When should employee engagement start?

In association with

2017 is a candidate driven market, how can you stand out from your competition to attract the best talent for your business?

By Laura Hartley, director, LHR.

Engagement has been a buzzword for the past few years, yet many companies are missing the opportunity to engage with their future employees during the recruitment process.

Recruitment should be treated like any other business decision and there should be a strategy behind it. Employers should have an awareness of how they are perceived in the market place as this will be the picture that the potential candidates will have of them, whether it’s right or wrong.

The advert or brief is the start of the engagement. Why should candidates apply for your job, what makes you the best fit company for them? Your advert must be attractive without overselling. A little like the description of houses for sale.

The biggest frustration job hunters have is not hearing back from the company. Make it a priority to contact them to feedback they have been unsuccessful this time. All it takes is a template email. You may want to keep some for future roles, by contacting them, you will leave them with a positive impression even if they haven’t got the job.

Invite to interview, make it personal. Chances are you will only be inviting 3-5 candidates to meet with you. Take a moment to add something in the invite that stood out in their CV or covering letter.

The interview, prepare your questions in advance. You should have a mix of questions which are competency and soft skills based.

Know the business DNA and what type of person fits in well. The interviewer should know the mission statement and the values of the company as well as the short and long-term goals of the business. Remember the candidate is interviewing you as well.

Making the offer gives you an opportunity to engage further with the candidate. Also, you can judge by their reaction whether they really want the job or could potentially be counter offered.

Occasionally you may have to negotiate to get them on board. Do this with caution. Recently we have seen several clients come to us after a negotiation has gone wrong. Remember in a negotiation there should be give and take to reach an agreement.

A few things you can do, before the successful candidate starts, is to send them a card or an email to say how much you are looking forward to them starting. Ask them to pop in for an hour or so to meet their team members, or arrange a meal with the team to introduce them out of the office environment. First day nerves! If the candidate is already feeling part of the team there will be little nerves but please ensure they have a desk, computer set up, log in details to the system and a buddy who they can go to for support.