Reduce drop offs in the hiring pipeline - Candidate engagement

Contrary to the times when organizations would have an upper hand—tables have turned & the job market has become candidate-centric. Candidates have more options now than ever before to choose their preferred roles. Even though the current job market is booming with possibilities for talented candidates. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough candidates to fill in the vacancies. 

Taking a look at the shortage of candidates in the job sphere—we can tell you how the dynamics have changed over the last few years. Candidates think differently now about the roles they want to fill. In addition, there are numerous factors involved in how candidates perceive themselves in a position & the organization they’d be working for. 

In order to ascertain talent engagement, it’s vital to have clear succession plans & near future goals ready. With a sudden freeze in hiring, recruiters are stuck in a state of limbo. The talent pipeline surely is a wreck amidst the dearth of candidates around. 

As a matter of fact, 86% of candidates evaluate & research thoroughly before applying for a job. Why? It’s because candidates now emphasize more the quality & the overall well-being that comes with a role. Therefore, building the talent pipeline must be based upon having only the desired, talented, & suitable candidates. 

Even if you aren’t hiring now, it’s a good thing to build your talent pipeline. Aim to include the best possible candidates in your team! Having a robust talent pipeline means having your resources ready to be used when the need arises. 

Over the pandemic times, we have noticed a trend—drop-offs by candidates. The biggest mistake that you can do with candidates in your hiring pipeline is not engaging with them enough. Even though we have spoken of that above, we need to tell why there has been a rise in candidate shortage around the industry. 

According to a report by U.S Labor Department, roughly 47 million people have left their jobs last year. Organizations are making every effort to retain candidates. 

Now to consider the most pressing concern—why is there an increase in the drop-offs by candidates? We will answer it for you.

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• Candidates are less prone to switch jobs. If we take a look at the covid times, millions lost their jobs only in the first year. Individuals have witnessed or experienced the dreadful times of losing jobs. This has led them to think about leaving their jobs for better pay. While some have benefited from the trend of working remotely, others have struggled to keep their jobs. The situation has conditioned individuals with stable roles, work-from-home benefits, & regular salaries to keep what they have. Hiring trends automatically halted. 

• Top talents coming up with their own ventures. It goes without saying that top talents found this time the best opportunity to give shape to their ideas. They found enough time to think over the business plans that were shelved for a long. Startups and small businesses popped up & many of them made a huge impact in the market. As a result, hiring managers weren’t at much luck with experienced candidates. Even though the talent pipeline couldn’t be filled with top talents who had their own ideas, freshers were in luck. 
• Demand for experienced candidates continues. Post-pandemic times businesses are trying to recover their operations with the most experienced candidates. While freshers may bring in fresh ideas, there’s no doubt that experienced candidates have more hands-on experience. To get things back in action, nothing can work better than experienced folks—thinks most businesses. 

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Recruiters can follow pretty simple methods to reduce candidate drop-offs. 

1. Automate the hiring process

Hiring becomes seamless and faster when you automate the process. The technology involved in the hiring process can automate job posting, applicant tracking, candidate hiring, etc. Make use of tools such as NurtureBox that optimizes the recruitment process with sourcing automation. 

2. Keep a smooth road

Candidates dropping out during the hiring process is the last thing you want. For that, you need to get rid of any roadblocks on the way. The complicated application process, elaborate steps, paperwork, and lack of communication—are a few reasons why candidates lose interest in the job. By streamlining workflows, you’ll be able to retain candidates till the end.

3. Checking candidate backgrounds

Checking the background of each candidate is crucial before you hire them. It’s one of the many touchpoints in the candidate's journey. Without proper background checks, companies face the trouble of losing candidates earlier than expected. Screening of candidates' backgrounds can be done easily with automation.

4. Integrated partnerships

Think about having integrated partners to reduce candidate drop-offs. The new age workspace allows multiple integrations & collaboration for improved performance. The best idea forward is to deploy platform-related capabilities that promise assured results. Take NurtureBox as an example of an automated tool with integrations as support. 

5. Indulge in an investment

You cannot go wrong by investing in automation. It’s surprising yet amazing to know how much automation impacts candidate hiring. It helps in an overall reduction of candidate drop-offs, improves the quality of recruitment, and increases engagement—all is done in a seamless manner. In order to deliver a better candidate experience, automation is a must-have now. Tools that offer automation are best to have.

How Does Talent Engagement Help In Reducing Drop-offs?

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Much like a sales funnel, a talent pipeline moves potential candidates gradually to hiring through various engagement stages. The top of the funnel for a talent pipeline is to make a passive candidate turn into a successful hire! Therefore, talent engagement is essential.

Imagine this scenario: you’re a hiring manager that needs to fill a highly-valued position that has been vacated recently. As we know, hiring typically takes about 34 days on average, you don’t have that time. But when you have a talent pipeline ready, it takes much lesser time to pick candidates that fit into a position. 

Typically, all talent pipelines are created with one goal— to have talented & skilled candidates handy. Candidate engagement is crucial in the talent pipeline because it’s always not about filling roles. The talent pipeline is focused on engaging with candidates & building better relationships with top talents to meet future needs. 

Engaging Candidates in the Talent Pipeline

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Take advantage of Chatbots

Chatbots are a great way to keep the conversation going with candidates, enabling them to know an organization better. Candidates may have many questions about the positions available, the application process, & what benefits the role brings them. For organizations that are packed with a whole lot of tasks & recruiters don’t have enough time to answer your questions, consider having chatbots. 

In order to answer all the common queries of your candidates, deploy a chatbot on your website. In this way, you can avoid candidates from getting frustrated about no replies from your side. With the help of chatbots, candidates will be able to get answers to some of the basic information about your organization. 

Keep no doubt about how well candidates are going to embrace chatbots, as most websites have them already & individuals are quite well aware of the concept (thanks to Alexa and Siri!). 

Be responsive to candidates

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Being responsive to candidates earns you brownie points. Every candidate wants to receive a confirmation email saying their ‘application has been received’. There are about 96% of candidates who apply for jobs stay wary of whether their application has been received or not. Making use of automation, send email verification to candidates on time. Personalization even in automated emails is doing quite well. Candidates read through it & look forward to working with an organization that values communication. 

Further into the application process, even with candidates that do not make it to the next round—sending out a ‘thank you’ message tells a lot about your organization. The point is to add value to each candidate.  With automation, you can create a great employer brand reputation! 

Keeping candidates engaged in Talent Pipeline

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We’ve spoken before about the advantages of keeping talented candidates in the talent pipeline. But, keeping them there isn’t the end of it all. Typically, there might be numerous talents around the industry who are open to opportunities. At this point, you may not be the one who is looking to hire. Having candidates in the pipeline and nurturing them is the best way to prevent them from getting cold. 

Keep the candidates in your talent pipeline always engaged. Send them newsletters, and keep them updated with the latest press releases. The target is to keep them in the loop so that they don’t forget you exist! Basically, keeping the communication lines open. A great way to do this is to post on social media regularly. Stay connected with candidates through motivational quotes, a few words from your CEO, fun activities at the workplace, & more.

The aim of reducing drop-offs in the hiring pipeline is to keep a resourceful workforce. You may not be hiring every month, but make sure that your talent pipeline is ready. Engage with the candidates that you keep in the talent pipeline. Top talents are tough to catch, mostly because either they’re not willing to switch or they have better opportunities in hand. Ask yourself, what makes you a better option for them? Why should they join your organization? 

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Benefits of Talent Engagement

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Talent engagement begins from the time a candidate shows interest in an organization and continues even after a candidate is hired. This means talent engagement is a consistent process and must continue till the time you think a candidate is significant to the organization. Techniques in carrying out talent engagement are not that difficult to follow. All you need is consistent efforts in retaining a candidate for as long as you want.

Let’s take a look at the benefits that talent engagement brings in—

-Increased opportunities

A candidate or an employee needs nurturing—constantly reminding them of your organization is a good practice. For a candidate in the talent pipeline, it’s easy to forget about your organization. Sending them newsletters, personalized emails, and sharing fun activities of your company is a good way to be in their minds. Similarly for an employee, appreciating their efforts through rewards, benefits, and accolades work best to make them feel they’re important. In the first case, there are more chances of candidates turning into employees. And, candidates who feel important, become even more productive in their duties.

-Improved communication

You’ll notice a difference when communicating more with your employees. Increased interaction improves relationships with employees. Interact with candidates or employees to let them know about the latest news about your organization and more. We all know interaction with candidates or employees on a regular basis is important. Sending emails from time to time, personalized emails, and even interacting on popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp. Easy way to do it is through NurtureBox—a tool that comes with amazing features!

-More profitability

A workforce that is motivated will be more dedicated to the organization. The best way to earn more profits is to nurture the employees that work for your organization. Ensure that you take care of your employees, know what they need, and offer them an amazing work environment. When these things fall in place, profitability is guaranteed. Make more profits with a bunch of motivated employees.

How NurtureBox play a vital role in talent engagement?

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Imagine having a tool in hand that can act both as a talent engagement and sourcing automation tool. Well, that’s NurtureBox for you! This tool makes hiring so much easier. For talent pipeline only, the AI-powered tool can do wonders. When it comes to talent engagement, the tool allows you to send personalized emails, carry on conversations on WhatsApp, and do a lot more. Moreover, as a sourcing automation tool, it allows integrations such as Greenhouse and recruitee that fetches candidate data to make reach out easier. 

Track candidates, send emails & messages, and engage with them like never before! NurtureBox is an all-inclusive tool with integrations that make recruiting seamless. Unique features like approaching candidates via WhatsApp messaging are game-changer when it comes to engagement.