“If I wanted a response after five days, I’d prefer you to send a pigeon.”
What you just read is funny, sad, yet true. In this age, everyone needs things done in a jiffy, yet responses from hiring managers are still rather slow. The age-old communication barrier still exists in the recruitment process. Research has found that three of five candidate complaints are related to communication. This communication delay or gap results in a number of tangible and intangible losses to candidates as well as organizations. But…
What causes a communication gap?
The communication gap between candidates and recruiters can be attributed to two important factors:
Low visibility for candidates
Candidates are often kept in the hanging and in the dark in the recruiting process. Right from the application stage, candidates have to rely on recruiting managers to provide updated information about the application status. Delayed and, sometimes, zero communication from the recruiters’ end is the biggest reason for candidates to make those frantic calls and emails, but then even those go mostly unanswered. This leads to a communication gap between candidates and recruiters. This problem can be easily solved by provided candidates with automated notifications about change in the status of their application or having a candidate dashboard where they can easily see their application status and recruiter actions.
Repetitive unwanted tasks for hiring managers
Well, recruiters aren’t to be blamed completely for the delayed communication with candidates. One of the major reasons recruiters aren’t able to respond to candidates quickly is that they are already so engrossed in other repetitive tasks. Recruiting teams have to go through the process of screening resumes, scheduling and conducting interviews, and carry out other HR tasks, which consumes a lot of time of the recruiting teams. Thus, recruiters can’t respond to every candidate and this causes a communication delay and gap. The easiest way to solve this problem is by empowering your recruitment team with tools that can take over the repetitive tasks, freeing their valuable time.
Organizations can’t just ignore the communication gap and have to take the appropriate steps to enhance their communication framework. Here’s why…
Why communication is an integral part of effective hiring?
Recruiters can’t ignore the communication gap prevalent in the hiring process. Here are two reasons why a strong communication channel between candidates and recruiters can enhance the hiring process for both parties.
Elevate the candidate experience
Failure to provide candidates with a superlative experience is one of the biggest challenges modern recruiters face. The communication gap is one of the biggest contributors to this lackluster candidate experience. By improving communication, the overall candidate experience is significantly enhanced. This enhanced experience can be provided through direct as well as indirect communication.
As mentioned above, indirect communication can be elevated by providing candidates with a dashboard where they can easily see their candidature status. Most of the communication from the candidates is simply regarding their application status. If their candidature visibility is improved, there won’t be any need for them to contact the recruiters as they can easily find the required information.
Similarly, if your recruiters are freed of the repetitive tasks, they can dedicate their time to responding to candidates’ queries quickly, making them feel valued and appreciated, which is also a significant improvement from the current candidate experience when it comes to communication.
Capture the right talent
Most candidates leave the recruitment process midway due to delayed communication. They then start looking elsewhere for job opportunities, as they think that the job vacancy at your organization is filled, hence no response from the HR teams, or they even develop a sentiment that the organization doesn’t care much about candidates. This can lead to your organization missing out on potential candidates. Constant and timely communication between the candidate and recruiters ensures that the candidate is always updated with the latest information about the job vacancy and his candidature. A candidate is less likely to leave the hiring process if he is continuously in the loop of things. This can help in expanding your talent pool and may even provide better talent for your organization.
With every operation across various organizations and sectors becoming streamlined, efficient, and quick with advancing days, isn’t it ironic that communication in the recruitment process which is a common thread across all the domains, is still moving at a snail’s pace? To know more about how you can speed up the candidate-recruiter communication process and the overall recruitment process with the help of advanced technological tools, feel free to get in touch with us.
