A lot of companies handle their candidates’ job seeking experiences very carefully to protect their employer branding. But do you know if the recruitment firm that you are using is doing this part of your mandate for you?
Recruitment firm – Sales Business vs. a People Business
Traditional recruitment operates as a Sales business. If you have watched “Wolf of Wall Street” or “The pursuit of Happiness”, you’d know the saying in a Sales Business. If you want to make 1 deal, you’ll need to engage 5 people who are interested in your product, and assume there is 20% chance that people will be interested in your product, you’ll need to speak with 25 people.
Maybe you now know why candidates have unpleasant experiences with recruitment firms. The Candidate is not a product. As an employer, we shall not estimate the effects of the 24 candidates who are not successful and its effect on your employer branding. From the first time the candidates hear your company’s name from a recruiter , their experiences with your employer branding begin.
Traditional recruitment focuses only on the deals or placements they make as they run themselves as a Sales Business. They wouldn’t pay attention to the 24 unsuccessful cases or approaches that come with the 1 successful case. Their candidates would not even be informed about their unsuccessful application and some candidates don’t even know whether their CVs were presented to the clients. These will affect their job seeking experiences and their impression on your company.
Our vision – People Business
Besides placing an excellent candidate for your vacancy, a good recruitment cares about their candidate’s job seeking experiences. It will be reflected in their business model. E.g. Besides focusing on placements (Transactions), they also focus on success ratios (to reduce candidates’ disappointment). They will also constantly update the application status with their candidates. The candidates’ job seeking experience will translate into a tangible value. They will re-consider your company even their application isn’t successful this time and they will also promote your employer branding among their peers, in case their friends are seeking new career moves.
Our strong belief in this cycle allows us to enforce the operation model to improve candidate’s experiences to build a long term relationships with candidates and help building our client’s employer branding.
Written by:
Dicky Yuen
Managing Consultant at Venturenix