time in your day doesn’t mean it counts any less towards your chances of securing the job. Request follow up procedures, send personalized thank you notes, and be sure to highlight any takeaways to reinforce your sincerity. Take it from me, the small things really do matter.

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Employee Retention Begins in the Interview Process

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We all know how important employee retention is. It is vital. Given the cost to replace high performers, we develop employee engagement programs and job satisfaction surveys, to make sure our best employees are happy right where they are.

But don’t forget that your relationship with employees, and, therefore, your ability to retain them, begins before you even make a job offer.

A prospective employee starts building their opinion of your company during the interview process. In the 2015 Talent Trends survey from LinkedIn, 83 percent of respondents said a negative interview experience would change their opinion of a company. Many employers do not get off on the right foot with employees because they fail to approach the interview process from an “employee retention” point of view.

Sound familiar? Have you taken a look at your current interview process? You may be inadvertently killing your employee retention in the long run if you:

  1. Don’t personalize communication

The whole point of the interview process is to find out what type of employee a candidate would be, yet you don’t communicate with them the same way you do with your workforce.

Consider the emails that you send to job applicants. The 2015 Candidate Behavior Study from CareerBuilder found that 46 percent of job seekers had gotten an automated email, acknowledging the company had received their application. Are you allowing an algorithm to compose your emails to your prospective employees?

Granted the situation is different with a job application; it’s simple to have an automated email go out as soon as an applicant hits submit. But a personalized message can mean a lot more to them. In the CareerBuilder survey, 59 percent of candidates said a personalized email would have given them a more positive perception of the company. So, if you want to make a lasting impression on these candidates, find someone (a human being) to write and send a personalized email if you cannot.

2. Allow candidates to leave without a clear understanding of your company’s culture

When it comes to finding the best candidate for the job, you look at their cultural fit, as well as skills fit. Finding out about their personality allows you to assess if they’ll mesh with the overall company culture. Don’t ignore the fact that job candidates need the same opportunity to decide if your company is a good match for them.

Candidates who don’t have a full understanding of what your company is like may be shocked after they begin work. If the candidates expectations differ from reality, there’s a good chance they’ll start looking for different opportunities.

It’s important to give prospective employees the chance to interact with the company culture, rather than just being told about it. Show them around the office and introduce them to future co-workers. A 2015 survey from Virgin Pulse found that nearly 40 percent of employees listed their co-workers as the number one reason they love their company. Helping them build relationships with co-workers as early as possible will allow candidates to see if they get along with the people they’d be working with, and gives them stronger ties to the company.

3. Don’t show them their future at the company

“Where do you see yourself in five years?” is a very common interview question. However, often employers aren’t showing their employees or job candidates how they can achieve their goals with the company.

In the 2015 Why & How People Change Jobs survey from LinkedIn, 45 percent of respondents said that they left their last job because of a perceived lack of career opportunities, making it the number one reason.

Don’t wait until an employee has one foot out the door to start helping them define a career path with your company. When you ask a candidate what they want out of their future, begin to describing the opportunities for advancement your company offers. Tell them about the training they can receive or ways they can take on leadership roles.

Encourage candidates to meet with more experienced employees so that they can share their personal success stories. Personal success stories will not only prove to prospective employees that advancement is possible but will give them resources to help them begin to shape their personal future.resources

These are common mistakes in the interview process but they are not difficult to rectify, and the difference can mean long-term retention of valued employees. Get off on the right foot with all your employees by approaching your interview process from an “employee retention” point of view.

What thoughts do you have about other common interview practices are hurting employee retention in the long run?

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#TChat Preview: How Improving the Candidate Experience Empowers a Better Workforce

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The TalentCulture #TChat Show is back live on Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at its new time from 1-2 pm ET (10-11 am PT).

Last week we talked about how disruptive technologies will empower the future of HR, and this week we’re going to talk about how improving the candidate experience empowers a better workforce.

The hiring economy today is highly complex. Even though job growth has improved dramatically in the past 14 months, employers still struggle to fill jobs due to talent shortages.

The Candidate Experience (CandE) Awards were created to provide a universal measure of the candidate experience. The “winners” are the ones empowering a better workforce.

We hope you’ll join the #TChat conversation this week and share your questions, opinions and ideas with our guests and the TalentCulture Community.

Thank you to all our TalentCulture sponsors and partners: Dice, Jibe, TalentWise, Hootsuite, IBM, CareerBuilder, PeopleFluent, Silkroad, Predictive Analytics World for Workforce and HRmarketer Insight. Plus, we’re big CandE supporters!

#TChat Events: How Improving the Candidate Experience Empowers a Better Workforce

TChatRadio_logo_020813#TChat Radio — Wed, May 27th — 1 pm ET / 10 am PT

Join TalentCulture #TChat Show co-founders and co-hosts Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman as we talk about how improving the candidate experience empowers a better workforce with this week’s guests: Elaine Orler, Chairman and Co-Founder of the Talent Board and the CandEs; and Gerry Crispin, Co-Founder of the Talent Board and the CandEs.

 

Tune in LIVE online Wednesday, May 27th

#TChat Twitter Chat — Wed, May 27th — 1:30 pm ET /10:30 am PT Immediately following the radio show, Meghan, Kevin and Shep will move to the #TChat Twitter stream, where we’ll continue the discussion with the entire TalentCulture community. Everyone with a Twitter account is invited to participate, as we gather for a dynamic live chat, focused on these related questions:

Q1: What recruiting and hiring experiences have brands improved? #TChat (Tweet this Question)

Q2: Why do companies still struggle with employer branding strategy? #TChat (Tweet this Question)

Q3: What can job seekers do to improve their career search outcomes? #TChat (Tweet this Question)

Until then, we’ll keep the discussion going on the #TChat Twitter feed, our TalentCulture World of Work Community LinkedIn group, and in our TalentCulture G+ community. So feel free to drop by anytime and share your questions, ideas and opinions. See you there!!!

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Close The Skills Gap By Attracting The Best And Brightest Talent

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Written By: Tracey Arnish, Senior Vice President, Talent at SAP

The economy is improving, and changes in social norms have raised the stakes in recruitment. At the same time, there doesn’t appear to be enough people with the right complex skills entering the job market. How do you recruit the best and the brightest when there are five generations in the workforce? How do you reach them at all?According to a recent LinkedIn study, approximately 25% employed people are actively looking for their next role. However, a staggering 60% can be swayed to talk to a recruiter or their personal network about new job opportunity. And with the idea of a “job for life” long forgotten, talent is more willing to move than ever before.Recruiters are vying for the attention of a limited talent pool. But as we see from this LinkedIn survey, it’s not because people are not looking. In today’s competitive talent market, recruiters are tasked with finding talent that possess complex skills needed to guarantee future business success. And sometimes, these skills are so unique that it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.

3 Ways To Find A Candidate For That Hard-to-Fill Position

With 7 billion people inhabiting our planet, how do you find that one person that can help raise your brand to superstar status? Here are three strategies for attracting the best and brightest talent our world has to offer.

1.  Target potential candidates before there’s a new job opening

Data is everywhere. So why should data scientists and analysts have all the fun? Data mining for recruiters can be as simple as a Google search, a trip to Facebook or Twitter, and a visit to key blog sites. However, if you really want to take advantage of all that data, you need tools that can help you pull it all together, analyze it, and uncover critical insights. With some of today’s recruitment analytics tools, recruiters can pinpoint strategic geographies—even specific neighborhoods, college campuses, or competitor office buildings—to attract top talent. You can even find out which social media channels your potential talent pool uses to connect with the      outside world.

But analytics doesn’t just show you where your potential candidates are, it maximizes time and ROI by telling you which candidates are worth your time and effort to develop a relationship. Predictive analytics can match ideal candidates to open (and future) positions and when the time is right to actively recruit the potential candidate.

2. Go where your future talent lives, works, socializes, and plays

Gathering place. Confessional. Neighborhood. Community. Whatever you call it, social networks have created a place where people all over the world are testing new ideas, flaunting their successes, and looking for support to learn when they fail.

Social media is where others can live vicariously through our personal experiences. In addition to recruiting activities such as job fairs and college campus visits, actively listening, watching, and engaging with future job candidates on social media platforms is a great way for recruiters to get to know them. By putting their ear close to the proverbial social-media ground, recruiters can find out who’s out there. What do they want from work? What do they value? Are they happy with their current employer and why?

In addition to performing primary and secondary research on potential candidates, social media provides an opportunity for recruiters to draw an audience for their employer brand story.

3. Treat recruiting like marketing—everyone loves a good story

The power of how you tell a story can inspire and excite. Does your employer brand story resonate with the best candidates? Good employer brand storytelling fosters a personalized connection and uses peer-to-peer experiences to show authenticity and generate trust. And the best people to tell that story are not recruiters or marketers—it’s your employees in every area of the business. They are the ones who can tell candid stories that give a realistic view of life at your company. By weaving those stories together into the employer brand, you encourage the right people to apply because they value the perspective of their potential peers and like what they hear.

You think you found the “one”? You’re not done!

Just because you found the “one” and convinced this person to work for your company, it doesn’t mean your job is done. Rather, it’s only the beginning. Hiring managers must consistently re-recruit their employees to keep them engaged and loyal.

Here’s some tips on how to get started:

1. Connect employees’ work with their individual values.

No matter the generation, all employees want to feel valued. They want to perform duties that have meaning and have an impact on the overall company. Find out what each employee values—even down to the social causes that are close to their heart.

2. Create opportunities for consistent, 360-degree feedback.

Another thing people always appreciate is feedback—and not just during annual performance reviews. This dialogue should take place weekly and provide actionable items, such as signing up for corporate learning, setting up a meeting with another colleague, or asking for the opportunity to take part in a meaningful project to gain leadership skills, make a greater impact in the company and world, or spice up daily life at work.

3. Help employees picture themselves moving through the ranks.

If employees see a future with their current employer, they are more likely to resist the temptation of a recruiter’s call. Look for internal talent when filling open positions. If your talent doesn’t have that one unique, critical skill set, see if it’s possible to help an employee develop that skill through corporate learning before you reach out to your list of potential candidates outside the company.

Above all, no recruiting strategy is complete without the right leadership—and that is especially true for re-recruiting plans. When there’s a management team that understands the value of developing a competitive workforce, you’ll have the time, money, resources,
and support to convince hiring managers that re-recruiting your employees is just as important as recruiting new ones.

Tracey(About the Author: Tracey Arnish was appointed Senior Vice President, Talent in March 2013. In this role Tracey is responsible for SAP’s End to end Talent strategy ensuring that SAP continues to live the philosophy that “Everyone is a Talent”, and that each individual is fully enabled to grow a meaningful career at SAP. Under Tracey’s leadership Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards and Talent Management and Development, are responsible for the design of leading solutions in support of a compelling career experience for each and every one of SAP’s 65,000 talents globally, and ensuring that SAP has the talent it needs now and for the future. With over 15 years of progressive Human Resources experience, Tracey has worked in both the private and public sector with organizations. Passionate about building an organization that attracts and retains the best talent, Tracey brings focus to developing a culture that enables the achievement of the strategic business plans and supports colleagues in achieving their career best with an employer of choice. A mentor and coach to others Tracey is passionate about supporting talent and helping others realize their full potential.)

To discuss World of Work topics like this with the TalentCulture community, join our online #TChat Events each Wednesday, from 6:30-8pm ET. Everyone is welcome at events, or join our ongoing Twitter and G+ conversation anytime. Learn more…

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Employer Black Holes & the Candidate Experience: #TChat Preview

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Originally posted by Matt Charney, one of #TChat’s moderators, on MonsterThinking Blog

With the way employers and job seekers alike refer to the “black hole” of online job search, you’d think it’s some sort of industry wide conspiracy, given its endemic proportions.

The candidate experience, writes #TChat co-host Kevin Grossman, is almost always negative or non-existent, regardless of the job title, function or level:

“There’s only one job per multiple candidates, so what has their experience been with American corporations and SMB and startups alike?

Overall, pretty crappy. I mean, it’s not news to know how poor the applicant experience is and has been for a long, long time.

Case in point — I recently went through a fairly high-level job search with a well-known firm in the HR marketplace. Considering that they should know better the best practices of recruiting and hiring, I was left with inconsistent acknowledgement and no closure. Still. Even thought I didn’t get the job, of which the other primary candidate definitely had the edge on me, I was led to believe that there were other opportunities.

And then nothing. Crickets chirping in the night.”

Grossman’s experience, and frustration, echoes the experience of countless others, but he points to two of the almost universal expectations candidates have when applying for a position: acknowledgment and closure.

These are pretty reasonable demands, and the fact that most employers aren’t meeting even this basic baseline defies reasonable explanation.  The truth is, employers have gotten pretty good about the acknowledgment part; most applicant tracking systems have been programmed to automatically e-mail a confirmation directly to the job seeker for their records, and it’s sent out the moment they apply to an open requisition.

It’s the closure part organizations seem to be having problems with, to the frustration of candidates and to the detriment of their employment and consumer brands alike.  But the thing is, it’s just as easy to notify applicants that they haven’t been selected via e-mail, instantaneously, as it is to notify them when their application is received.

But no one likes to be the bearer of bad news, least of all recruiters.  Most seem to feel that letting people know they’re no longer under consideration opens a door that they’re trying to close, and that, in effect, no news is good news.  But it’s not.

In fact, for employers and job seekers alike, it’s very bad news indeed.  At Monster, we’re committed to advancing the conversation, and searching for the solution, for an improved candidate experience and to help employers transform the “black hole” into a brand-building talent pipeline.

That’s why we’re excited to be participating in tonight’s #TChat, Workplace Culture Branding – Employer Black Holes and the Candidate Experience. Join @kevinwgrossman @meghanmbiro and @talentculture at 8 PM ET tonight as we tackle this very important issue.

We might not come up with all the answers, but we hope these questions, and these related articles, help inform, inspire and impact your perspective on improving the candidate experience:

#TChat Questions and Recommended Reading: 2.15.11

Q1. Is the applicant ‘black hole’ experience real when applying for a job?  If so, why does it exist?

Read: Candidate Experience Isn’t About Pleasing Everyone by Claudia Faust

Q2. How does candidate/applicant experience impact employment brand or company culture?

Read: When Potential New Hires Are Searching for YOU by Emily Bennington

Q3: At a minimum, what should job seekers expect from employers to which they apply?

Read: Candidate Experience and Common Sense by Tim Sackett

Q4: What do employers owe to applicants?

Read: Candidate Experience: A Question of Values by Howard Adamsky

Q5: Should the candidate experience apply to applicants?  When does an applicant become a ‘candidate?’

Read: Candidate vs. Customer Experience by Gerry Crispin

Q6: What are some creative ways job seekers can get through the black hole or recruiters can handle the applicant tsunami?

Read: How to Get An Employer’s Attention in 20 Seconds by Jessica Holbrook Hernandez

Q7: Job seekers: What has your candidate experience been like during your most recent job hunt?

The Employment/Applicant Transaction: Acknowledgment and Closure by Kevin W. Grossman

Q8: Employers: what are you doing to improve candidate experience?

Read: Eliminate the Black Hole by Colin Kingsbury

Visit www.talentculture.com for more great information on #TChat and resources on culture fatigue and how to overcome it!

Our Monster social media team supports the effort behind #TChat and its mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate – the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

We’ll be joining the conversation live every Tuesday night as co-hosts with Kevin Grossman, Meghan M. Biro and Steve Levy from 8-9 PM E.T. via @monster_works and @MonsterWW.  Hope to see you tonight at 8 PM ET for #TChat!