The Employee Experience Lifecycle: Attraction
A quick review
If you haven’t yet watched the intro video on the Employee Experience Lifecycle or read the corresponding blog, I want to start here by giving a quick review. At Bright Talent we use the term “employee experience” to describe the journey of an employee from new hire to being engaged and retained. The employee experience is managed by a well-crafted ecosystem of processes and people that work synergistically to create opportunity for every employee. The Human Resources function typically develops and stewards these practices to support both employees and managers. It establishes your employment value proposition and culture. And all of this translates to your employment brand – how your company is viewed by candidates, employees, and former employees.
In short, this is the all-encompassing, soup-to-nuts process for every interaction with employees, from the initial job posting all the way through the exit interview. The goal is for employees to start – and end – with nothing but good feelings about you and your company. Why? Because in our current world of post-pandemic job opportunities and fast-moving conversations on social media, your employees can help or hurt the reputation of your company. So it’s advised to treat your employees well, or some other company will! !
In this blog post, we’ll talk through the first part (or first third) of the Employee Experience Lifecycle, Attraction, focusing on identifying talent needs, building a plan to attract qualified candidates, and then selecting the ideal hire for the role.
Establishing a positive candidate experience from the get-go
We often think of the employee experience beginning during the onboarding process, but the reality is that potential hires start evaluating your company the minute they read the job posting (or before, if they are familiar with your brand). The old adage “you only get one chance to make a first impression” absolutely holds true when it comes to recruiting top tier talent for your business. And while we always want to put our best foot forward in any situation, it’s especially critical when recruiting in a job climate that favors the candidate over the employer.
The first part of the lifecycle is vital, as research shows a direct correlation between a company’s employment brand reputation and the ability to attract the best talent. With that in mind, there are three components that you will want to consider when getting ready to fill an open position. Done right, these three modules ensure the candidate experience is positive and engaging. And all three must work harmoniously to provide a favorable first impression of your employment brand and value proposition.
So, let’s take a minute to break down the three modules:
Workforce planning: Think of this as the combustion that starts the employee experience lifecycle. For example, you may begin by identifying critical skill gaps for your company. From there, you will decide if you’re able to fill those gaps by developing existing employees or if you’ll need to hire external talent.
Sourcing and recruiting: Essentially how you are finding and attracting the right talent. This is similar to channel marketing, it’s important to have a strategy and plan to cast the widest net to find talent. Then invite them to explore more about the role and your company’s brand and values.
Interviewing and selection: At its core, this module focuses on the ability to qualify and hire the right talent. This centers on a clearly defined interviewing methodology to assess the competency level of external talent and the compensation (or total rewards) package needed to hire the right talent.
Think of your candidate experience as a customer experience
The way you engage with potential candidates is key! While the workforce planning module happens internally, it sets the tone for sourcing/recruiting and the interviewing/selection process. So, you’ll want to make sure your whole team is on board with the hiring plan so when you get to those other two modules, you’re all on the same page and ready to find the best person for the job.
And speaking of those two steps in the lifecycle, this is where the rubber meets the road. As business leaders, we tend to understand our sales and marketing plans better than our recruiting plans, which is a mistake. If we believe our people are truly vital to the success of the business, then we need to invest the same time and effort into recruiting our next great hire. HR is your partner to help you recruit and qualify talent the same way sales and marketing support one another. Managers and HR are both responsible for the employee experience and must work collaboratively to make strong first impressions and create an emotional connection to your brand. As I talked about in the HR.com article Are Candidates Ghosting You? the world of recruiting has a lot in common with dating. As we’re experiencing a shortage of talent, candidates have the luxury of playing the field a bit. So, it’s up to you to convince them that a long-term relationship with your company is the right fit.
Here are a few of my key tips for wooing and engaging potential new hires:
Treat everyone with a personal touch as you look for potential. And by everyone, I mean everyone. Even candidates that are definitely not qualified for the position. This doesn’t mean a personal phone call to each to tell them they aren’t being considered for the job. But creating a thoughtful, encouraging, and positive automated response doesn’t take much time and can make a meaningful difference in how folks perceive you. And if you see an inkling of potential in a candidate, perhaps you might include a link to other job postings at your company that they’d be a better fit for. Or simply let them know that you will keep their resume on hand in case a more fitting position opens up down the line. The best hiring managers keep their own private network of future talent they can reference later.
Model – and communicate – the behavior you want from candidates: Every company and hiring process is different, so don’t leave potential hires guessing at what you need and want from them during the interview process. Make your hiring process and timeline clear from the outset. Let applicants know what you expect from them, what they should expect from you, and the steps in the hiring process (and stick to it).
Go old school with your best candidates – talk: Inevitably, you will have to turn down a qualified candidate, as you can’t hire everyone. But there’s a difference between outright dismissal and keeping the door open. You never know what might come open down the line, so keeping potential hires hooked is critical to building your brand reputation. As such, when telling a qualified candidate “no,” be sure to call them and explain why the job didn’t work out. Be encouraging and let them know you’ll keep them in mind for other positions that become available. And if you aren’t quite sure how to do this, there is training available to learn how to say “no” with dignity.
The difference between recruiting done well and recruiting done… not so well
Now I know, after reading this, you might be thinking “this sounds great - but I don’t have time!” I get it, trust me. I have been recruiting since 1994 and I understand the hurdles you might be up against. But the truth is, while a lot goes into building out these modules, there is immense value as it will positively affect the rest of the Employee Experience Lifecycle. And done well, it means a better experience for your employees - quite possibly making your job easier in the long run. Because when you retain engaged employees, you will always beat the competition who struggles to keep employees.
The long and short of it is: when workforce planning, recruitment, and selection are done well, you’ll notice strong pipelines of talent and referrals. And when they are done poorly, you’ll experience a shortage of available talent both externally and internally to fill your openings.
Which would you rather have?
In the next two blogs, we’ll be exploring the other areas of the Employee Experience Lifecycle areas: Engagement and Retention.
If you’d like to learn more about how we help HR leaders and their teams, please give us a call or shoot over an email. We can help you with the right expert to solve your current challenges on an interim, outsource, or project basis.
We look forward to hearing from you!
