No matter the size of your business, large or small, talent is the key to achieving your business goals. However, since this is true for every business, it translates to a sea of competitors all vying for the same limited talent pool.
How then can you stay ahead of the competition and become an enterprise that attracts top talent? It starts with engagement. Engaging talent isn’t something that just happens. In today’s hyper-competitive job market, attracting the best talent requires a proactive approach. This means consistently building meaningful relationships with candidates earlier in the recruiting process. To that end, we have created this list of five ways to engage top talent in the recruiting process.
What is Candidate Engagement?
Put simply, candidate engagement is the process of building personal relationships with your candidates. Candidate engagement isn’t just sending messages. It should encompass every step of the recruiting and hiring process and be used as a key driver for the overall candidate experience. One study done by CareerBuilder showed that 80% of candidates use the hiring process to determine how a company will treat its employees.
In the digital age of employer reviews, a negative recruiting experience can spread like wildfire with the simple click of a button. A chain reaction that is best avoided when you consider that 50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even for a pay increase. Today’s candidates don’t have time to waste with a prospective employer who takes too long to hire, doesn’t communicate effectively, or gives a disorganized first impression. In the current employment market, top candidates have the opportunity to be selective about the companies they wish to work with, not vice versa. So, how do you keep candidates engaged?
Show Them You’re a Great Employer to Work For
Showing potential candidates what working for your company it’s actually like is an effective way to get them excited before the application process even begins. It’s called Employer Branding, and it describes your reputation as an employer and communicates that your company is a great place to work.
Get candidates, even passive ones, engaged and excited about working for your brand before the hiring process even begins with well-targeted content. By sharing employee testimonials, showcasing work-related events, and spotlighting ways your company gives back to its community you can create a positive impression.
Leverage Your Current Employees
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, employee voice is 3x more credible than corporate messaging when it comes to talking about what it’s like to work for a company. Your current employees are your strongest brand ambassadors and prospective hires want to connect authentically through them. After all, who better to speak about a day in the life, and your company’s mission and culture than those who are living and breathing it every day?
Create Engaging Ads
Your job advertisement is the first official touchpoint between you and your next potential employee. In the competitive world of recruitment, first impressions are everything, and as the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Creating an engaging job advertisement is more than just listing the benefits of the role. It is about communicating the central requirements and responsibilities of a role with engaging content while demonstrating your unique brand identity. Working with Seiza can be the first step to cultivating a strong employee ambassador program.
Follow up With Candidates Early and Often
This is where many employers fall short of candidate expectations. However, taking the time to keep your candidates engaged throughout the hiring journey can significantly improve the quality and quantity of your intake levels. Throughout the hiring process, follow up with candidates:
Immediately following an application submission
Each time they move to a new stage of the recruiting funnel
Immediately following the interview
While they are still in the consideration stage
When updating their application status
When requesting additional or follow-up interviews
When making them a job offer
To provide them with feedback
How you treat job candidates, even the ones you don’t hire broadcasts a clear message about your company's values and culture. Keeping candidates engaged can be especially important for companies whose recruitment process is lengthier. According to research by the Talent Board, candidates are 52% more likely to refer a company to others, apply again, and even make purchases as a customer if they receive job-related feedback the same day as their interview.
At a glance, the follow-up process can appear overwhelming. But the Seiza platform is designed to automate candidate follow using SMS. The process is streamlined, sets up with just a few clicks, and helps to ensure you’re engaging with over 90% of the candidates who apply with your organization with ease.
Invest in Technology
Seiza’s recruitment automation technology has made it possible for employers to streamline and speed up their recruitment processes without compromising integrity. It takes the challenge out of candidate engagement and provides you with shortcuts to instantly find qualified candidates, engage them and track them without wasting time and energy.
Research done by the Addison group has shown that 70% of job seekers lose interest in a job if they don’t hear back in less than a week. If you routinely find yourself losing top prospective candidates, need help with employer branding, or want to set up an employee referral system contact Seiza today for a no-obligation demo, and a free trial of our recruitment automation platform.