Employers pay a high price for ignoring the candidate experience with outdated selection processes

HAMBURG, Germany - Oct. 9, 2017 - PRLog -- Employers are jeopardising their employer brand and their bottom line by persisting with outdated, boring and uninformative 'skills-only' selection processes that fail to meet the expectations of job candidates, according to a new white paper from Aon Assessment Solutions which comprises cut-e and Aon Assessment & Selection.

Called The Elements of a Great Candidate Experience, the paper warns that too many hiring organisations don't provide a realistic indication of what their jobs entail and they fail to treat candidates with the same care that they'd treat customers. Consequently, employers are recruiting people who do not fit their values and they're also losing future revenue by disappointing candidates who end up taking their custom elsewhere.

"Finding top talent is an issue for every employer," said Nicholas Martin, Global Products and Analytics Leader at Aon Assessment Solutions and co-author of the paper. "Candidates have a choice in where they work and they have very high expectations. Today's employers therefore need to change the way they think about their selection process and create a forum that provides a progressive and meaningful exchange of information - about your organisation and about each candidate - that benefits both parties."

Aon's new white paper provides tips and advice to help organisations build an extraordinary candidate experience that encourages customer loyalty. It recommends starting with a review of what makes your organisation unique.

"You need to identify why high-performing employees are engaged and successful in your organisation," said Nicholas Martin. "Then you need to create an immersive virtual experience for job candidates which provides an accurate preview of what it's like to work for you and has an element of self-selection. Your candidates should be able to see for themselves whether they would be a good fit or not. The problem is that too many organisations only assess for the skills and abilities that are required for the job; they don't check whether the candidate aligns with their culture. So they may hire applicants with the necessary skills but they'll later find that those people don't fit well."

The paper includes 'content options' for realistic job previews, such as time-sensitive challenges, mock customer interactions and job-related, situational judgement scenarios. It also recommends that employers use assessments that generate reliable behavioural data about the traits and habits of candidates.

"Providing a clear picture of what the job entails and measuring the necessary traits, skills and experiences up front will help you to create an accurate filter for talent that matches your requirements," said Nicholas Martin. "As well as delivering an extraordinary candidate experience, this will prevent 'poor-fit' applicants, who aren't right for your organisation, from progressing through your hiring process."

The paper also recommends that employers should utilise an assessment platform that seamlessly provides candidates with helpful feedback.

"Whether you turn an applicant down or encourage them to continue in your process, you should provide feedback on their performance and the results of their assessments," said Nicholas Martin. "If you're rejecting them, this will help them to understand why, and in what areas, they were not a good fit for that particular role. By doing this, you can retain their loyalty as a customer, or motivate them to become a new customer, and you may even inspire them to tell others about their experience in a positive way."

Aon's new white paper The Elements of a Great Candidate Experience can be freely downloaded from  http://infomail.cut-e.com/slt.php?t=1td67n.p0a5n8

Background notes: Founded in 2002, cut-e (pronounced 'cute') is part of Aon Assessment Solutions, a group within Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. cut-e provides online tests, questionnaires and gamified assessments for attraction, selection, talent management and development. Aon Assessment Solutions undertakes 30 million assessments each year in 90 countries and 40 languages.