Demonstrating value in Talent Acquisition through candidate experience

I am incredibly excited to have moved to a new role within AMS where I now lead our global Client Operations capabilities.  Those operations include the candidate sourcing and administration functions that support our clients with permanent hiring as well as the teams that help fulfil contingent hiring requirements. 

Spending time with my new leadership team I’ve been keen to discuss the value that we provide to our many stakeholders and the ways in which we articulate that value.  It’s a topic that I wrote about last year in the context of quality of hire and a topic that I think has even more importance in 2023. 

2022 was an exceptional year for those of us that work in Talent Acquisition (TA).  Hiring volumes were exceptionally high, demand for talent in most sectors exceeded supply and, as a result, time to hire was consistently up on prior year. 

As we enter 2023, many are expecting to see a softening in hiring activity as economic growth slows. But with some notable exceptions, the tech sector being one, that slow-down does not yet look to have materialised.  As Josh Bersin states, “For the first time I can remember we’re entering a global economic slowdown yet the unemployment rate has dropped to the lowest it’s been in 53 years (3.4%). There is a shortage of people to take the jobs we have, and even though revenue and profits are slowing, companies continue to hire.”

As the article, linked below, from HBR demonstrates, layoffs in the US are actually significantly lower than historical averages. So it seems that the challenges TA leaders have faced in 2022 look set to continue in 2023 with perhaps the added burden that there is unlikely to be additional net investment in TA functions in a time of slowing revenue and profits. 

So now, more than ever, is the time for TA leaders to be articulating the value that they deliver to their businesses over and beyond the simple fulfilment of hiring demand.  I continue to be passionate about the fact that we need to demonstrate strategic value through talent acquisition – the value of hiring for skills, the value of hiring for potential, the value of hiring better talent for our businesses. 

In addition to that strategic value, our TA teams need to be able to demonstrate the value that they provide as individuals to their businesses and business stakeholders.  Our Recruiters need to be able to demonstrate the value that they provide as talent advisors to their hiring managers.  Our Sourcers need to be able to demonstrate the value that they provide in their ability to access and engage with the best and diverse talent.  And our Administrators need to be able to demonstrate the value that they provide in ensuring an impeccable candidate experience.  That value should be evident in individual goals and objectives. 

As I have set my vision for Client Operations in AMS, I have asked my leadership team to better define and demonstrate those areas of value for each of our team members.  A great example of which is candidate experience.  There is an abundance of research that demonstrates the impact that candidate experience has on the overall effectiveness of TA.  Here are six key metrics that demonstrate that point:

• 60% of job seekers have reported quitting an application due to the length and complexity of the process.
• 75% of candidates report that they have no engagement with a company following the submission of an application and 22% would discourage others applying for a job at the same company. 
• 80% of job seekers say they would not reapply to a company that didn’t notify them of their application status.
• 80–90% of candidates report that the candidate experience could change their minds about accepting an offer with a company whilst a positive experience makes a candidate 38% more likely to accept a job offer.
• Nearly 60% of job seekers have had a poor candidate experience, and 72% have shared their experience on online employer review sites such as Glassdoor.com
• 50% of candidates will not purchase goods or services from a company after a bad job application experience

No TA leader should tolerate the provision of a poor candidate experience, particularly given the challenges of hiring in today’s talent market.  Whilst candidate experience has always been a priority for AMS, I now want to ensure that it’s embedded as a key goal for every one of our thousands of team members supporting hiring processes.  At AMS talent is our world. It’s a vision that we’re seeking to embed in everything that we do and a vision that will drive us to do bigger and better things every day.

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