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!