Keeping today’s job candidates interested in your hiring process is more challenging than ever. With so many career possibilities, job seekers are keeping their options open and want to be positive a company and its culture are the right fit before they commit.
In fact, according to Engage2Excel’s 2017 Trendicators Talent Acquisition Report, upwards of 81% of Millennials rate socializing or collaborating with coworkers as very important or important.
Offering the opportunity to engage with current employees will help candidates fully understand what it means to work at your company. This also serves as reassurance that you’re finding the best person throughout your hiring process.
Here’s how you can socialize job candidates at every stage of the hiring process:
Stage 1: Reach Out and Personalize
The prehire process is traditionally viewed as a time for companies to get a deeper understanding of candidates. However, candidates are taking control of their futures and expect to know more about the company and its employees in return.
Use the prehire stage as a time to reach out to qualified candidates.
Encourage employees to send out personalized messages to people applying for similar roles. Remember, these messages shouldn’t act as giant billboards for your company and the position. Instead, they should be genuine offers for candidates to ask questions straight to the source—their potential future coworkers.
As you move through the hiring process, bring in team members for interviews.
Ask them to first review each candidate, then prepare specific questions. This not only helps your team learn more about each person, it gives them the space to strike up conversations and show off their culture.
Stage 2: Create A Positive First Impression
You’ve reached your goal—a promising candidate has accepted your job offer.
However, the hiring process hasn’t ended, so neither should your attempts at socializing. Even before their first day, new hires should feel welcomed and like part of your team. This preonboarding time is crucial for making a lasting first impression—which sets the tone for the rest of their employment.
Start off by holding a ‘congratulations conference call.’ Bring in management and fellow team members to engage with them after the offer has been signed to show their excitement, anticipation, and willingness to give up time to greet them.
Staying in touch is especially important if the new hire can’t begin immediately. Offer some of their new coworkers’ e-mails or phone numbers so they can begin asking questions and building relationships.
Stage 3: Nurture Open Relationships
Now that they’ve made it to the onboarding process, it’s time to be specific with socialization so they don’t feel overwhelmed. While it’s important that everyone makes them feel welcome, having a few people to ask questions of and address concerns will ease their burdens.
To do this, assign new hires mentors to show them the ropes and be their go-to person. Giving each new hire multiple mentors helps them get acquainted and comfortable with many personality types.
Further the process of nurturing open and strong relationships beyond onboarding by creating a separate chatroom for each team. New hires and current employees alike will appreciate the bond they’re able to build when given this safe place to express their questions, concerns, or even just to vent.
No matter where your hiring process currently lies, it’s time to pull out all the stops on socializing job candidates. Giving them a personalized, unique experience will make them feel like part of your team before they’re even started.
| Andre Lavoie is the CEO of ClearCompany, the first talent alignment platform that bridges the gap between talent management and business strategy by contextualizing employees’ work around a company’s vision and goals. You can connect with him and the ClearCompany team on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. |