Is your company facing candidate abandonment?

In an era of swift decision-making and unnecessarily long hiring processes, 10 -15 % of your best candidates will abandon your position for every inessential week of delay. However, long hiring processes may not be the only reason you’re being disregarded by your top applicants.  Candidates who interview with poorly reputed companies and experience an even further lack of engagement from hiring managers are far more likely to withdraw from and abandon your process.

Not only are lengthy hiring processes unappealing to worthy candidates, but they also increase hiring costs and allow your applicants weeks and sometimes months to interview elsewhere. If your acceptance rates are diminishing, it may be due to a poor reputation that your company has earned through slow hiring operations and a lack of communication with potential hires. Reducing your decision-making time allows candidates less time to consider the disadvantages that may accompany your open position and a greater opportunity to dwell on the benefits presented throughout their interview.

Furthermore, this lack of communication from hiring managers denies prospective employees the vital credibility and trust that applicants so eagerly search for in future positions. The absence of transparency throughout the hiring process demonstrates a lack of interest and dedication that often leads candidates to look elsewhere and can be detrimental to the communal perception of your company.  Research shows that the number one frustration during the overall job search is the lack of communication from employers. Further studies reflect that 72% of job seekers that had a bad experience with hiring managers have shared their experience with others, either online or in-person. As employers, it is important to keep in mind that your lack of action is not only affecting your ability to hire top candidates, but it also is affecting your ability to attract these candidates.

So how can you improve your hiring process in order to diminish the high percentages of candidate desertion that so often accompany it? Here are three ways to improve your hiring process when your offers just aren’t cutting it.

Engage Your Candidates:

Employer-applicant engagement is key to a positive candidate experience. Engagement can include meaningful conversation, consistent updates, and even content distribution. Communication with candidates via email or phone call allow applicants to feel valued and enthusiastic about a potential position with your company. Disengaged candidates can often withdraw consideration or move forward past the point of return. By touching base with candidates, you are not only avoiding the high risk of candidate abandonment, but you are also preserving your company’s reputation in areas of efficiency, organization, and communication.

A further way to engage your candidates is through content distribution. Utilizing means such as blogs, newsletters, or articles related to your business will allow your company to maintain the candidate’s interest during the inevitably tiring hiring process.

Renovate Your Image:

If your company faces a poor reputation following unnecessarily long hiring processes, true image renovation begins with change. Rebuild your reputation through personalized communication, employee involvement, and the use of social platforms. Because initial impressions are key for company branding, maintain interview punctuality, a great attitude, and follow-up communication with each and every candidate, no matter their future with your company. A subtle point that is often disregarded is the opportunity to maintain your positive impression with rejected applicants. Kindly inform your rejected candidates of your decision to hire elsewhere and thank them for their patience throughout the hiring process.

Employees can be key tools in branding your company’s image. Encourage your employees to amplify their efforts in areas such as social media engagement. Provide your employees with intentional content including images, testimonials, videos, articles, etc. and motivate your employees to maintain updated LinkedIn profiles. Employee engagement is a necessary way to prove your company’s ability to provide a friendly and family-like atmosphere.

Narrow Your Descriptions:

Candidate abandonment can often become increasingly common as the number of applicants rises. In a situation where a large majority of your applicants do not meet the requirements or ability to perform the responsibilities of your position, it may be tempting to disregard the importance of communication. Large numbers of unqualified applicants can also lengthen the hiring process timeline due to the added days and sometimes weeks required to give every resume fair consideration.

Narrowing your search through specified, clear, and detailed job descriptions can eliminate the amount of time wasted sifting through gratuitous resumes. Clear job descriptions will ensure that your applicants are solid matches for your position and thus decrease the likelihood of candidate abandonment due to unnecessarily long hiring processes.

How do you overcome candidate abandonment?