Upload
ere-media
View
2.107
Download
2
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Dr. John Sullivan's presentation from the ERE Expo Spring 2010.
Citation preview
Improving Recruiting Function Performance… by Systematically
Managing the Candidate Experience
Convincing the CFO to fund your CE program
ERE Spring March 17, 2010
© Dr. John Sullivan www.drjohnsullivan.com
Dr. Sullivan’s current books
On-boarding HR Strategy Productivity Metrics
Recruiting Employee referrals Employer Branding Recruiting tools
3
My three goals
1. To make you think… and to realize once and for all how bad you actually treat your applicants
2. To provide you with ammunition, so that you can make a convincing business case to the grumpiest CFO, so that they will provide you with the necessary funding to improve your candidate experience
3. To answer all of your questions
4
Please feel free to interrupt to ask a question or to provide your own experience at any time.
5
Candidate experience topics
1. A definition of “a candidate experience” 2. Quick indicators that you might have a problem 3. What are the characteristics of great customer
service 4. The 12 elements of a great candidate experience 5. Possible program goals and targets 6. Making the business case for a great candidate
experience 7. Some action steps to consider 8. Additional questions
6
The long term cost of a “bad candidate experience”
A quote… demonstrating that they never forget
I had an interview 20 years ago that I have never forgotten. I was then offered the job and I turned it down because even at 19, I knew that if they couldn’t treat me well during the interview, they wouldn’t treat me well as an employee.
Caron Osberg on ERE.Net
7
What exactly do we mean by the “candidate experience”
8
The definition of a “candidate experience”
Definition 1. The perception of how well both new hires and
rejected applicants were treated by the firm during each “touch point” of the recruiting process
2. The process begins with researching the company and its jobs, and ends with their lasting memory of the total experience after the decision is made
3. The candidates perception, whether pos. or neg., will invariably be rapidly spread to others
4. CE may impact future product sales, your employer brand, retention rates and the ability to attract top-quality candidates in the future
9
“Snapshot indications” that you have problems
11 obvious signs of a bad “candidate experience”
1. Job descriptions are painfully dull (worse than the real job)
2. Your website has only positive information
3. No CRM software in use
4. No personalized acknowledgment of every app.
5. Schedule multiple interviews during their workday
6. Can’t track the status of their application on-line
10
“Snapshot indications” that you have problems
11 obvious signs of a bad “candidate experience” 7. You lie to them in your rejection letter about the
actual reasons why they were rejected 8. You don’t search the Internet to find out what
they are saying on Twitter 1 min after your interview
9. An average recruiter requisition load of 40+ 10. Don’t track if an applicant is also a customer 11. You literally tell them… “don’t call us, we’ll call
you” when they want to know their status
11
The key to developing your own great candidate experience… is to benchmark and learn from
the very best non-HR customer service processes
12
Who are the very best customer service firms?
Benchmark firms
1. The DMV
2. Zappos
3. Amazon
4. FedEx
5. The Ritz-Carlton
What makes their customer service so great?
13
Who are the very best at customer service?
What elements make their service so great? 1. Rapid response 2. Flexible to your needs, not rigid 3. They are honest 4. They listen 5. No unpleasant surprises 6. They solicit feedback and change as a result of it 7. They keep you updated 8. If they can’t do something, they explain why
14
Be careful. You need to set your customer service levels based
on the the level of investment that an applicant to your process must make
15
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
What are the investments in a job search?
1. Hours researching your company and job
2. Hours spent in preparing the resume
3. Hours associated with actually applying
4. Hours of preparation for the interview
5. Travel time and costs
6. Lost work hrs, $ and family time for interviews
16
What is your estimate of the dollar value of an applicant’s investment?
“I estimate that the average professional candidate voluntarily spends or invests more than $1,000 worth of their own time and money in preparing for and participating in an organization’s hiring process.
Given that level of investment, they deserve to be treated like good customers.”
17
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
What other “application experience” requires the same level of investment on the applicant’s part?
1. Ordering a Starbucks coffee
2. Visiting someone’s house
3. Your kids applying to their “dream” college
4. The mortgage loan application process
18
Finding an equivalent employer brand to benchmark
BTW – when developing your employer brand, you can only learn from those brands that require the equivalent level of “decision investment”
Obviously not Starbucks, Disney or Nike
But instead, the same high level of investment in the decision that you put into picking your kid’s college or where to invest your 401k pension money
19
Let’s now use the loan application process as a guide… to identify the kinds of customer
experiences that all applicants expect
20
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Loan application steps are the same as job apps.
a. Research the firm
b. Prepare an application
c. Schedule and participate in an interview
d. An assessment process where the candidate waits
e. An offer is made
f. Actions after the acceptance/ rejection
21
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Using loan application steps as a guide, at each step, what would an applicant’s expectation be? The first application step is…
a) Research the bank What you should expect – 1. Information that is easy to find… with no lies
or omissions 2. A reasonable chance of getting a loan (no loan
freezes)
22
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Loan application Step Two b. Prepare support documents, fill out the forms
and apply
What to expect – 3. No surprises – Explain the process and what
factors you are assessing them on
23
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Loan Application Step Three c. The interview
What to expect –
4. Schedule – Find out when is the best time for you 5. Listen – Allow them to comment & ask questions 6. Answer questions - Answer applicant’s questions
rapidly and honestly 7. Focus – Managers will devote time to the process
and be focused during interviews
24
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Loan Application Step Four d. The assessment process, during which the
candidate waits
What to expect –
8. Updates – To provide progress reports/ updates so
you know where you stand and what time is
remaining
25
Identifying the equivalent experience to benchmark
Loan Application Step Five & Six e. An offer is made
f. Actions after the decision to accept/ reject
What to expect – 9. Feedback – Honest feedback so they can improve 10. Complaints – Have a complaint procedure 11. Measure – The bank gathers data on… loan
applicant satisfaction, their future revenue contributions and what they say on the web
26
Based on what we’ve learned from the loan application example… there are the 12 key
elements of a great candidate experience
27
The 12 critical elements of a candidate experience
1. “Touch point” – Identify each major one 2. Info – Provide current transparent information that
they desire… with no deceit or hiding 3. Real chance – Only post jobs where outside
applicants have a realistic chance 4. No surprises – Explain the process and tell them
what you are assessing 5. Wasted time – Respect an applicant’s time and
interview availability 6. Listen – Allow them to comment and ask
questions on a periodic basis 7. Answer questions – Answer an applicant’s
questions rapidly and honestly
28
The 12 critical elements of a candidate experience
8. Focus – Managers must devote time to the process and be focused during interviews
9. Updates – Provide progress reports/updates
10. Feedback – Honest feedback so they can improve
11. Complaints – Have a complaint procedure 12. Assessment – Gather data on applicant and hiring
manager satisfaction, product purchases and web comments
29
The key lesson to learn is that… when any applicant makes a heavy investment in
a selection process… you must proportionately raise the level of
customer service and the “candidate experience”
30
“Applicants are volunteers. They are volunteering and investing their time when they participate in your selection process.
Smart companies realize that fact upfront and thus, they “treat them like volunteers” throughout every step of the hiring process.”
31
What are the goals or targets of a program designed to improve the candidate experience
32
The goals of a great candidate experience program
Over-all goals of a great candidate experience:
1. Excite candidates about the job
2. Calm candidates, so they perform the best
3. Build trust, so they believe what we say
4. Sell them, so they are more likely to say yes
5. Increase our image as a great employer
6. Increase sales
33
The three levels to aim for
The three levels of a candidate experience to target 1. Employer brand ambassadors – At this level,
they become your evangelists and a referral source
2. Neutrals – At this level, they say little & soon forget the experience
3. Lifelong enemies – At this level, they become a lifelong enemy and proactively spread the word against you
34
Making a compelling business case for improving the candidate experience, at least in key jobs
Let’s start with direct revenue losses
35
The business case for the candidate experience
Potential revenue and sales losses include: 1. Angry people mean lost sales among themselves,
family, friends & their network (Especially in retail)
2. It may also indirectly hurt your product brand 3. If they work in our industry, it may hurt B2B
sales 4. Loss of a competitive advantage – losing top
candidates to competitors means that they get more innovation & new products, but we do not
36
Now let’s shift to significant recruiting and retention impacts
37
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
Negative recruiting impacts may include: 1. The #1 reason why candidates reject offers is… 2. Employer brand image damage – “others” now
own your employer brand image. They can easily spread rumors, stories and recommendations against working at your firm to complete strangers on social networks and sites like glassdoor.com
3. Reduced employee referrals – as employees hear how their highly regarded colleagues were treated, referrals will nose dive (23%)
38
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
Negative recruiting impacts may include: 4. Top performer mid-process dropouts – the
greatest impact will be on those in the highest demand, including top performers, innovators and game changers
5. A loss of return candidates – finalists that would have been hired if a super strong candidate wasn't in the final candidate mix, will likely never reapply. As will “soon to be qualified” candidates that were rejected merely because they didn’t have quite enough experience
39
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
Negative recruiting impacts may include: 6. The loss due to candidate’s word-of-mouth –
friends, family and colleagues of a poorly treated candidate will now never apply themselves
7. More hiring mistakes – confused, tired , surprised and frustrated applicants just don't perform as well during interviews
8. Higher interview drop out rates – because employed candidates can’t easily schedule during normal work hours
9. Higher website drop rates – they aren’t authentic
40
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
16 negative recruiting impacts include: 10. Managers and recruiters will aim lower –
because they won't really know the reason why they are not getting hires, they may mistakenly assume that “there are just no quality candidates out there” and settle for poor quality hires
11. Loss of quality recruiters – recruiters will be frustrated and the powerful relationships that your top recruiters built up with candidates will be lost the minute that the candidate experiences the abusive process
41
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
16 negative recruiting impacts include: 12. Fewer global hires – a fragmented process may
confuse some candidates that are already unfamiliar with Western hiring processes and it may actually offend candidates from some cultures
13. Loss of career counselor referrals – career counselors at universities may stop referring
14. Weakened corporate culture – because the recruiting process conflicts directly with the values of integrity, transparency and honesty
42
Reasons for improving the candidate experience
16 negative recruiting impacts include: 15. Legal issues – having a confusing experience that
doesn't consider individual candidate needs might result in an adverse impact among certain protected groups (ADA)
16. Loss of recruiting budget – when executives hear of your negative impacts, they’re likely to reduce your recruiting budget
43
Reasons for improving the candidate experience 17. Decreased retention rates Because your current employees will find
themselves working alongside weaker new-hire replacements, they will have less reason to stay
In addition, hearing friends and colleagues “badmouth” their firm will also reduce their loyalty
Some new hires may take the job because they need it but decide the minute that they accept that they will continue looking and leave at the first opportunity
44
Reasons for improving the candidate experience Other reasons to improve include: 18. As the power shifts, it becomes a necessity 19. It doesn’t really cost any more to do it the right
way 20. CRM is easy to learn
45
And finally, some action steps to consider
46
Some action steps to consider
20 Action steps 1. Make an individual accountable 2. Calculate the cost of offending 3. Prioritize jobs 4. Ask candidates what they expect and their job
acceptance criteria 5. Proactively reduce the number of applicants
that have no real chance (list absolute minimums, list knockout factors, list success rates etc.)
6. Realize that global experiences must vary
47
Some action steps to consider
20 action steps 7. Involve customer service in the design process 8. Educate applicants about the volume, so they
expect less 9. Learn CRM and its related software 10. Use technology to save time and money 11. Develop an anonymous complaint process 12. Have a process for asking anonymous questions 13. Do postmortems on failures
48
Some action steps to consider
14. Use mystery shoppers to identify problems (Publix)
15. Avoid “death by interview” 16. Capture their e-mail early on… so that you can
ask pre-application drop-offs “why?” 17. Thank them and consider a small gift (Checking acct)
18. Survey them 6 months later to identify problems 19. Track and widely distribute ranked “CE”
metrics and reward those that exceed their goals 20. Create an applicant “Bill of Rights” but also tell
candidates what you expect of them
Did I make you think?
How about some more questions?
www.drjohnsullivan.com 49