What is Candidate Engagement?

Engagement or commitment to the candidate is everything related to the contact between the recruiter and the candidate during the selection process, the relationship of trust that is created between them. It all starts during the first contact, usually a message on LinkedIn or an email with the aim of setting up an interview. Physically where possible, or through digital means, as a result of the pandemic, the most popular method. The first contact is crucial to attract the candidate’s interest in the best way. 

Why is Candidate Engagement so important to a company?

The recruitment and selection process comprises several stages, which are very important for choosing the right person for each vacancy. In some cases, this dynamic can become a little longer, with the application of laborious tests or a greater number of interviews, which requires time availability.

In this sense, engagement practices are responsible for keeping candidates willing to face all these stages, to get to know the organization better and to want its approval. Without this, the chances of losing great professionals along the way are greater, which reduces the efficiency of the selection process and makes it difficult to hire more qualified people.

How to increase candidate engagement?

To increase engagement in the selection process, the Human Resources sector can apply a series of actions, of which we will highlight 10 in the following topics.

1. Set up a process schedule

The first step to have a more attractive selection process is to create a complete schedule of all the steps. It must contain the deadlines for taking each of the tests , the interview schedule and, most importantly, the return time to candidates for each phase.

This helps recruiters to have better control of the process, giving more security to both candidates and managers demanding vacancies.

2. Establish personal and recurring communication

Communication is one of the key points in an efficient selection process. Therefore, it must be worked from end to end, with personality and transparency, so that each candidate feels unique and special.

Therefore, avoid using standardized messages, make sure that, when necessary, they are properly adapted with the person’s name and gender agreement.

Finally, never leave a candidate unanswered about the progress of the process. In addition to minimizing anxiety, this helps to show that the company cares about people and that it works more closely with its professionals.

3. Offer more complete and in-depth feedback

Still on the issue of communication, one of the biggest frustrations of people who do not pass selection processes is the lack of quality feedback about the reasons for their refusal. This is not a question of curiosity, but a great opportunity to identify points of improvement for your career.

Even in cases of approvals, it is interesting to provide more in-depth feedback, punctuating the most striking characteristics of the person, whether positive or negative. A greater emphasis should be given to soft skills , which can hardly be proven based on curriculum analysis alone.

4. Show the company’s dependencies

One initiative that helps to engage candidates during the selection process is taking a tour of the company’s facilities. Therefore, show the sector where the person will work. If you’re an approved person, quickly introduce some of your peers, point out common environments such as the decompression room, kitchen, outdoor areas, and talk about these places along the way.

This attitude makes the person able to imagine themselves inserted in the organization’s routine and, thus, becomes even more involved during the process. Ideally, this tour should take place at intermediate stages of the process, with candidates who already have a greater chance of being hired.

5. Work Employer Branding

The branding employer is one of the most efficient tools of HR. It works from the attraction phase, with actions that promote the employer brand in the market, attracting the best talents to the retention of employees, working to improve satisfaction and the organizational climate.

In the selection process, employer branding can be applied to the organization’s presentation to candidates, through printed and digital materials that show the advantages offered to employees.

Furthermore, the very way in which recruiters conduct the process can help to reinforce this issue and increase the chances of professionals remaining during the stages.

6. Use gamification in the process

Gamification is a practice that can be applied in different areas of the management of a company, but it has a very great potential in the selection process. More than just making some steps more fun and enjoyable, this tactic helps in evaluating the participants’ behavioral skills and abilities, especially with regard to group interactions.

7. Strengthen the fit cultural stage

The organizational culture is the heart of a company. Today, technical skills alone do not guarantee a good hire. In this case, the cultural fit is essential for the integration of the new hire, as well as for a longer stay in the company. A much-heard phrase about this is that “many organizations hire on their résumé and fire on their behavior.”

In this sense, the cultural fit validation stage should be at the beginning of the process, in order to avoid that people with values ​​that are very different from those practiced in the company have their time wasted. In addition, it is interesting to create a culture committee that establishes the evaluation criteria for this fit and that it is formed by people from different areas of the business.

8. Customize contacts according to behavioral profile

The behavioral profile analysis can be a great ally in the engagement of candidates, because it helps to customize the selection process. Each of the profiles is motivated by different things and, being aware of this, driving the steps becomes more pleasant and attractive.

In addition, all communication can be adjusted to make the activities more efficient, from the way the candidate will be communicated about the results of their tests, even in the creation of a more irresistible final proposal.

9. Have technological tools

Technology is already a great ally of HR as a whole, so the selection process would be no different. The use of tools that automate the tasks of the recruiting team not only ensures more agility and accuracy on the part of the company, but also gives more security and confidence to candidates.

Thus, they can be present from the stage of dissemination of vacancies, using specific platforms and social networks, as well as in the first stages of selection, automatically filtering resumes based on the minimum requirements established for each vacancy.

During the process, more robust tools, such as Profiler, help to better analyze each candidate, generating more complete feedbacks that help them to evolve in their career, even if they are not selected at that time.

10. Collect candidate feedback

This is a golden tip that almost no company remembers to make, but it is essential to have an excellent selection process. Knowing what the candidates thought of the process is the “cat leap” to improve it even more and attract high-quality professionals for future vacancies.

To do this, create a simple, quick-filled survey that helps you understand how each candidate experienced, especially those who were not approved or who did not accept the final proposal. Based on this information, implement adjustments to the steps so that the next processes will be even better.