Talking about creating a consistently amazing, flat-out awesome candidate experience is one thing, making it happen across every channel where you engage talent is an entirely new ballgame leaving talent leaders asking themselves: Where do I even begin?
We flipped this question to our panel of talent experts (and enthusiasts!) to uncover the truth behind how leading organizations are applying consumer marketing to the candidate experience.
To kick off the conversation, we put Talent Board VP, Kevin Grossman behind the wheel to reveal exactly what candidates really want. Not just what they wish, but what they demand when it comes to improving their experience. Kevin iterated that companies need to get back to their roots of personalization when it comes to the candidate lifecycle:
"It's about walking in the candidate's shoes, providing a completely transparent experience fueled by communication and feedback and acknowledging your candidate's interest. Failing to deliver on these expectations not only means companies are failing their talent pools, they are hurting their bottom line revenue. The days of 1-star experiences are over, today's candidate-driven market simply won't have it and the Talent Board's research proves it.
Six years of Talent Board talent acquisition and candidate experience research demonstrates conclusively that on average 41 percent of tens of thousands of candidates globally who believe they have had a "negative" overall 1-star job seeker experience (based on a 1-5 Likert Scale rating) say they will definitely take their alliance, product purchases and relationship somewhere else. On the other hand, 64 percent say they'll definitely increase their employer relationships based on the very positive job seeker experiences they've had."
It's time to put the experience first.
Roopesh Nair, Symphony Talent's President & CEO, followed Kevin's findings by exploring what exactly IS the Consumer Experience: "Consumer marketing is the new role model, not the supply chain." In 2015, branding and social marketing were the two most important trends impacting hiring. And the market is catching on, and they are catching on quickly. Roopesh shared that "67% of global recruiting managers cited "recruiting becoming more like marketing" as the most important trend in hiring and retention in next 5-10 years."
What does this mean for the candidates? What has changed? It means their expectations have hit an entirely new level. Say hello to the empowered job seeker who:
- Expects to connect to employers when, how and where they want: Mobile Life
- Has near-perfect information: Glassdoor Phenomenon
- Wants the chance to retell their stories: Democratization of Credentialing
- Requires flexible work options: Freelance Economy
And this is not just our opinion. 86% of Recruiters say it's a candidate driven market.
So a quick recap of what we have so far:
- We know that the candidate experience must be a top (if not THE top) priority for hiring organizations.
- We know what the profile of this new consumerized candidate looks like.
Next up, Jess Schuster, Candidate Experience Manager at Northwell Health, New York State's largest private employer, shared how Northwell Health married these insights to deliver a unique recruitment experience and applicable processes to attract higher quality candidates, enhance resources for recruiters and optimize their budget.
The secret is out.
Northwell Health turned to Symphony Talent to roll-out a full omni-channel recruitment marketing solution. Some of the tactical elements included:
- Leveraged new corporate name and entirely new employer brand
- Streamlined careers site content; introduced personalization; content marketing; lead capture
- Implemented smarter recruitment media buying to make better business decisions
Let's talk about the results. By investing in their candidate experience and embracing the consumer approach, in partnership with Symphony Talent, Northwell Health has completely relaunched their talent acquisition strategy resulting in:
- 15% higher conversion rate on new careers website
- 89% increase in media-attributed applications
- 23% reduction in overall media cost-per-hire
- 18% reduction in overall media cost-per-apply
- 51% reduction in pay-per-click cost-per-apply from programmatic shift
These are the numbers that blow my mind.
We can say with confidence that talent acquisition tools, strategy and data have finally made the leap to consumer marketing.
Our audience was a critical element in making this webinar a success as it was their questions that drove the conversation. To keep the dialogue going I wanted to share with you some of the questions submitted during the webinar:
Q: Did Northwell Health have the ability to customize the candidate experience real-time based on information gleaned as they visit or revisit their site? (i.e. analyzing cookies or web tracking experience?
A: Yes, the Symphony Talent platform allows for automated, real-time, personalized content to users based on a combination of user data and artificial intelligence (A.I.). Administrators of the platform can also update content on demand through the Content Management System (CMS).
Q: What are your thoughts on utilizing a mix of niche job boards to reach candidates?
A: Each candidate scenario is different. Niche site advertising can be effective in cases where the site has a loyal user base that is very specialized/unique. At Symphony Talent, we are innovating our expansion of programmatic media buying / optimization to niche sites via M-Cloud.
Q: What does Symphony Talent offer?
A: We are a next generation Talent Acquisition solution that combines employer branding, recruitment marketing, candidate management and employee engagement to deliver a relevant and compelling end-to-end experience for candidates, employers and employees. We're different because we apply consumer marketing strategies throughout the candidate lifecycle, from employer brand strategy to candidate attraction, through candidate management and into employee engagement and advocacy.
