Welcome to Ask an Adviser, EBN's weekly column in which benefit brokers and advisers answer (anonymous) queries sent in by our readers. Looking for some expert advice? Please submit questions to askanadviser@arizent.com. This week, we asked Kevin W. Grossman, president and board member of the Talent Board, to weigh in on the following: How can we transform candidate experiences to become an employer of choice?
Here are three little words with a huge impact: employer of choice.
It not only elevates an employer's standing, but also improves the ability to attract and retain the best people. This is a crucial advantage in today's highly competitive hiring market.
Achieving employer-of-choice status isn't based solely on how companies treat their workers. It's also based on how they treat job seekers and applicants. For instance, no employer of choice forces candidates to endure discriminatory job ads, a lengthy and convoluted application process, invasive screenings and assessments or unstructured interviews. Employers of choice deliver candidate experiences that are worthy of their status. They treat everyone, from job seekers to new hires to longstanding employees, with dignity and respect.
Read more: Why employees' commutes may be hurting your recruiting prospects
When it comes to the candidate experience in particular, this means a few basic things like not wasting people's time, being responsive when communicating with them, setting and keeping milestone dates and times (especially interviews and status updates), and treating everyone equally.
To ensure that your company's candidate experience conveys employer-of-choice status, make sure it offers three powerful qualities:
Inclusivity is no longer a nice-to-have feature of a workplace culture. It's an imperative for organizations of all types and sizes, and your company's commitment to it should be evident in the candidate experience you provide. In past research, we highlighted a number of ways employers can raise the bar on the inclusivity of their candidate experiences, including showcasing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) more prominently on their careers sites; implementing more strategies and smart technologies that can help reduce bias (like sourcing-and-selection artificial intelligence tech); and putting DEI data and metrics to greater use to increase recruiter and hiring manager accountability.
Second, pay transparency shows candidates that you understand their needs and what's important to them. Yes, people want to find meaning and fulfillment in their work, but pay still matters to them — a lot. Pay transparency is a highly visible sign that openness and fairness matter to your company. And since most organizations lack pay transparency, being open about pay practices will differentiate your company in a big way, as well as bolster your ability to attract and retain diverse talent. According to our data, for those who were given salary information, their perception of the fairness of their interview rose 30%.
Read more: Long story short: Are you taking advantage of your recruitment tools?
Finally, giving candidates feedback at each stage of their experience helps them understand why they're moving forward — or why they aren't. This kind of insight can aid them greatly in their future experiences as job candidates (with your company or another), and it provides a measure of closure when they're no longer in the running. Our research shows that all of this boosts your company's perceived fairness, relatability and humanity, especially since so many employers are failing to provide feedback.
Many companies are experiencing critical talent shortages these days, and unfortunately, they will only get worse for companies that fail to be great talent magnets. The good news is, you don't have to have official employer-of-choice status to deliver an employer-of-choice-level candidate experience.
