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Here's How To Avoid An Impersonal Hiring Process

This article is more than 5 years old.

Candidates today are more often reporting a cold and impersonal hiring process when they are searching and interviewing for a job. In some ways, companies have removed the human element, such as using algorithms to filter applications, but this shouldn’t stop them from taking care of candidates in the process.

According to an American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor Survey, 69% of American feels the job search today is too impersonal and 80% say that applying for a job feels like sending their resume into a black box.

As helpful as AI and other forms of technology and automation have been, they can quickly remove the personal piece of the hiring process. In times past, there was no email to send a rejection note or algorithms to filter out perfectly good candidates. I’m not suggesting we should revert to methods of operating before technology, but I would offer that some of the personal touch those methods required could be useful when making a candidate feel valued and cared for.

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Counting The Cost Of A Bad Hire

“In today's world, where candidates have optionality, candidates need to be guided through an educational process where they can assess the opportunity at hand,” Nick Cromydas, CEO of Hunt Club, a recruiting agency. “This includes vetting the current team, their potential managers and an understanding of the health of the business.”

If you think placing so much focus on the candidate and potential hire is wasteful, consider the cost of hiring the wrong person and having to later replace them. Estimates vary depending upon who you ask, but for higher level positions, you could be looking at anywhere from 50-200% of their salary to replace them if you make the wrong hiring decision.

Putting The Personal Touch Back Into Hiring

The key to finding the right fit for the job is to make sure the candidate knows what kind of work, team and manager they are getting themselves involved with. Likewise, hiring managers should take extra time to get to know what type of person they are hiring, using their references as an opportunity to try to get a feel for their working style.

Finding the right fit for a job starts all the way at the beginning of the hiring process.

“In my estimation, the best hiring processes make a job candidate feel like a human being, and the worst hiring processes make the candidates in question feel like a number or a pawn,” said Nate Masterson, HR manager at Maple Holistics, a wellness company.

Of course, it is unrealistic to think that companies who receive hundreds of applications a day could respond personally to every person. At a minimum, companies should always acknowledge receipt of an application. Further, if they use an algorithm to filter applications, they should avoid sending immediate rejection emails. It’s a bit of a slap in the face to spend a decent amount of time applying for a job, just to receive an immediate rejection.

Once a candidate has been contacted for interviews or has attended interviews, one of the main ways a company can keep a personal touch in the process is to stay in touch throughout.

“Keep an open line of communication,” said Masterson. “Some companies, from a logistical perspective, can take weeks or even months to fill open positions. However, where many companies go wrong is in not keeping candidates updated on their status. It's poor business practice to leave a candidate in flux for weeks on end with no idea as to what your company is thinking or when they can expect to hear back. Update candidates on a regular basis, if only to let them know that you haven't forgotten about them and that they are still under consideration.”

One of the main ways that companies lose great talent during the hiring process is when they "go dark" on the candidate. Never let them fall off the map simply because you didn't keep them updated.

"Following an interview, there are few companies that communicate the selection timeline, causing a candidate to be slow rolled," said Amanda Bell, director of recruiting for Lever, a recruiting software company. "By communicating timing and staying in touch with candidates, companies can easily improve the candidate’s hiring experience and boost acceptance rates."

Much like a personal relationship, in order for it to thrive, it needs communication and honesty. Employers expect honesty from a candidate when discussing their experience and skills. It’s reasonable then, that a candidate would expect transparency on the details of the job at or before the time they do receive an offer.

“A company should make sure that the candidate is fully educated on the job function, their potential manager, their direct reports, what the next 90 days look like for the role, what the business goals are for the next year and any current pitfalls in the position,” said Cromydas. “In a successful offer process, there should be zero surprises on day one for the candidate.”

Sometimes a successful hiring process results in a fully informed employee ready to start work on day one. Other times, it means the employee hits the ground running because they have already been brought up to speed prior to their start date.

“Even before my formal start date, the business already involved me in an important meeting where the team discussed bold, strategic ideas to change the course of the business,” Sonita Lontoh, global head of 3-D print marketing at HP Inc., a technology company. “On my first day on the job, I attended an important review with the company's extended leadership team, including the CEO, to discuss important business unit issues.”

Candidates feel valued when they are welcomed into their new family. For companies that are in a busy season, that might mean quickly equipping new employees to make an impact on day one.

The most important pieces to keeping a personable hiring process and making a successful hire are ensuring the right fit for the job is a two-way street, hiring teams go the extra distance to take care of candidates, and keeping communication and transparency front and center throughout the process. Making the extra effort in these areas can lead to employees who have been hired into a role that's a great fit for them and in turn, you are more likely to retain them down the road.

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