A lot of companies use the oft used phrases -“Our people are our greatest asset”, “We are what our people make us”, “Our people make us what we are” and similar.
I believe the one which holds a lot of value is one from Angela Ahrendts, SVP, Apple.
"Everyone talks about building a relationship with your customer. I think you build one with your employees first.”
I believe this philosophy and thought ought to be extended a bit -not just current employees, but also potential employees. Your Candidates. A fraction of the total candidates will be hired as employees. But every candidate you interact with -could be a potential client and/or a brand ambassador. He/She will talk about their experience with other colleagues/ contacts. And they way you treat them, that goes way beyond the one person and one instance. Their experience and perception has a wider reach than just those few direct interactions.
Over the years we have started The Fervid Group, we have experienced this over. Candidates who are happy and satisfied will refer other contacts to us. Some are even impressed enough to bring us on to help in their current/ future roles to help with their hiring needs.
On the other end of the spectrum (fortunately none of our candidates), a bad experience leads to them resolving never ever to apply/work for your company and even dissuading others.
All of this lends importance to the quote by Angela -to summarize, value your employees/candidates as much or even more than your customers.
The unfortunate reality is -today a fraction of companies are doing this the right way. Maybe the efforts are in place for executive level hires (if at all). Else there isn’t enough attention paid to creating a great experience/ relation with candidates.
This is something we all have to evaluate and create the company/corporate “Candidate Experience Strategy” sooner than later. In today's age of social media and information spread -a good experience and good word goes a long way.
Work closely with your teams (HR, Recruiting/ Hiring Managers) to put in place CES procedures and policies sin place to create the best experience for all your candidates. Make this an important part of your HR/ Recruiting team vision and goals.
ARMs (Applicant Relationship Management System) yourself today!
