Candidate engagement is a key priority for many organisations who value the link between high levels of engagement and high work performance.

With engaged candidates, translating into engaged employees, said to be happier, more innovative, likely to stay longer and generally more healthy and satisfied – sit back and read our new blog!

Effectively, engagement is the result of doing other things right. It starts at the point a person has their first interaction with your organisation, and making sure it’s a positive interaction. What someone hears, reads and the information they are asked to submit on your website all have an impact on their opinion of you and your business. This effects and develops their level of engagement with you as an employer from day one.

Effective Candidate Engagement Tools

There are many obstacles during the recruitment process which can affect the level of engagement you’re giving candidates.

We’ve established that the whole organisation needs to be involved and focused on creating a culture of engagement, and the capability of your leaders in making this happen is vital. With support from HR teams, you need leaders who empower their teams, encourage participation, are authentic in their interest in staff, drive change, involve people and maintain an open and transparent communication style. If your external brand says you’re a great place to work, then you need leaders who make it a reality.

Listening to what candidates say will also help you to understand what is important to them and, therefore, help  fine-tune and influence your engagement activities.

In summary, a strong culture of flexibility with supportive leaders and clear channels of communication will go a long way. The ability to adapt to new ways of working and embracing change in technologies will help you to work in the way that your staff are, but don’t forget the personal touch – face-to-face conversations should not become a thing of the past.

How do you measure the impact of candidate engagement on your business?

It’s really tricky to put a financial measure on the success of a good engagement strategy. However, it can be done, and it’s not all about money. If your staff are more engaged, they are going to be more productive, stay longer and through gathering feedback, you will know that they are happier.

A motivated employee who feels fully engaged with their employer will have less time off and will give both their colleagues and customer a better service as a result. Customer satisfaction and compliant levels are very tangible indicators.

So, we’re back to the full circle to ‘The Employment Experience’. This of course is subject to ongoing improvement and development as time chances. Ultimately, the candidate experience reflects engagement in your organisation which, in turn, supports your employer brand.