In a buyer’s market, we’ll be especially tempted to ignore what we’ve learned about the importance of candidate care. Paradoxically, though, buyer’s markets require us to be more vigilant than ever about maintaining it.
Across the past five years, progressive recruiting functions have put an (appropriate) premium on being “candidate centric” – a fancy term for “treating candidates like customers.” The impetus for this emphasis was obvious: in hypercompetitive talent markets, organizations couldn’t risk alienating hard-to-find (and hard-to-sign) candidates. As the saying goes, candidates view your hiring process as a reflection of your organization. And, candidates with choices will likely choose not to work for you if they don’t feel well treated during the hiring process.
All obvious, right? Well, here’s the trickier question. Now that we’re in a buyer’s market, will the emphasis on candidate care begin to decline? Or, to put it more bluntly, should our emphasis on candidate care begin to decline? After all, in most cases, the organization now has the upper hand. Why bother providing white-glove treatment when it’s unnecessary?
Admittedly, this is a straw man argument. The reasons for maintaining our emphasis on candidate care are clear and compelling. To name the most obvious: candidates won’t forget (and will spread the word about) employers who choose this moment to behave in a mercenary fashion. Put simply: we can probably get away with crummy candidate care in the short term, but we’ll pay a very heavy toll in the long-term. Whatever (small) savings we’d accrue from investing less in candidate care now would be overwhelmed by the cost of the lasting damage to our employment brands.
Still all obvious, right? Here’s what’s easy to forget: as a recent post reminded us, we’re not just recruiters and hiring managers…we’re also human beings. And, after years of desperately courting candidates, many of us will relish the opportunity to turn the tables. When one party (recruiters or hiring managers, in this case) wields disproportionate power over another, the results aren’t usually pretty. Even those of us with the most optimistic views of human nature can’t dismiss the sociological research that reveals the ugly behaviors of those who wield absolute power over others. In a phrase: “I’ve been begging and pleading with candidates for years. Now, it’s their turn.”
Of course, you probably won’t hear a fellow recruiter or hiring manager say something so brash. However, now’s the time that we all need to be especially watchful of candidate-care hygiene. Are we respectful of candidates’ time? (“It’s OK if I’m a few minutes late for the interview.”) Are we responsive to their inquires? (“I’ll call them back when it’s convenient for me.”) Do we treat them with dignity and respect during interviews? (“It’s fine to just provide cursory answers to their questions.”)
In a buyer's market, , we’ll be especially tempted to ignore what we’ve learned about candidate care. Somewhat paradoxically, then, buyer’s markets require us to be more vigilant than ever about maintaining it.
Note: Roundtable members interested in safeguarding the “candidate centricity” of their processes are encouraged to take advantage of two specific resources (both free as part of your membership): Use the Recruiting Executive Dashboard (members only) to measure new-hire views of how they were treated as candidates, and explore this organization’s approach (members only) to analyzing recruiting processes from the candidate’s point of view.
Across the past five years, progressive recruiting functions have put an (appropriate) premium on being “candidate centric” – a fancy term for “treating candidates like customers.” The impetus for this emphasis was obvious: in hypercompetitive talent markets, organizations couldn’t risk alienating hard-to-find (and hard-to-sign) candidates. As the saying goes, candidates view your hiring process as a reflection of your organization. And, candidates with choices will likely choose not to work for you if they don’t feel well treated during the hiring process.
All obvious, right? Well, here’s the trickier question. Now that we’re in a buyer’s market, will the emphasis on candidate care begin to decline? Or, to put it more bluntly, should our emphasis on candidate care begin to decline? After all, in most cases, the organization now has the upper hand. Why bother providing white-glove treatment when it’s unnecessary?
Admittedly, this is a straw man argument. The reasons for maintaining our emphasis on candidate care are clear and compelling. To name the most obvious: candidates won’t forget (and will spread the word about) employers who choose this moment to behave in a mercenary fashion. Put simply: we can probably get away with crummy candidate care in the short term, but we’ll pay a very heavy toll in the long-term. Whatever (small) savings we’d accrue from investing less in candidate care now would be overwhelmed by the cost of the lasting damage to our employment brands.
Still all obvious, right? Here’s what’s easy to forget: as a recent post reminded us, we’re not just recruiters and hiring managers…we’re also human beings. And, after years of desperately courting candidates, many of us will relish the opportunity to turn the tables. When one party (recruiters or hiring managers, in this case) wields disproportionate power over another, the results aren’t usually pretty. Even those of us with the most optimistic views of human nature can’t dismiss the sociological research that reveals the ugly behaviors of those who wield absolute power over others. In a phrase: “I’ve been begging and pleading with candidates for years. Now, it’s their turn.”
Of course, you probably won’t hear a fellow recruiter or hiring manager say something so brash. However, now’s the time that we all need to be especially watchful of candidate-care hygiene. Are we respectful of candidates’ time? (“It’s OK if I’m a few minutes late for the interview.”) Are we responsive to their inquires? (“I’ll call them back when it’s convenient for me.”) Do we treat them with dignity and respect during interviews? (“It’s fine to just provide cursory answers to their questions.”)
In a buyer's market, , we’ll be especially tempted to ignore what we’ve learned about candidate care. Somewhat paradoxically, then, buyer’s markets require us to be more vigilant than ever about maintaining it.
Note: Roundtable members interested in safeguarding the “candidate centricity” of their processes are encouraged to take advantage of two specific resources (both free as part of your membership): Use the Recruiting Executive Dashboard (members only) to measure new-hire views of how they were treated as candidates, and explore this organization’s approach (members only) to analyzing recruiting processes from the candidate’s point of view.
Written by: Todd Safferstone
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