Why do candidates quit job applications? What do candidates want from potential employers? What can you do to improve your organisation’s employer brand? In a Recruitment Marketing Magazine exclusive, we interviewed Digital Employer Branding expert Stephan van Calker from Potentialpark who shares the answers to all these questions and more.
Founded 16 years ago, Potentialpark conducts global annual studies to rank top employer brands and determine candidates’ needs and expectations. We spoke with their Digital Employer Branding Expert Stephan van Calker, who helps organisations develop their employer brand using a data-centric approach.
“We examine the current messaging employers have in market, through their careers website, Candidate Management System (CMS), social media, recruitment advertisements, and mobile experience. Then we examine how well they are meeting the needs and expectations of candidates through these channels.”
Potentialpark’s goal is to match candidates with great opportunities and workplaces, and help employers secure top talent.
“There tends to be a communications gap, and we try to bridge that. Google, Tesla, and Facebook receive millions of applicants! But with our data, organisations have a chance to stand out, develop a strong employer brand, and get more quality hires. It demonstrates other ways, outside of having a strong consumer brand, that organisations can stand out so people can see what’s special about them.”
Potentialpark presents their study outcomes in the form of rankings. The lower an organisation’s ranking, the more they need to improve their employer brand. The data represents a large cross-section of organisations across a diverse range of industries. This includes industry leaders such as Amazon, Google, big banks, and high-end consumer companies, as well as organisations who are doing unique work in employer branding. Potentialpark also works with clients to assess their talent competitors to benchmark their employer brand.
“In releasing our rankings, we organise conferences in the US, Germany, France, and Italy. It’s so exciting! We present awards to organisations that reach the top 10.”
So, what does the data reveal?
Why candidates quit applications and leave careers sites
In their annual studies, Potentialpark asks candidates if they have quit during a job application. Globally, 56% of candidates in 2018 said yes.
“56 per cent is quite a high and alarming number! When we dive further into this, candidates usually provide three main reasons: the job/organisation wasn’t right for me, there were no relevant open jobs for me, and poor website functionality and design. These reasons give away a lot of information. For candidates who report not finding any relevant jobs, we often find that many organisations have poor job search functionality on their careers sites.”
Broken or absent selection filters mean candidates can’t search well enough for positions by location or experience level.
“Sometimes websites track candidates’ locations and only reveal jobs in their location, which can be very limiting. When candidates say there were no relevant jobs, it can just mean they simply couldn’t find it.”
How to structure a great careers site
According to van Calker, Potentialpark examines 51 key elements on careers sites.
“The most important part of a careers site is a dynamic menu. Candidates want to know where they are on the site and be able to navigate it easily. Another important element is the job search section. When we ask candidates what they expect, they tell us they want more developed job search functions with working filters and selection criteria. They expect employers to guide them to the right job!”
However, as van Calker explains, the outcome of potential candidates not applying isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, while organisations are hoping to attract the right people to apply, they are also hoping to turn away the wrong people.
Careers sites are the most powerful tool you can use to generate candidate interest, present your unique offering, provide testimonials, and more.
“Candidates want to know, ‘is this the right organisation for me?’ before even asking, ‘is this the right job for me?’. It’s a tool for both organisations to filter candidates and candidates to filter organisations.”
If organisations have scarce content or irrelevant content, candidates might not be able to select or deselect themselves, as they can’t determine if an organisation is right for them. Hiring managers then face the operational challenge of receiving lots of applications to sort through from candidates who aren’t quite the right fit.
“A strong careers site with the right content is important and relevant for candidates. Depending on the region, usually we see it’s the number one tool through which candidates apply!”
What candidates want: transparency in the recruitment process!
“In examining our 2018 data, we found that candidates want more insight and transparency around an organisation’s recruitment process. For example: ‘how long will it take me to complete the application’, and ‘how long will it take to hear back after I apply?’.
According to van Calker, only 7% of organisations tell candidates in advance when or if they will hear back from them.
“That’s a low number! Organisations have operational challenges of course, but candidates want some kind of estimation. They also want more information about the recruitment process itself, for example, after completing their application, will they go through a phone interview, visit an assessment centre, or need to complete tests? Organisations are not executing this well and can win so much by just being transparent.”
But what if you’re reluctant to do this in case you can’t deliver, or your recruitment process involves numerous steps which might seem off-putting to candidates? Van Calker believes this should be seen from another perspective.
“It’s not about that. It’s providing candidates with a general overview of what might happen. It’s not only about how long the process might take, but also being transparent. As long as candidates have some idea, it’s not set in stone.”
How data can help build your employer brand
When results are released, organisations can be disheartened to discover their low ranking. Potentialpark can then help these organisations by using their data strategically to examine where they are falling down and provide them with ways to catch up to their competitors.
“One organisation in the UK climbed from 50th to 14th in one year! They used the data we provided really well to create internal awareness and develop their understanding of what they needed to work on. They re-launched their careers site and social strategy after determining the content they needed on these channels to attract candidates.” Potentialpark examines organisations’ employer brand only, not consumer brand, assessing their overall messaging, the quality of their content, and how they match up against their talent competitors. So, perhaps surprisingly, organisations with strong consumer brands aren’t necessarily guaranteed a top spot.
“That’s why organisations are so interested in getting their hands on our data! We have a client in Germany who’s worked with us for a few years in a row to obtain our data. They rank highly, but they actually use our data to stay ahead of their competition and to keep informed of what’s happening in market. So our data doesn’t just help low-ranking organisations improve, but helps to help high-ranking organisations keep their lead.”
So in building your employer brand, conduct a thorough assessment of your key channels for candidates: careers site, CMS, social channels, recruitment advertisements, and mobile experience. Ensure you have strong job search functionality on your careers site and use data to inform your decision-making. Last but not least, manage candidate expectations by providing them with an idea about what to expect in your recruitment process.
Connect with Stephan van Calker via email or on LinkedIn.
Which of these strategies are you interested in using? Let us know in the comments.