It all starts with online behaviour. Whether it’s Amazon, BookDepository — or AliExpress. How ofter do you buy a product without knowing what to expect? In other words: how often do you buy a product before reading at least four or five different reviews? As 21st century customers have grown fully accustomed to a world wherein they check everything — a similar movement needs to happen within the world of recruiting, says Andreas Eisemann, VP of Sales for German recruitment software provider Softgarden.
Taking the e-commerce route
From Softgarden’s point-of-view, the idea is simple: value-added communications means you provide as much information as possible. “So why wouldn’t organisations integrate reviews on their own career site?”, he asks. “From everyday behaviour in e-commerce, customers check the delivery time, who’s delivering the product to in-depth analyses on the actual product. If it’ll be delivered by UPS, and I had a bad experience with them — I will go to a different store for an equal product and buy it there.”
“As a job seeker, I will take a decision on where to apply based on reviews from applicants and current employees.”
“We have the same idea in recruiting”, Eisemann argues. “We have hundreds of companies offering fairly similar jobs. Sometimes even identical positions. So as a job seeker, I will take a decision on where to apply based on reviews from applicants and current employees. You want to know: how long will it take before I get an interview? How big is the possibility that I’ll get a job offer? If you provide that information — candidates can take a much better decision.”
Treating candidates like customers
It seems the easiest thing in the world — yet it isn’t. “8 out of 10 people look for more info on your company”, Eisemann says. “And according to our research, 59% of candidates would directly apply for a job on a career page that has reviews. Why would you send them to a review portal like Glassdoor, but not show those reviews on your own website?”
“Why should I bring them into a recruitment process without them knowing what salary they can expect to earn?”
Therein lies an opportunity to treat everyone who visits a career website like a potential customer. “74% of people say they would directly apply to a job ad that has salary information”, Eisemann says. “So why shouldn’t I be transparent about something like salary? Why should I bring them into a recruitment process without them knowing what salary they can expect to earn? Why should they have to get to an interview to be able to get that information?”
More information = better candidates
Eisemann’s conclusion is a simple one: the more transparent you are, the better your candidates will be. “No one is perfect”, he says. “And with transparency, it doesn’t matter if you’re perfect or not. But the candidate will know what to expect from your company. He or she decides to apply — or not to apply. That’s the right point to make that decision, rather than hiring the wrong person and 3 or 4 months down the line, they want to leave.”
“Start managing expectations on both sides, and start using your KPI’s in your recruitment for external purposes — not just internally.”
Companies can base those reviews on a multitude of things, including simply asking candidates and employees about their perspective post-assessment, and three months after they started working. “The more transparent you are, the more candidates will know what to expect from your company, and the better they will suit your organisation. Start managing expectations on both sides, and start using your KPI’s in your recruitment for external purposes — not just internally.”
https://youtu.be/QtfhFXIGjtw
Softgarden is one of the premier talent software providers in the world. Whether it is application management, employer branding or HR marketing, its the Talent Acquisition Suite improves performance in recruiting.
