Candidate experience
It’s tough when you believe that you’re getting it right and your customers tell you differently. While most businesses take customer feedback seriously, I’m surprised that so few include potential colleagues in their feedback mix.
Often I hear that businesses want to improve their service to customers and that they know best how to do it. Many take a similar stance with recruitment – needing to extend talent pools, to improve diversity or to reduce attrition. That’s when I start thinking – if it’s not working now, how do you know it will get better? Who came up with the solution – you or your customers?
I recognise that it’s not always a bigoted approach that spurs businesses on, but a desire to stay in control. For some, the concept of asking the audience suggests that they are out of control in some way – well it’s their business isn’t it and they set the standards, right?
When I’m included in the conversation, I invite those businesses to take a step back and press the “pause” button. It’s time to ask the people you need in your business to tell you what’s important to them. Don’t assume anything about your audience, simply ask them directly. They’ll happily tell you what they value, what’s important and what they expect of you?
No surprises here, I’m a dedicated fan of seeking candidate and new hire feedback when validating recruitment protocols, tools and processes. You’ll know already that recruitment is at least a two-way process – job seekers collecting information about your business and you collecting information about them. You both need to make fact-based decisions about how well you’ll work together.
How you interact with your audience and time pressures all impact the candidate experience. For many, life needs to be instant and they don’t expect to wait around for unwelcomed decisions (delivered badly). But don’t take my word for it, be brave and ask them what they really want (it’s liberating) then press “continue”.
And don’t forget, “Feedback matters” (April 2019).
