In a world where robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are taking over many of the tasks of humans, the importance of soft skills is only growing.
Soft skills are the personal attributes and qualities that enable you to interact effectively with other people. Soft skills include communication, problem solving, mentoring, leadership, and teamwork.
These soft skills could perhaps not be more necessary than in the world of human resources.
So how do you incorporate these soft skills into a human resources environment that today mostly consists of automated emails and generic templates? You focus on candidate experience.
Candidate experience refers to the process of applying and interviewing for a job. The two main components are pre-interview and post-interview experience.
The pre-interview experience includes all interactions the candidate has with an organization before an interview. The post-interview experience includes the onboarding process and initial introduction upon being hiring into the new job.
Creating white glove service at each stage of the interview process is the ideal we must strive for in human resources. This includes creating a protocol for notifying applicants if they were not selected for a job.
With today’s job seekers facing an increasingly competitive job market, humanizing the hiring process is something that many businesses could benefit greatly from. Focus on educating and inspiring applicants on your company’s mission, values, and commitment to the community and you won’t go wrong.
Hire candidates more for their ability to learn and less for what they already know. The employability of an individual is about their capacity to learn.
With this in mind, make your job descriptions focused on the outcomes you expect in the role, not just the responsibilities of the position.
Simplify your application and make its status trackable for the candidate. Keep your candidates informed by not only sending a confirmation email upon receipt of their application, but also updates and status reports to keep candidates informed.
Who reads the applicants’ materials? Train your recruiters on how to engage and provide customer service.
Your recruiters are the face of your company and they can be the start point of a positive experience for your employees.
The future of the workplace is changing to a more remote and hybrid experience, yet there is a need to also cultivate a sense of community to ensure productive and satisfied employees.
The process of attracting, interviewing, and onboarding new talent begins with human resources. Human resources can be the tip of the spear in enabling the future of work to be more flexible, global, cooperative, and efficient.
While AI tools and technology may be a quick answer to processing an increasing number of candidates, it cannot offer the human touch required to attract and retain the talent your company needs.
Human resource technology tools can never replace meaningful interaction, improved candidate experience, and personal communication between applicants, recruiters, and prospective employers.
Candidate experience matters. Strive to be genuine in a world full of the artificial. You will find you not only attract better quality applicants, but a more engaged and inspired workforce.
