Bad candidate communication is bad business

We all want to be known as an excellent company to work with, but too often, we get busy and neglect candidate communication. We can’t afford to do that. The candidate who doesn’t hear from you about today’s job could be the perfect candidate for a job next month. And a candidate who has good experience, even if they are rejected, could refer a friend for a future job. Every candidate communication – good or bad – defines what people think of you as an employer: your employer brand. Bad candidate communication is bad business.

With the stakes so high, most companies need tools or services to help them keep up with candidate communications and land the best talent.

It’s a lot to keep up with

Communicating with candidates takes a lot of time, especially personalized, customized communication. Ask any recruiter trying to communicate with many people in a single day! The ability to apply for a job with one click means you may get hundreds of applications, few of whom are qualified. But you still have to look through them all and respond to each.

Responses could be coming in from emails, phone calls, text, and it’s hard to manage all those communications channels. Just keeping it all straight can be a full-time job.

Suggested reading on candidate engagement: Why candidate engagement is critical: How to measure & improve

If you’re a small business, look for a solution that helps you communicate by reaching out to your favorite candidates and pre-screening them with questions. That’s one task off your list, leaving you more time to engage with applicants. Large companies can look for solutions that consolidate phone, text, and email messages into one place, so you can more easily manage them. These solutions typically make it easy to customize and personalize your communications and even automate them through a chatbot interface.

You could miss the perfect hire

If you interview a candidate, leave them waiting on your decision for weeks, and then send them an email offer, will they be as motivated to accept it? An impersonal and disorganized hiring process leaves uncertainty for the future of their time with the company.

Suggested reading on talent acquisition: Unlocking the Hidden Talent Pool

On the other hand, if you reject someone, add a touch of humanity to that too. All candidates want to hear feedback, even if you aren’t going to hire them right away.  Let them know how they can improve and give them the resources to improve. Many candidates want to know why they didn’t land the job, and feedback is crucial for their growth.

You could harm your company’s reputation

According to Recruitment Buzz, 73% of candidates tell their professional circle about a positive hiring experience, and 82% would share a negative experience? Your employer brand is susceptible to all kinds of social feedback. This could mean candidates can sharing anything anywhere for the world to witness.

Suggested reading for candidate retention: What candidates want in work culture

A bad reputation can essentially starve a company of fresh new talent, and it all starts with the recruitment process.

Improve the quality and timeliness of your candidate communications

Today, some tools and services can help you manage communications, target the following candidates, and portray your company as a great company to work for.

Aggregation of multichannel communications

Not everyone pays close attention to their email, and most people would prefer LinkedIn. Integrating with a platform that allows you to communicate with many candidates across multiple channels is the best way to ensure you are not losing out on any essential candidates and keeping them engaged.

Automation of tasks

Going through and responding to many applications can be repetitive and overwhelming. Such tasks can be automated. Tasks like communication of information or the selection/rejection of candidates can be streamlined and personalized.

Chatbots

The human touch is always preferred, but it’s not always feasible. Many candidates are happy to get their questions answered through a chatbot, which uses AI and language processing to handle many situations. Chatbots can be used to interact and clarify aspects of the job and the company.

Candidate Engagement with Arya Pulse

With Arya Pulse for infrequent hirers, our professionals will personally engage with your shortlist of candidates, ask qualifying questions, and solicit interviews, so you have more time to do your job.

The Connect Communications Dashboard:

Arya Quantum by Leoforce, for larger businesses and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) agencies, offers a Connect communications dashboard that empowers our clients to create meaningful conversations with their candidates, personalizing their communications to their specific style and personality, and engaging with candidates precisely the way they want. It works with your email, text, and calendar for one-to-one and one-to-many communications and scheduling interviews.

Candidate communication: as critical as customer communications.

You wouldn’t send out poor, untimely communications to your customers. It makes good business sense to set the same high standards when engaging with potential employees. Technology and services that help are readily available for businesses of all types and sizes.

Don’t let your brand reputation hang in the balance. Take charge of your candidate communication while there’s time to make a great impression.