Nowadays, a recruiter has to manage diverse positions, where each requires a very specific set of skills and experience. To make things even worse (or better, from candidates’ perspective), now, candidates have access to a tremendous power given to them by the internet and social media.
Powerful Candidates
Now, anyone can very easily tweet and post a review on Facebook or Glassdoor of their experience at each stage of the recruitment process. So any unsatisfied “customer” can have a severe negative impact on other candidates’ decisions. How? Negative reviews can discourage the best candidates from applying for a position offered by a badly reviewed company. You can imagine the consequences of that, a pool of mediocre candidates and the star employees being hired by competitors. Not a pretty picture!
The Solution
What is the most effective solution to this problem? In my opinion, the solution would come from hiring a recruiter capable of, firstly, understanding the complexity of the current employment environment and all of its elements (employer branding, candidate experience, etc.) and, secondly, capable of managing accordingly the recruitment life-cycle of candidates.
Such an individual should possess exceptional customer service skills. Unlike his “ancestor,” the modern recruiter has to deal with an exceptionally educated workforce, which can influence directly company’s reputation and image if something is not up to its standards. A great recruiter should be able to anticipate needs of different “customers,” comply with them, and in the case where something goes wrong, manage the crisis effectively.
Another aspect of customer service is measuring customers’ satisfaction. A great recruiter should have an honest interest in measuring the satisfaction of his/her candidates constantly, using their feedback to redesign and improve certain stages of the process. These kinds of people are possessed by an internal drive for constant improvement, and this is what you need in a recruiter, a person capable of monitoring his/her own performance through the right tools and systems.
Conclusions
The benefit of having such an individual in your team is not only great for your employer branding, but it also decreases the need to monitor his/her performance, as he/she has the all the data and motivation needed to demonstrate self-monitoring behavior. This is a huge plus if the hiring manager is a busy professional with tons of responsibilities.
To summarize, understanding the current recruiting reality, self-monitoring and a constant drive for improvement are the three elements I would suggest to take into consideration when hiring your next recruiter. Seeking these traits in your future recruiter will improve tremendously the recruitment experience your organization offers to its candidates and subsequently its capability of attracting the best talent, forming a great employer brand.
Investing in the right recruiter means investing in your employer branding!