thought

paper

a tale of two
candidates
What Richard Bransons PA and a tank of petrol can teach us about the power of the
candidate experience
Take these two candidate stories. Which
would you rather hear about your brand?
1 Back in 1998, Sam Cox applied for, but didnt get, a job as

Virgin Atlantic cabin crew. And that couldve been the

end of her relationship with the company. But 10 years
later, Sam applied for and got the job of PA to Richard
Branson. And by being a great fit for the role, she made
a really big impact on the business.
So what had Virgin done to make someone itd rejected
before want to apply again? Sam found the answer
recently, when she was going through some old
paperwork: a letter from Richard Branson saying that
she shouldnt be deterred from trying again with Virgin
Atlantic or another airline further down the line. So
rather than be turned off the brand for life, Sam had
felt positive enough about it to try a second time.

in todays world,
unhappy candidates
have as much power
as unhappy customers
to break your brand.

2 To attend an interview for a job with a major energy

firm, a student filled her car with petrol bought from

the firm. When she heard she hadnt been successful,
she asked if the company would reimburse her travel
costs, as shed contributed to its profits by buying
its petrol. But the company said no.


The candidate wasnt at all happy with this
treatment. So she posted the story on a graduate job
site. Her post attracted a lot of attention, and lots
of people who read it said they didnt want to work
for the firm, while others said they wouldnt buy
its petrol. So one decision to save a small amount
of money ended up costing the firm a lot more in
damage to both its employer and its consumer brand.
Its clear which story would put a smile on your CEOs face
and which would give them nightmares. The difference
is that in the first one, Virgin Atlantic treated Sam
Cox with the same care and consideration it would its
customers; while in the second, the organization made a
quick decision without recognizing that in todays world,
unhappy candidates have as much power as unhappy
customers to break your brand.
Fortunately, the opposite is also true. Give candidates a
good experience and theyll use the same channels to
talk positively about you. Which will help you to improve
your employer and customer brand, attract more and
better candidates (even people who werent actively
looking for jobs) and ultimately make you more money.

Weapons of
mass rejection
As economies around the world recover from recession, the number of applicants
particularly for front-line roles, apprenticeships and graduate vacancies is on
the rise. And many of them are taking advantage of quick and easy click-to-apply
processes on job sites.
This means that companies are handling and rejecting
applications in ever-growing numbers especially as the
global talent shortage means they sometimes struggle
to find people with the skills they need. Meanwhile,
unhappy candidates have endless opportunities to vent
their frustration online. No wonder 56 per cent of global
talent leaders say that managing rejections properly is a
top priority in their organization.

If you carry on the same for 10 more years, the figures

19 million. And if each of those people had spent just
$10 with your organization over that period, thats $190
million in lost income. Which is a seriously big deal.

Heres an example of what these weapons of mass

rejection can do to your brand.

56 per cent of global

talent leaders say that
managing rejections
properly is a top priority.

Lets say your organization gets 200,000 applications

a year for 10,000 roles. And the 190,000 you reject
arent happy about the way you handled things. If each
disgruntled candidate tells 10 other people, thats 1.9
million people who arent feeling very good about you.

But rejecting candidates badly is only one of the things

organizations get wrong. Candidates regularly complain
of overly-long processes, little or no communication or
feedback and badly run interviews. And those that do
get a job sometimes say its not what they expected.
The good news is that you can avoid these mistakes.
Heres how.

A TALE OF TWO CANDIDATES

four ways
to create
a great
candidate
experience
1 Follow the laws of attraction
2 Communicate, communicate,
communicate
3 Assess to get the best
4 Give feedback that candidates
feel good about

2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

1 2

3 44

Follow the laws

of attraction
We know from our research that 84 per cent of graduates in the UK cite good
insight into the role as the most important thing to consider before applying
for a job. And employees at all levels around the world would probably agree.
But a lot of organizations rely on all-purpose films about
how good it is to work for them. Or they just issue a job
description, which doesn't show people what its actually
like to do that job in their organization.

To attract great candidates:


Make sure you take the time to analyze what youre

looking for, then create a profile of the ideal candidate

for the job.


Publish

that information on your careers site, as well

as on social media (if youre among the 94 per cent of
recruiters who use, or plan to use it, for hiring). And
make sure your careers site reflects your organization
and is engaging enough to get both active and
passive job-seekers excited about the prospect of
working for you.

keep an eye on
what candidates
and employees are
saying about you
on social media.

Think

about including a realistic job preview. Its an

anonymous quiz that presents potential candidates
with situations they might face in the role/
organization, each with multiple-choice answers.
They get real-time feedback throughout and find
out at the end if theyre potentially a good fit which
means they can make an informed decision about
whether to apply.


Keep

an eye on what candidates and employees are

saying about you on social media and on websites
like Glassdoor, WikiJob and Kununu.

A TALE OF TWO CANDIDATES

1 2

3 44

Communicate
communicate
communicate
You want to find the best talent on the market. But youll only spot those people
if youve created the conditions for them to perform at their best. And that means
communicating with all your candidates throughout the process and giving them
the chance to prepare properly.
But candidates complain of over-long application forms,
of doing assessments without knowing whats being
assessed and of being left hanging between stages without
knowing why. Some even report never finding out if they
were rejected or not.

make sure the

tone of your
communications
is positive and
encouraging, not
patronising or
overly formal.

2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

You can avoid these pitfalls if you:


Communicate

professionally, promptly and regularly,

from start to finish. This neednt mean an email
marathon a simple text will often do. And many
assessments will automatically generate reports for
you, including feedback on where candidates did well
and where they could develop.


Explain

what youre trying to do at each stage, why

youre using particular assessments and how theyre
relevant to the job. Then give candidates the chance
to prepare and practice. (They can do this at www.
trytalentq.com, for example.)


Make sure the tone of your communications is positive

and encouraging, not patronising or overly formal.


Engage

proactively with social media channels

and encourage your employees to do the same.

1 2

3 44

Assess to get the best

Assessments help you to sift for candidates who exhibit the abilities and behaviors
you need quickly, accurately and cost-effectively. So theyre particularly helpful if
youre managing large volumes of applications.
Theyre also a strong predictor of how a candidate will
actually perform in a job, which saves you from having
to use a candidates experience as the main (and a far
less reliable) predictor. For example, you might assume
that someone whos held a sales role before would be a
good sales person. But a personality assessment might
reveal that their style is pushy rather than consultative,
which might not be the right approach for
your organization.

To get the pick of the crop:


Use both ability and personality assessments to look for

the specific abilities and behaviors needed for the role.


Make

the assessments engaging and reflective of

your brand, so you leave candidates with a positive
impression whatever the outcome.

Use

situational judgement tests to screen large

volumes of applicants. These are tailored, engaging
assessments that help organizations to find the
candidates that are best suited to the role. They do
this by asking candidates to choose from one of
several responses to a situation theyll face in the job.
Some adapt in real time to the responses, which gives
candidates an even more engaging experience and
gives you a truer reflection of how candidates deal
with situations as they evolve.


Check

the whole process is fair: do your assessments

discriminate against any groups of candidates? Are
your interviewers aware of unconscious bias?


Give

guides to interviewers so they follow the same

competency-based process with all candidates. And
incorporate the results of the personality and ability
assessments.


Review

your assessments and processes regularly to

check theyre still relevant.

A TALE OF TWO CANDIDATES

1 2

3 44

Give feedback
that candidates
feel good about
Research from LinkedIn shows that 94 per cent of professionals want to receive
interview feedback, and people would be four times more likely to consider a
future opportunity with a company if theyd had constructive feedback from
them the first time.
But the same research showed that only 41 per cent
of professionals have received feedback before.

To make your organization stand out:


Be

respectful, not tactless, when rejecting people.

Think about how youd want to get news like this and
write or speak in that tone.


Thank

candidates for their time and interest. And

remember Sam Cox: they might not be right for this
role, right now, but they could be perfect for another
one in your organization in five years.

research from linkedin

shows that 94 per cent
of professionals want
to receive interview
feedback but only 41
per cent actually have.


Consider

giving an extra sweetener, such as career

advice or money-off vouchers. Itll all add to the
positive impression you leave of your brand.

2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

Final word
Do all, or even some, of the things weve recommended and
youll be on the way to creating a great candidate experience.
One that makes you a honey pot for the best people in the
market, whether theyre actively looking for a job or not.
And one that will give you the edge over your competitors.

Lucy Beaumont, solutions director,

Talent Q, part of Hay Group

Matt Kirk, solutions director,

Talent Q, part of Hay Group

Lucy is responsible for supporting Hay Group to grow

and develop their business, with a focus on creating
and delivering solution-based training. Previously,
Lucy worked as a senior research and development
consultant, where she was heavily involved with
delivering client solutions. This included mapping
client competencies to Talent Q assessments, client
validations to identify what predicts success within
different populations and group analysis projects to
understand the profiles of groups.

Matt works within Talent Q International and

is responsible for supporting Hay Group to grow
and develop their businesses, with a focus on
creating and delivering large-scale, solution-led
projects. Prior to his role in the International
team, Matt worked as an account director for
nearly 10 years. The role was heavily focused
on global customized assessment solutions
used throughout the employee lifecycle, from
attraction to exit.

hay group

talent q

linkedin.com/company/hay-group

linkedin.com/company/talent-q

facebook.com/HayGroup

facebook.com/talentqgroup

@HayGroup

@talentQ

About Hay Group and Talent Q: In April

2014, psychometric assessment specialist
Talent Q became part of Hay Group, a global
management consultancy.

w www.haygroup.com
b blog.haygroup.com

Hay Group has been helping organizations to

make strategy happen through their people for
over 70 years. We employ over 3,000 people
in 87 offices across 49 countries. Our clients
are from the private, public and not-for-profit
sectors across every major industry.

Talent Q designs and delivers online

psychometric assessments, training and
consultancy, to help organizations make
better, more informed decisions about
their people.
With a passion for innovation and a practical
approach to solving talent management
challenges for clients, Talent Q has been first
to market with a number of new initiatives
and approaches in the assessment industry.

2015 Hay Group. All rights reserved.

Theres a global talent shortage, and with

75 per cent of the global workforce being
passive candidates, its more important
than ever to entice people into applying.