Applicant experience, Employer branding and potential customers : Do you want to know how to improve your Recruitment process and Branding at the same time ?

Old habits die hard.

Dear employers, you don’t know it but one of your habits is costing you a lot.

For a long time, the job applicant experience has been disregarded. Increased unemployment, continuous job updates and declining value of qualifications have not made the situation any better. Ah, academic qualifications ! For many years, these were considered as a safe & reliable means of getting an opportunity to have a better life, and thus, our parents pushed us to study more and more. Unfortunately, all the parents did the same with their children. As a result, there is now more supply than demand in many areas. Consequently, given a choice, we pay little attention to the way we treat job applicants. On the applicant side, it has even come to be seen as a necessary part of the process. The situation is comparable to elite colleges and institutions associated with abusive hazing. Every newcomer is well aware that this is totally abnormal and yet they put up with it. Then the next year they become the tormentors themselves and this vicious circle persists.

It’s about time we broke this vicious circle, don’t you think ?

Many have certainly, and earnestly, thought “yes” as the answer to this question but will actually do nothing in reality. Quite simply because companies see no point in changing a method that succeeds and costs them little as well. Then, it is also mostly the problem of the majority of people, but not of those who are well off.

Does it cost you little ? Really ? Let’s delve a little deeper into the topic with an assessment, by starting with an overview of recruitment practices today.

Candidate side.

We are now used to receiving this kind of acknowledgement in response to our applications:

« Unfortunately, if we have not contacted you within three weeks, please consider your application to be unsuccessful. »

Moreover, according to a study carried out by Régions Job (French website) in 2017:

- 64% of applications went unanswered. Even when the candidates tried recontacting the recruiter (35%).

- 79% of candidates say they have had no response after an interview.

Personally, I think that these results are largely due to the fact that the practice of “ghosting” has migrated from the private to the professional sphere. For the sake of convenience.

No confrontation, no problem.

Out of cowardice, in other words. Because giving bad news makes you uncomfortable. Because we know that rejecting an application creates disappointment and, potentially, a sense of unfairness on the part of the candidate. We know that he or she will ask for an explanation. That he or she will explain or share his/her disappointment. In short, he or she will behave like a human being. And, in Human Resources 2.0, there is no more room for the human, seemingly.

All the more so now that most companies are using ATS to help them manage their recruitment. In other words, it is a robot that makes the first selection according to a checklist and predefined parameters. It is a difficult hurdle to overcome when you have an atypical profile or simply don’t fit the tick-boxes.

Stop for a minute to reflect on this behaviour.

Transpose that into another profession. Imagine doctors decide to “ghost” you instead of coming to tell you that someone in your family died, simply because they don’t want to deal with your screams and tears. Imagine they send you the same automated message as above in order to avoid taking responsibility for breaking bad news and, more importantly, explaining the circumstances of the death.

Would you find that normal ?

I hope not. Every profession has a less attractive aspect to contend with. That’s all there is to it. So why has this become “normal” in recruitment ? Well, let’s be clear, disrespect and indifference are not normal. Regardless of the field or profession.

I’m sure that there are a few people reading this who object and say: “Oh no, we don’t do that, we do answer applicants !”

Indeed, let’s talk about your answers.

« We have carefully reviewed your application. In spite of all the qualities it has to offer, we regret to inform you that we have not retained your application.»

Without even bothering to personalise the email reply.

Oddly enough, companies consider the very fact of having mailed this generic message to be a great effort and they don’t realise that there is something wrong with it. However, it seems to me that personalisation should be the bottom line. The applicants has spent time on their CV and cover letter to tailor them specifically to your company. The least you can do is to give them the real reasons for your rejection. The bare minimum you could do would be to write his or her name after « dear » instead of « Dear applicant ».

Meanwhile, you have no difficulty with personalisation when it comes to your Marketing strategy. Why not do apply it to in your recruitment process ? Do you believe that your applicants and your future (potential) customers live in two parallel universes and never….meet each other ?

Consequences ?

« After a poor applicant experience, 92% of applicants negatively commented on the company’s activity to their family and friends. »

Moreover, according to a Gartner study, 1 in 5 candidates would engage in negative activity after a bad experience. Since we live in the era of social networks, it isn’t just restaurants and hotels that are visibly online, but your company as well. For the record, when I was a manager in an hostel, bad marks were to be avoided at all costs because for a 0 on Booking.com, for example, since 10 ratings at 10/10 were necessary in order to compensate for this bad rating.

Oh God! Another candidate who complains. But what’s this article again ? Is it going to be like this for another 5 paragraphs ? I can assure you, no it won’t. But an assessment of the situation has to be done for both sides.

So let’s move on to the recruiters’ side.

Recruiters side.

The recruitment team has several problems :

• Too many applications received (and to deal too).
• Shortage of “manpower” in certain sectors such as IT, construction or even health and similar sectors.
• Difficulties in respecting impartiality in order to avoid any discrimination (consciously or not). Let us remember that recruiters are human beings with, potentially, biases and preconceived ideas.
• Difficulties in evaluating soft and hard skills. The candidates who sell themselves as the best aren’t necessarily the candidates with the best team spirit and skills.

As a consequence :

A recruitment process that is too long and expensive with a high risk of turnover and which yet again lead to further lengthy and expensive recruitment process.

Again, resulting in a vicious circle.

Above all, poor HR management practices inevitably leads to suspicion about your organization, work environment, and also internal hierarchy all of which make most candidates uneasy.

Going beyond the brand image, when you recruit a candidate who turns out to be toxic for the team, the whole team suffers from the consequences. Decreased motivation, resigned attitude, absences, bad atmosphere, resignations and… reduced productivity for your company !

You think you save time, energy and money by totally ignoring the candidate experience. Nevertheless, it seems that is very bad for your employer’s brand. However, even on the candidate side, we fully understand that recruitment cannot be done lightly in view of the possible consequences on your company. What do we do, then ?

Can we really improve the recruitment process ?

Take atypical profiles as an example.

Atypical profiles are becoming more and more bankable, it seems. They have the advantage of being reactive profiles that adapt more easily to change. RH Matin even stated back in 2019 that « Tomorrow, atypical profiles will be the norm ». A French article that is based on Unique(s) (new book written by Alexandre Pachulski, co-founder of Talentsoft).

That’s all there is to it.

Nevertheless, atypical profiles are largely invisible in the market and as such systematically ignored by recruiters. We would almost have to force their door, in order to take a look at us for more than 2 seconds. Certainly, these profiles are not seen as a perfect fit to a recruiter’s requirements. Additionally, recruiters don’t know what to do. So, they put these applicants to one side, telling themselves that there will be someone else who will take care of them one day. In other words, the world of recruitment is struggling to keep pace with digital transformation.

The result is recruitment practices dating from another time - another century - but in fact based on criteria that do not favour potential but rather a social divide instead.

Invariably, when you are atypical profile, you do not come from a wealthy background, you must spend 3 times more energy in your research, 3 times more energy during your interview to reassure the recruiter at length and breadth of your profile as if you were a big wolf terrorizing Little Red Riding Hood.

And again, that’s if you have been given the chance to get an interview in the first place.

Most of the time, your search will hit a wall. This wall is the other one.

The other person is the one who forgot that one day someone gave him a chance to get the job. On top of that, having a short memory, he or she won’t make the same effort to give you that chance too. All the more, even less effort to answer you. To actually respond to the applications, they get ? But you are crazy ! The recruiters have better things to do. It is not their job. The automatic email will be fine.

Ahh, the ritual of sending CVs.

Here i’m just going to quote an part of an intelligent french article from Forbes below.

« Most companies adopt a classic recruitment process: writing a job description, posting the offer and / or hunting down profiles on the internet, preselection of applicants on CVs, meeting with HR, second interview with the future manager, taking any references, then, hiring. The problem is that the very structure of this process is a factor of both inefficiency and exclusion.

How an ineffective pre-selection method (CV preselection), based on biased material and which fundamentally undermines diversity in a company, is still at the heart of recruitment’s practices and the management of human ressources ? »

However :

« Many studies carried out have indeed led to the conclusion that the information contained in the CV (including the academic background of people) had an extremely low predictive power (0.18 on average on a scale ranging from 0 to 1, where the assessment of personality and / or intellectual aptitudes makes it possible to reach levels of 0.30 to 0.60). »

At the end of the day, it makes you wonder what a company want ? Do you really prefer to take a person only because they have been to the “right” university, the course or taken a path that suits you well, rather than a person with real potential to invest in your business ?

If you answered « yes » to that question, there is nothing I can do for you. It is Social Distancing. And I’m not talking about COVID-19 social distancing. In 1960, meant creating a gap between different social classes, or even a refusal of relationships between each other.

How to solve this problem ? How to succeed in finding the best potential while at the same time giving a chance to atypical profiles and also taking care of everyone’ sensitivities ?

In others words :

How to successfully create a high quality applicant experience with great branding and target potential customers at the same time ?

Is there a method to get the perfect match without offending everyone’s sensibilities ?

Applicants are often criticized for complaining about the situation without providing any solutions. Quite ironic when you think about that. Anyway, I decided to be constructive and to provide you a solution. Even incremental solutions, depending on the point of view.

Let’s play a guessing game.

Isn’t there a way to effectively assess softs-skills other than by personality tests via AI (which can be influenced by programmers, remember) ?

Think.

Which activity allows you to really get an insight into the personality of your friends and family ? Who has leadership skills ? Who is a team player ? Who can perserve ? Who is a great strategist ?

Think harder.

Last clue: Who is a good or bad loser?

Here we go !

Games.

Indeed, when you think about it seriously. Games during a recruitment process are a great way to put into practice, both relational and technical aspects. Moreover, a way to find out who embellished their CV or their performance.

Simple example: Do you want to test leadership, initiative, team spirit, and cooperation ? Organize an escape game with your applicants!

Several companies have already decided to use games (or gaming) in their recruitment process: escape game, battle code and video games have become part of their recruitment programme! This is indeed the case for Sopra Steria, the European leader in digital and technological consulting and services, which immerses candidates into its world through games. Then, there are also recruiting firms that combine recruitment with video games, such as E-Corp Gaming.

The investment may seem too much for you, but it actually worth it. Undeniably, this approach allows you:

• To give back real values to your HR department
• Give a real chance to every candidate
• Promote your brand image.
• Differentiate your company because the practice isn’t yet a trend in current recruitment processes.
• Generate engagement by (genuinely) caring about the candidate’s experience. More so, potentially client leads.
• Boost your e-reputation. So, your reputation in short.

On one hand, the major inconvenience remains the necessary investment, both financially and human. Concerning the human part, we can’t help you and it remains your choice whether to humanize (or not) your recruitment by having a team really dedicated to enabling the best candidate experience.

If the financial aspect can be daunting at first, it is possible to look at a less expensive method than to organize Battle code, Escape Game sessions or even Together Day by making a game on an application. This is especially apt during this uncertain health period. Plus, who doesn’t have a smartphone nowadays ?

Now go back to see the number of applications received for your vacancies. How many potential clients / associates have you lost ?
How many people with potential applied but were automatically excluded because they did not meet all the requirements ?

Wouldn’t it be smarter to manage your recruiting in a more human way ? To give your recruitment a more personal touch ?

If needed, here is the french version : https://medium.com/p/19cff381d4d/edit