Good and Bad Practices
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How can employers make the recruitment process more effective for candidates?
Perhaps it is no longer a secret to anyone that selection is becoming an increasingly challenging task for businesses. There are a number of reasons for this - starting with the lack of sufficiently qualified and well-prepared staff to fill certain types of positions, through the inability of some companies to meet the sometimes too high expectations of candidates, and ending with the problems of constant turnover and "drain" of talent abroad. These are just a few of the factors that predetermine the challenges in the field of attracting talent.
However, often the reasons why a company does not meet the goals it has set for itself in the "selection" direction are not only tied to these factors external to the company, but also have a lot to do with how the companies themselves have structured their processes internally. Many companies have not yet fully adapted to the ever-changing market, and this is precisely what is holding them back in attracting the right staff.
Is there a way around this problem? How can we improve our internal recruitment processes so that we achieve greater success in attracting the right people and ensure their long-term retention from the very first steps of their experience with our company?
The practices described below can be useful to you precisely in this direction.
1. Shorten the process as much as possible.
Already, more and more large international companies are trying to escape the model of multi-level interviews, assessment centres and selection processes are becoming more dynamic because companies realise that the faster wins. While candidates for your company have to go through five steps, there are at least three other companies fighting for them in the meantime, where the process is a maximum of three stages. How can we handle the correct assessment of candidates in fewer steps? It is a good practice to bet on longer but fewer interviews that test the skill-set of the candidates and at the same time explore the necessary competencies for a given position. Of course, the various tests can be included in this process, but not as a separate step, but as part of one of the interviews.
2. Don't rely on candidates to come to you on their own
The number of active applicants to jobs.bg decreases significantly with each passing year. If, for example, an advertisement for an Office Manager used to generate about 200-300 applications, today we are happy if the number of applicants reaches 90. Suitable candidates are usually not actively looking for a job, which means that we ourselves have to reach them and be proactive on LinkedIn, Facebook, at career events and other recruitment channels.
3. Be creative
As it became clear above, traditional recruitment channels are working less and less. Especially if your goal is to attract talent from the younger generation, you will hardly succeed through jobs.bg, and even Facebook is no longer a preferred social network among Generation Z . Bet on the unconventional and look for your candidates where they spend most of their time. If we are talking about social networks among young people, then you should definitely focus your efforts on Instagram and building a strong employer branding related to music events (concerts, festivals, etc.). If you are looking for experienced engineers, maybe engineer.bg is your right channel.
4. Set clear expectations
It is good for candidates to be prepared for what awaits them in the selection process.
This not only improves their candidate experience, but also gives them the opportunity to plan their application to you and combine it as well as possible with the other positions they are applying for. At the very beginning of the process, give a clear indication of how many and what the upcoming steps are and how they are located in time. This will give clarity to candidates and help them to be more engaged in the selection process.
5. Maintain constant communication with candidates
Talking about candidate engagement in the process, it's good to know that it depends entirely on us and our approach to them. The more often they hear news from us, the more "warm" and immediate is the communication with them, which is inevitably appreciated and can contribute to choosing one company over another. A good practice here is to be on the phone at least once a week with the candidate to keep them informed of how the process is going. Even if you have no news, call again and simply (re)say that you are waiting, but your interest in the candidate has not diminished in any way.
6. Shorten the time between the final interview and the offer as much as possible
Suitable candidates are often positively affected by the final meeting with the company. If you can make a decision and send an offer while this effect is still a fact, the chances of the offer being accepted increase significantly. Plus, no one likes to hang around for days or even weeks after the final interview. This can discourage candidates and even make them hesitate to choose a company.
7. Always give clarifications on the offer
Don't think that once you've submitted an offer, your job is done. On the contrary, this very moment is the most crucial for whether the candidate will accept. It is a good practice to organise an additional meeting or at least a telephone conversation in which you explain the terms of the offer, set clear expectations for the candidate's development in your company and, of course, explain to him exactly why he is the chosen candidate and why you would be happy for him to become part of your company.
In conclusion, we can say that the best practices described above cost you almost nothing, but can dramatically improve your recruitment success rate and thus win you the right talent to successfully grow your business.
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