It Takes A Village To Create A Great Candidate Experience

It Takes a Village to Create a Great Candidate Experience

There is often a disconnectWhat is often promoted by company… What candidates say…

Imagine the possibilities. No one took the time to paint a picture of how this role fits into the bigger picture, where the company is going, the impact I could make.

Our people are passionate. Interviewers seem tired and disengaged.

Our employees are our number one concern.

The recruiter and hiring manager didn’t make time to learn about what I want to do with my career, to ensure this is a good match. The interview was just about skill matching.

We are only looking for the best. The interviews were easy, uncoordinated, repetitive and focused on the wrong things. It’s clear this company doesn’t know what they’re looking for.


We are innovative, nimble and moving fast.

They took 3 weeks to get back to me after the phone interview. The process was slow. (2012 study shows the average hiring process in USA is 90 days!)

We are performance driven and customer focused.

No one focused on my accomplishments or how I delivered for my customers in the interview. All of their situational/behavioral questions put me in a difficult customer or co-worker situation – are there no happy employees or customers?!

We’re the leader in our industry. The interviewers were arrogant and the conversations were one-way.


We’ve created something special, and believe fit is key to your success.

No one focused on fit and everyone failed to go deep into my background…I can’t imagine they got what they needed to make a good decision about my fit. What will they base their decision on?

Our core competencies include: Communication.

It was clear after my 3rd interview that the interview team was not on the same page about the role’s scope or primary focus areas.

Our core competencies include: Flexibility and Innovation.

The interviewers were clearly listening for one right answer and not open to alternative approaches.


Our core competencies include: Teamwork and Leadership.

None of the interviewers focused on teamwork or my ability to lead people. It was purely a technical/functional interview.

Our core competencies include: Communication.

It was clear after my 3rd interview that the interview team was not on the same page about the role’s scope or primary focus areas.

Our core competencies include: Problem Solving.

They asked me puzzle questions that didn’t have anything to do with the job. How are they possibly going to know if I’m good at my job’s challenges if they don’t ask me? Do they even know what someone like me can do for them?

Great Candidate Experiences

Is it the flashy, glitzy showmanship, or is it substance that wins out?

So what should a Great Candidate experience include?• Fancy candidate packets?• A better employment brand tagline?• Flying candidates first class or replacing a taxi with a

Limo?• Sending candidates flowers?

Surveys show Great Candidate experiences include….• Ownership of the process.• Getting everyone on the same page• Good, meaningful process.• Execute the Basics well!


Vince LombardiBrilliant on the Basics.

“We are not going to be flashy. We are going to be brilliant on the basics. We will run, throw, catch, tackle, and block better than every team in the league. That is how we will go to the championships this year.”


Show Me, Don’tTell Me.

Creating a great candidate experience is one of the most strategic, long term (branding) investments you can make for your organization…and it has great short term ROI, too!!

• 10 Practical Strategies to create a candidate experience that?– Helps build a positive employment brand.– Helps to hire the best candidates.

• Best Practices without big budgets!– Interview Process.– Selling the opportunity with Integrity.

Make sure your assumptions are correct.

Examine your current process.

Some (poor) assumptions• HR owns the candidate experience

– My recruiters and coordinators create and control the candidate experience.

• It’s about nice looking candidate packets– Fancy candidate packets with great PR articles and

earnings reports make a big difference; swag sells.• It’s about putting on a good show

– Ensure candidates meet in the nicest conference rooms , are taken to the best lunch, see only happy people (smile).

• We’re interviewing them (not the other way around)– We’re interviewing them, and by telling them what

we want them to hear, we create (and control) a great experience.

Research

Remember there are always two sides to any business Relationship.

Reality• Interviewers and Managers create the experience

– So much of an interviewees experience happens without us in the room.

• Process and “next steps” conversations really matter.– Who interviews, how many, how we start and end

interviews, how we set expectations really makes a difference.

• It’s about being real, not putting on a good show– We all want a good two-way fit; making everything

look “shinier” doesn’t do us or them a bit of good• They’re interviewing us, looking for signs

– The investment we make in them, the questions we ask, the way we listen, hour honesty…it all really matters

Assess your current state: Surveys

FindYour

baseline. – To know

where you are going, you must know where you’ve been.

It may be bad, but baseline it now so you can show improvement.

1. Create a simple, 15 question or less (think 3 min or less to complete) online survey that’s sent to every candidate (internal or external) that interviews in your organization

2. Leverage surveymonkey.com or zoomerang.com for the online survey (<$20/month and easy to pull reports)

3. Get contextual questions up front so you can slice and dice the data (breakout by location, job type, department, source of application)

4. Make it VERY CLEAR that the info collected will be kept anonymous5. Send out the survey to all candidates (When is too soon, too late?)

– People who accepted our offer– People who declined our offer– People we declined

6. Reinforce that you want/need the survey results (let them know you want to improve, tell them to expect the survey on their interview day when you debrief with them); incent them to complete it with a prize drawing

7. Get the questions right (see next slide); ask to measure their experience against a standard you set.

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Assess

Assess your current state: Surveys

WhatQuestionsshould I ask?• Stay away from general,

unanchored questions like “was our process fast enough?”

• Set the standard via the question; try to keep it objective so that your tallied results mean something.

• Try to use questions with quick yes/no or multiple choice answers.

Candidate Feedback

Sample Survey Questions

Goals, Process, SLAs

•Did you receive an interview Candidate packet before your interview, containing info about our org, the job description, a map to our facility, and dress code?•Were you given the opportunity to ask questions about the job, your potential manager, and the organization during your interview day?•Did the interviewers ask you appropriately challenging questions that highlighted your core capabilities?•Did you meet with a Recruiter or HR representative during your interview day?•Did you get the opportunity to meet with an internal customer for this role?•Our goal was to contact you to confirm the next step within 2 business days of your onsite interview. Did you hear from a Recruiter/HR rep within 2 business days after your interview?•Did your interview experience impact your interest in working for us? (More or less interested now? Why?)

Data •Source of applicant•Recruiter and Hiring Manager/Department/Job Type•Date of Interview (week of)

Overall Scale 1-5 (compare to what…?), General Comments

Assess your current state: Focus Groups

Real Stories reveal

more than data

points.– Do you secret shop

your own process?– Do you hold focus

groups with your recent hires?

Get recent hires together and facilitate a frank discussion about theirexperience

1. Identify 10 – 12 recent hires from a division/location/job function and invite them to a 1 hour candidate experience focus group session (bribes like pizza, treats, giveaways, etc. help attendance

2. Have your recruiting manager/HR Manager , or independent consultant facilitate the session. Never use any person who was involved in hiring anyone in the focus group.

3. Make it VERY CLEAR that the info shared will be combined with survey data and other focus groups; individual named examples won’t be shared with the recruiter or hiring teams.

4. Dig into experiences; leverage your survey results to probe on areas needing more context/examples and validation of the data.

1. What are the common themes?2. Find out where else these people interviewed; how do we compare?3. Have them define what “fast” and “good questions” and “I was kept in the loop”

really means to them.4. Now that they’ve been here a few weeks/months, ask them what better they wish

we would have added to our process to make it even better or make the opportunity even more compelling.

5. Find out what they think you can (realistically) do to make the experience even better.

6. Validate whether the improvements you have planned would matter to them.

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Focus Groups

Define your future state

Lead the way!– Gather all

stakeholders of the process and involve them in defining your future state = buy in.

Get interviewers/hiring managers in a room together to define your great candidate experience.

1. During interview training or a staff meeting with interviewers/hiring managers from a location/department, facilitate a discussion on what a top notch candidate experience would feel like to a candidate.

2. Capture their ideas; use their words, but prompt them if they need help, though)3. Ask them to compare that “ideal” experience with their own experiences and

what we do today (share some survey and focus group data (and glassdoor.com if available) to help them see the areas of opportunity.)

4. Visibly post their information to use as a reference as you begin to map out the future state of the candidate experience.

1. Roles, interview questions, selling candidates, etc need to be defined.2. Use the reference information to “work backwards” to build out your process and

expectations of an interviewer and hiring manager.3. Incorporate the standards into our surveys and focus groups (measure results and share =

accountability)

5. Dig into experiences; leverage your survey results to probe on areas needing more context/examples and validation of the data.

1. What are the common themes?2. Find out where else these people interviewed; how do we compare?3. Have them define what “fast” and “good questions” and “I was kept in the loop” really means to

them.4. Now that they’ve been here a few weeks/months, ask them what better they wish we would have

added to our process to make it even better or make the opportunity even more compelling.5. Find out what they think you can (realistically) do to make the experience even better.6. Validate whether the improvements you have planned would matter to them.

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Define Desired Process

Facilitator guide/example

Organize the discussion using high level categories.

– Building a brand is accomplished one candidate at a time.

– Our assessment strategy/approach is a selling strategy.

Imagine you referred a friend or former co-worker to a job with your company• They interviewed yesterday• You call them today to see what they thought

about us and their interviews.

What do you want them to day about…

Our Interview Process

The people

they met

The questions they were

asked

The job Our company

Focus on the little wins

Pick the low lying

fruit and start.– #1 reason for

failing is lack of execution.

– Many/most/all of these are very doable and not expensive!

Create momentum by choosing a few things This year and establish some wins….here’s how.

1. Identify 1-3 things that seem achievable (affordable: time and money) and measurable.

2. Define what success would look like (i.e. candidtes who say they were contacted within 2 business days after interview goes from 32% to 50% by December 15th, 2012)

3. Publicize the goal and ensure your recruiters understand how they will be measured on this

1. What does success look like? Ex. A live phone conversation with the candidate, a voicemail to the candidate, a generic email to the candidate, a personalized email to the candidate?

2. Ensure that they’ve bought into the expectation and held accountable.

3. Swiftly address performance issues; don’t wait until December survey results to address problems.

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Create Momentum

Teach your interviewers how to be successful

Don’t assume– Don’t

assume everyone involved in the selection process knows how to conduct a proper interview!

Interview Training1. Ensure managers are tuned in to the market; it’s unlikely A players are ‐ ‐

lining up to work at your company (despite the unemployment figures!) Give them a reality check; they are interviewing us as much as we’re interviewing them, right?

2. Get them invested in the hiring targets for their teams and/or the company (help them see how they are company builders, how these are ‐big decisions; ask the business leader/VP to come in to set the stage)‐

3. Define success as an interviewer/hiring manager for your company1. Share real feedback from candidate surveys and focus groups that highlights the

control they have over the candidate experience

2. Share the common denominator characteristics of the interview teams that hire the best people and create the most compelling candidate experience

3. Help them create their own definition of success

4. Ideal: Have one of your top performing hiring managers co facilitate the ‐session and help the team understand their role and opportunity as interviewers

5. Share/Reinforce best practices:1. How to create a quality, realistic target candidate profile2. Interviewing kickoff meeting with all interviewers and alternates3. Assigned interview focus areas4. Avoiding weird questions5. Leaving time to “sell” candidates6. Quick, quality decision making process

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Process Training

Teach your candidates how to be successful

Set the candidate

up for success.– Help the

candidate know what to expect.

Things to add to your pre-interview communication withcandidates (simple and obvious, but overlooked by mostcompanies)1. Be specific about typical dress; let them know how most of the

interviewers will be dressed2. Point them to suggested reading/research on your org and let them

know which division/business unit they’re interviewing with and key acronyms used to describe it

3. Let them know the type of questions they are likely to be asked and/or the type of interviewing approach to be used (i.e. role plays or presentations or white board problem solving)

4. Share the high level schedule; times, titles, locations.5. Let them know who to ask for when they arrive, who their

recruiter/coordinator is and how to reach them (cell) if they’re running late or they need to reach someone during the day.

6. Encourage them to prepare questions.7. Create an FAQ for common candidate questions about the process,

next steps, benefit information8. Let them know they do/don’t need to bring copies of their

resume/CVs or work samples with them.9. Show them pics of their potential workspace.

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Inspire candidate

success

Improve your interview process/structure

Be deliberate and

intentional.

“Start with the end in mind and work backwards”

Steven Covey

Things to add to or ensure are happening in yourinterview process

1. No one wants to bomb their interview; if this happens frequently, add a 2nd phone screen to your process

2. Give reception/security the names of candidates so they can prepare a badge in advance and know who to notify when they arrive

3. Be conscious about who is on the interview team (diversity!), and who goes first. Ideally, have the recruiter meet with the candidate first to walk through the schedule and backgrounds of interviewers

4. Ideally, have the first interviewer be the person who phone screened them (Hiring Manager?) so that they can have a personal connection and can ask questions about the job

5. Assign different focus areas to each interviewer; it’s common for candidates to get asked the same questions

6. Don’t try to interview over lunch – separate food from questioning7. Consider 2 on 1 interviews so you have coverage if 1 is a no show‐ ‐ ‐8. Don’t leave the candidate in the same boring conference room for the whole

day; let them see the “real you”9. If you have batch interview days, consider a first thing presentation about your ‐

company10. Ensure the last interviewer knows what to say re: next steps

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Be Deliberate

Make results visible

Establishaccountabil

ity by managing

to theresults.

Address bad behavior, reward good behavior

1. Highlight real “lost candidate” (including declined offer reasons) data with groups; post mortems for the one that got away.

2. Share candidate experience survey scores by department/leader; show their scores vs last quarter, vs peers, vs rest of company, vs goal/benchmark1. Back it up with stories from focus groups2. Share it publicly (?)

3. Confront no show interviewers/hiring managers and/or highlight managers ‐requiring multiple reschedules/delays1. What are consequences in your organization?2. Is time to fill impacted?

4. Share those wonderful (smile) candidate feedback emails you get(often unsolicited) when an interviewing team doesn’t create a positive experience for a hard to find candidate AND share the positive kudos you get too!

5. Get interviewer participation and hiring manager partnership track record into performance reviews! Send out quantitative and qualitative feedback weeks before reviews are due…

6. Ask recent hires to share positive testimonials with the rest of the department managers

7. Get crazy (smile) and create a way to generate interviewer level candidate experience scores.

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Establish Accountability

Differentiate yourself

Create a WOW

experienceWhat can you do to create a unique experience that will

be positive and memorable to the

candidate?

Is there something you can do to stand out and get your process to help you sell?

Partner with your PR/Marketing department to see if there’s something you can leverage to create an exceptional experience

1. Retailer: Walks sales person into the real store and asks them to critique the merchandising, customer experience, look and feel

2. Coffee Company: Coffee guru taste-test during the interview.3. B2B Wireless Company: Sales ride-along (realistic job preview)4. Biotech: Present your thesis to really smart scientists5. Software company: Given an assignment to learn something

new and present it to peers during interview. 6. Call Center: Listen in on real calls and make suggestions for

improvement7. Consulting Company: Role play a project-scoping discussion and

build a draft proposal.8. School District: Teach a short lesson to real students

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Create WOW

experiences

Make Selling part of the interview

What motivates A

players that youseek?

Identify what motivates you’re A-

Players and speak to it during the

interview process.

Ensure that your candidate experience includes time for candidates to learn why they’d want to invest their career with your company, in this role, with these people, now

1. Too many interviewers/recruiters are arrogant or presumptuous, assuming candidates know your company is great.

2. We must identify what our target candidates want out of their career and map that to our real strengths; then share that during the courting, interviewing, and closing process.

1. It’s everyone’s job to “sell”; not just the recruiter or hiring manager2. Everyone is selling (or de-selling) whether they know it or not3. Our questions tell candidates what we value and what to expect here.

3. Survey your top performers and ask them these 3 simple questions to learn their motivators

1. What drew you here?2. What keeps you here?3. What would lure you away?

4. Arm interviewers/hiring managers with questions and examples that highlight why top performers thrive here.

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Know the DNA of your performers

Creating a Great Candidate Experience

Vince LombardiBrilliant on the Basics.

“We are not going to be flashy. We are going to be brilliant on the basics. We will run, throw, catch, tackle, and block better than every team in the league. That is how we will go to the championships this year.”

Focus on the basicsA great candidate experience is largely about

flawless execution of the basics and less about innovation.

It’s sad to say that very few companies create consistent positive candidate experiences. Yet it is one of the fundamental things that can take a company from good to great.

Recent research shows that over 30% of all businesses go under because of poor hiring!

You want to move the proverbial needle and drive profits to the bottom line? Focus on the Talent Acquisition Experience and watch things grow!!

Documents

It Takes A Village To Create A Great Candidate Experience