Recruiting Transparency Goes Both Ways to Get Fit
Transparency is a two-way thing
I suppose there is not a lot of google search for this title. No one is measuring recruiting transparency.
Should we?
Why do candidates leave? Why do companies fire candidates within 90 days of starting? Surely fit and all important expectations are a factor.
Companies are worried about the candidate not being as good as he was in the interview.
That is reasonable and our company exists to narrow that gap via our research and transparency.
However, companies forget that the candidate has a certain amount of passion and hope the first day on the job. The candidate wants transparency and loses engagement with you when expectations and reality do not match.
Further, companies forget that candidates have a lot of hope on the first contact from the recruiter or the company.
Real events hurt this base, and it is very hard to regain. One is the company and the recruiter are not transparent with the candidate. Another is the company is not very good at explaining who they are. The company is not self-aware though it thinks it is.
Recruiting Transparency: Are you Transparent?
Let’s talk about the company not being transparent. It is possible to get a good person in who will not stay when they find out the kind of mess you are. All companies have problems and work for a candidate to face. The right candidate is ready and wants the challenge of the problem you are. This kind of person will thrive with you. Some candidates are skilled in dysfunctional conditions, and you may need them if you have a dysfunctional political climate. See also The Value of Transprency in Hiring.
You would be surprised at how careful good candidates are. It is clear they have been burned before. What they thought and what they got were far different in their previous work.
They ask us what the inside scoop is. We are the company that will tell it like it is. It builds trust with you that we are forthright. They think a company that employs us must be pretty good even though they heard both good and bad from us. When you are also forthright with them, trust grows and the right people commit.
You cannot be totally transparent with candidates. However, you can give a candidate some transparency he or she needs to go the next step in the process with you. Strategically working with a recruiter has an advantage in that they can learn about you and represent you more clearly to get better fit in your hires. We see the value of knowing a company as being so high that we do not do contingency recruiting at all. Contingency recruiting leads to 6 companies throwing mud on the wall to see what sticks. No one can be spot on as they cannot know you well enough at that depth.
Recruiting transparency is a two sided coin. Both sides need to give it to achieve better fit. Are we ready to go there? SHI Group lives there.