A research study by the University of Warwick shows that happy employees are 12% more productive in the workplace.
Better productivity translates to better ROI. But how do organizations make (and keep) employees happy?
A good starting point would be to enhance candidate experience. After all, the recruitment process marks the beginning of any kind of ongoing engagement.
A positive candidate experience sets the stage for a successful ongoing relationship between the potential employer and the candidate. In today’s age when candidate reviews of companies on sites like Glassdoor can quickly go viral, poor candidate experience not only affects the company’s reputation but could also hinder its ability to fill positions at all.
This article examines how RPOs help organizations enhance the candidate experience. It also takes a peek into emerging technologies and tools that might aid this process.
Related: Pros and Cons of Outsourcing to an RPO
How Do RPOs Enhance the Candidate Experience?
‘Human’ touch
Poor candidate experience is usually a result of lack of engagement and communication. In this age of automation, RPOs can provide the much-needed ‘human’ touch to the recruitment process. RPOs are mostly comprised of expert recruiters who have regular conversations with the candidate, answer questions, and keep the candidates engaged throughout the recruitment process.
These conversations can serve a dual purpose of highlighting the benefits of the opportunity to the candidates, while also gauging the ‘fit’ of the candidate in the organization.
Related: Three ways to maximize recruiter effectiveness
This kind of consistent communication is especially beneficial when interview processes get prolonged because of unforeseen circumstances.
Relevant feedback
Businesses can also benefit from requesting feedback about candidate experience from the RPO provider and incorporating this insight into their interviewing techniques, resulting in a win-win situation for the business and the candidates.
Better employer branding
Since RPOs specialize in specific industries, they also know about your competitors fairly well and how those companies hire talent. Your RPO vendor could use this knowledge to consult with you to help create an effective recruitment marketing strategy and a build a better brand for you as an employer.
How Does Technology Aid in the Enhancement of the Candidate Experience?
Though automation has significantly streamlined the recruitment process, many professionals lament its overuse, labeling it as too mechanical or robotic and regretting the loss of the human element.
However, not all technology can be termed impersonal. Programmatic recruitment, for example, can help you spend more time focusing on quality candidates and reduce your time-to-hire. Companies are increasingly making use of data to understand candidates better and determine ‘fit’.
Real-time job matching tools help employers by offering a comprehensive taxonomy of job types, skills and cross-references to determine if candidates are a good match. In turn, candidates can input their job preferences, interests, and skills, and rate themselves in relation to job requirements….thus benefitting both sides of the hiring equation.
These tools ‘intelligently’ capture candidate search data and deliver the most relevant job opportunities to job-seekers, in (online) places they are most likely to apply. For businesses, this translates to better quality of candidates.
When candidates utilize such interactive tools, it improves their impression of your organization, making them more likely to consider opportunities with your organization.
Ultimately, organizations need to find a balance between employing technology and keeping the human element of the recruitment process alive. Whether your organization decides to outsource the recruitment function or attempts to improve processes internally, it would be well worth the effort to take a look at these emerging technologies and determine whether they might be a good option.