Over the last 15 years, I have often been asked how companies can better attract and retain candidate interest throughout the hiring process.

Losing Great Candidates Is Easy. Improving The Process Is Easier.

I attended a conference recently – discussing engagement – where our speaker stopped abruptly midway through her presentation. She asked for a volunteer from the audience to raise their hand and define that word. Engagement. The room fell silent. Arms became stiff and still as eyes wondered around the room looking for someone to accurately define a word we had all been using ad nauseam. How do you define engagement – How does your company define it?

3 STEPS TO CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT

1. Make A Time Sensitive Promise (And Keep It!):

It’s easier than ever to differentiate your company. Let’s take a trip behind the desk of your ideal candidate:

• Step One: Wade through an endless number of websites and company profile pages – all of which lead to the cringe-inducing, totally automated: Applicant Tracking Systems.
• Step Two: Pour bits and pieces of your professional experience into a database and click SEND – followed by a silence that can span anywhere from weeks to months.

​Here is where you set yourself apart:

Promise candidates a response in 48 hours – and be ready to send an acknowledgment and  “next step”.

2. Allow Your Hiring Managers To Choose Their Role:

Now we look at the process through your eyes:

• You have attracted, screened and qualified the “​right”​ candidate(s) – the next step in the hiring process is crucial:​ Feedback from the Hiring Manager.
• This is the point in the process where things can easily fall apart – But they don’t have to. 
• ​”​How can we make hiring managers respond quickly?” We can’t. And the reasons for the delay are as varied as they are legitimate, however, allowing your manager to choose their role will ​improve your hiring process significantly.

Here is where you set yourself apart:

Allow a pre-determined amount of time for your Hiring Manager to decide the next step. Once that time has been reached, a phone interview (or whatever the predetermined action step may be) will be scheduled on their behalf.

3. Ready, Aim, Redirect (Passive, Active and Future Candidates):​

Have a plan for candidates in all phases of the hiring process:

• Passive: Capture the attention of candidates with easily, accessible information about your company’s culture – showcased across multiple media platforms. ​
• Active: Host face to face networking events. Connect over the phone. In whatever way possible, find a way to start a conversation and be ready to share your company’s story and employee testimonials.
• ​Future: What are the action steps for candidates who might qualify for future positions? Consider ​offering access to a Talent Pool Newsletter or create a Talent Community page.

Here is where you set yourself apart: ​

Having systems in place will reduce response times while keeping candidates informed and connected.

​​Earlier, I mentioned attending a conference where the audience was asked to define engagement. After a long pause, silence was broken by a few answers delivered in the form of questions and guesses. Finally, the speaker asked everyone to consider this: If we can’t define it, we can’t do it.

Engagement requires connection. To set yourself apart in the hiring process consider the steps listed above as three simple ways to generate distinctively meaningful points of contact.