3 Insights on Recruiting Feedback in the hiring process
3 Insights on Feedback in the Recruiting Process
Did you know, based on Talent Board EMEA research, 30.3% of employers are asking for feedback only after the candidates have been hired.
This is a problem, as only receiving feedback from candidates after being hired creates a missing data set! You will not find out why candidates dropped out or what experiences they have had.
As a growing recruiting service, we at Lionstep yearly conduct around 15,000 candidate conversations for client-specific qualification and interest check. These are thousands of candidates that we talk to and have learned from.
We know first-hand, feedback loops and communication optimize the output of great hires.
So what’s important in recruiting feedback? Here are 3 Insights we gathered through experience:
1. Ensure correct information from the start
A job description is the first piece of recruiting feedback for a potential candidate. Well yes, it’s the first piece of information in the recruiting process a potential candidate reads to make a decision: continue forward with the company or not.
At Lionstep we start with creating a job profile that is as accurate and descriptive as possible to best represent what is expected from a potential candidate. Together with our clients we help them create a precise job description that includes all the relevant information a candidate wants to know, while also being specific enough to determine if the candidate is qualified for the position.
Often the best talent in the market has a benefit of choosing from many job offers. However, they want to know all the details connected to the job position, so that they can decide on the one best suited to their profile and needs.
This is already an aspect where feedback comes into the process. If a company cannot answer questions or provide accurate information from the start, the talent will choose the competitive company that does it right.
Once we have a realistic job profile, we contact both active and passive candidates from our growing talent pool with the help of our innovative technology that matches algorithms to job profiles. The matched candidates get to see the job profile and decide on whether they find it interesting to continue with or not.
We like to contact both active and passive candidates as this creates a better chance of getting an optimal hire. Active candidates are already doing the job somewhere else, so they should not be left out in a recruiting process if you want to increase your chances on finding a good hire.
2. Who moves forward and who does not?
The important questions you need to ask yourself is: who is moving forward and who is not – then find out WHY. This recruiting feedback is extremely valuable for improving the recruiting process as you get to know the talent pool expectations, wants and no-go’s. This can separate you from competitors, as you will know what makes up a successful offer.
Our recruiting service at Lionstep has a unique benefit of transparency compared to the average headhunter or recruiter.
We provide recruiting feedback to all our clients. On our platform, our clients can follow the recruiting process at all times.
They can see:
– How many candidates have been contacted
From those who have been contacted…
– Who is interested
– How many are not interested
– An aggregated feedback of what reasons candidates gave for not being interested, including the industry average for comparison/benchmarking
If you manage to get these data insights to why relevant talent does not move forward with your job offer, and compare it to industry averages, you will constantly learn what to improve in your job offer.
3. Need for speed in recruiting feedback
The longer the process, the more likely it is that candidates drop out. Top-tier talent is in high demand and often on the market for a short time-frame. If you move too slowly, you could lose to competitors who will take the upper hand.
Feedback can help improve your candidate close rates. For this it’s helpful to streamline the entire process and ensure good user experience for potential candidates (ex: urgency – feedback – decision making – hire).
Qualify talent as early as possible in the recruitment funnel. It does not make sense to do a culture/personality check before you do a skills qualification check. The more feedback you provide to candidates on why you decline to move forward or decide to move forward, the better.
Consider Word-of-mouth: Candidates share their positive, as well as negative recruiting experiences with their friends, family and colleagues. If a candidate does not get any feedback and is left in the dark, organisations can risk their brand and reputation.
Being fast also helps keep the engagement level high from talent. Top candidates typically are involved in more than one hiring process. It’s important to keep them engaged so that when you want to present an offer, they are more likely to accept it.