All You Need Is L.O.V.E.D. and the BFC "love in" on how to create the ultimate candidate experience continues. It's probably a good idea to recap where we are and what we have covered.
First, we introduced the basics of creating the ultimate candidate experience in the form of an acronym - L.O.V.E.D. The goal is to make every candidate feel L.O.V.E.D.
We then began breaking down our acronym and started, logically, with L is for LISTEN, moved on to O is for OWN and then V is for VALIDATE. The emails on this topic have been very interesting and there has even been some discussion of these posts around the blogosphere. Many have requested that I share a template for a Candidate Bill of Rights which I will be sure to do in a later post.
Let's move on to our next letter in the acronym - E is for EDUCATE. More after the jump.
Too often, recruiters and HR professionals believe that educating candidates is all about giving information and providing materials about the position and company. In truth, in order to create the ultimate candidate experience, educating is much more significant than just providing information.
In the context of creating a meaningful, transparent and unique candidate experience educate becomes a highly interactive exchange between the recruiter and the candidate. Here are a few primary objectives of educating candidates that go well beyond just giving information.
- Educate to gain agreement on the information provided. Providing information is good but great recruiters get the candidate to agree to what they learned. Asking questions at key moments of education about the job, hiring leader or company causes the candidate to have to slow down mentally in the recruiting process and really evaluate what they are learning. Candidates take this information and plug it into their decision making criteria around their career. A great recruiter helps the candidate through this process by educating properly, remaining transparent, providing detailed answers to candidate questions and responding with a sense of urgency to each of the candidate requests for information. Ask questions of the candidates such as: "How does what you have learned about our organizational mission fit into your career objectives?". Not only will you know that the candidate is becoming properly educated you are also able to learn about how they see themselves in your organization. From a candidate experience perspective the candidate is left feeling as though you are taking the time to make sure they are thinking about their career properly. Candidates walk away after being properly educated feeling as though you care as much about their career as they do.
- Educate to maintain control of the candidate throughout the process (conditional invitation). Candidate control is critical to recruiting success. Most recruiters lose control way too early in the process or at key moments in the recruiting process. Once control is lost it is often difficult to get back. One way to gain control and never relinquish it is to get conditional acceptance of important items in exchange for information. When a candidate asks a question, or indicates they aren't comfortable with some aspect of the position, a great recruiter will gain conditional acceptance to move forward in exchange for providing the information the candidate desires or overcoming some other objection. Educating and providing meaningful and much needed information to a candidate not only creates a great experience but is a useful and important tool in maintaining candidate control.
- Ensure the candidate has fully absorbed the most important aspects of the information. Actually quizzing or testing candidates during the process to make sure they have taken in and learned all of the vital information necessary is a great tool. High performers understand that being properly educated about a role, the hiring leaders and organization is critical. When they are challenged they typically respond favorably and enjoy the opportunity to show off what they have learned. Now, I am not advocating that you send your candidates a written essay examination but pushing back at specific points in the process with a question such as "Our mission is not only a statement for show but actually how we go about our daily work lives at ABC Company. We want to make sure our mission is clear to each of our candidates and that we have done a good job of displaying that mission in our recruitment process. Can you define our mission and how our mission fits in with your career goals?" High performers won't bat an eye at this request. In fact, high performers look at this challenge as a meaningful candidate experience. It shows you are serious about who gets hired and shows a concern about how their career goals mesh with the overall mission of the organization. Low performing talent, those that are more motivated to get the job rather than do the work, will be put off and not likely respond favorably to this request. You will learn much by pushing back to discover if your candidates are fully absorbing the information you are using to educate them but also create a better experience.
- Remove any questions or doubts about the position, hiring leader and/or company from the candidates mind. The amount, quality and transparency of education you provide to a candidate is directly related to the level of confidence the candidate has in you as a recruiter and in your organization. The more willing and detailed you are in educating a candidate the more confidence they have. This leads to more success at go time - the offer. Great recruiters never make an offer when there is even the slightest amount of doubt about whether or not it will be accepted. Making offers that never get refused is an art form. Education is a very important element of that art. Not only does it continue to demonstrate your aptitude as a recruiter as well as your organizations willingness to respond urgently with requests for information and education, educating candidates relieves them of doubt or anxiety about the position, hiring leader and/or company. Nothing makes for a better candidate experience then being comfortable, having no doubt and walking through the process with little or no anxiety. Educating candidates effectively addresses each of these common candidate issues.
There is much more to educating candidates to create the ultimate candidate experience but not enough room or time here to tackle them all. Executing well as a recruiter in educating your candidates will not only ensure a great experience but, as we have demonstrated, clearly lead to more success in recruiting results.
Next time we will tackle the last letter of our acronym - D is for DELIVER.
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