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Communication makes the difference in the battle for talent
A recent study conducted by Aberdeen has concluded that the battle for talent has become more intense due to increased competition for and a shortage of it.
In that context I am often surprised that many organizations still don't seem to value their applicants as they should. In addition they miss out on the opportunity to pro-actively maintain passive candidates and enhance their employer branding in the process. Granted there are applicants that don't suit the requirements of a posted position at all. And sometimes they simply seem to spam every recruiter. However, in my own experience that seems to be a minority and these people shouldn't be regarded as a norm. Organizations should value every applicant and each of them deserves to be informed of the status of the application. This isn't just a matter of courtesy but may also have quite an impact on the overall perception of an organization. So what would be an appropriate treatment?
a) Acknowledgment As a first step at least an acknowledgment of receipt should be provided to applicants. Otherwise applicants might wonder whether their application actually went through to the right person or if there was a technical error and they should send it again.
b) Status update Some organizations even go as far as giving a status update in terms of a rejection as well. Often this is in combination with a note that the application is stored on file and if a more suitable position comes up the candidate will be contacted again. Even though this may not be the news applicants are keen to receive, they still prefer this update where they at least know where they stand than none at all.
c) Keeping high calibre candidates "warm" in a talent pool It's happened to me many times that I have seen resumes or interviewed candidates that I personally thought were great but I didn't have a suitable position at the moment. While that is unfortunate at that moment this situation should be leveraged for future purposes. If the candidate is kept "warm" through regular communication it will be a fast recruiting process in the future since there is already a loyal candidate at the top of the list. Some organizations create "talent pools" to which they add these high calibre candidates so they can easily communicate with them and retrieve them as necessary. In the ongoing war for talent organizations need to use every available angle to gain an edge over competition. Dealing with incoming applications in a courteous and pro-active manner is definitely making an impact. It can greatly enhance the entire recruiting experience and it is also beneficial to the overall employer branding. Eventually many candidates will have multiple options and when faced with the decision, some of these seemingly small things may actually make the difference.
Nils Frenkel
A longer version of this article was published in "Human Resources magazine".
Comments
Ideeen top 5:
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(42 votes) Candidate search improvement:
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(29 votes) Distinction between externally and internally published vacancies
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(29 votes) Manager Notification: Add link to MGR Portal
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(35 votes) Bullet points
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(15 votes) Optimize filters
Released ideas
2010-07:
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Merge of duplicate entries in one step
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Print candidates
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Back to search results
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Notification when manager gives feedback into the form (for other contacts)
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View vacacy example from managersportal
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