In the war for talent, are you struggling to attract the right candidates? Despite a slowdown in many emerging economies, a number of our clients are still struggling to attract the right candidates. A key reason appears to be the image and reputation of the company amongst the candidate pool.
As Warren Buffet said:
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you will do things differently”
In this age of instant communication, candidates quickly learn about any issues at a company. Forums such as Glassdoor, Whatsapp groups and other forms of social media now make it very easy for a disgruntled individual to share negative opinions.
As everyone knows, bad news gets the most press!
Organisations need to actively think about how they treat their potential, future, current and past employees. As a recruiter, we often come across clients who are battling to overcome negative perceptions about their organisation in order to find talent.
Image
The challenges for a company start with the recruitment process. When a role is first advertised or a search initiated, the way in which the position is promoted itself creates an opportunity to frame the company’s reputation. A poorly drafted advert can lead to assumptions about the professionalism of the organisation. Companies employing multiple recruitment consultants risk damaging their reputation if a candidate receives multiple calls from multiple recruiters, as this leads to a perception of desperation.
Speed
The speed at which a company proceeds with hiring can also affect their reputation. Once a candidate has been engaged it is imperative to conclude on the process and close the loop in a reasonable period of time.
In one instance, the inability of the company to conclude on a role created its own feedback loop, and future candidates were reluctant to apply as they worried why the role was taking so long to fill!
Feedback
Many organisations do not have processes in place to provide feedback to candidates who have applied. Whilst the company focusses on the few shortlisted candidates, the rejected many rarely receive any communication, let alone constructive feedback on why their candidature was not taken forward. These spurned candidates often have reason to vent their frustrations out publicly and nowadays can do so anonymously so have little to fear in terms of repercussions.
These reputational effects linger for long periods of time, and once established it becomes an uphill battle to change perceptions.
A client in a niche industry found that some disgruntled ex-employees had spread such a negative image about them, that even years after the employee left, they were still unable to attract quality candidates.
Over the years, we have found many creative ways in which to help clients overcome these challenges.
If you find yourself facing these challenges, please feel free to reach out and we can discuss how we may be able to help.