In my previous blog, What’s Trending in Talent Acquisition Technology?, I promised to give you some additional insight from the findings from Brandon Hall Group’s 2016 Talent Acquisition Technology Survey. Well, I decided to deliver that today, as I just finished the first draft of our Industry Perspective on that study. That study will be published in the coming weeks. 
I am very pleased with the findings because it gives a unique perspective on the extent to which organizations are deploying technology to support their talent acquisition priorities.
For example, one of the top talent acquisition process priorities for organizations is creating a full candidate experience (51%). However, many of the technology solutions and functionalities that support the candidate experience are not being utilized.
Among organizations that are deploying some form of talent acquisition technology, many are not using these functionalities/solutions:
- CRM solution (20%)
- Candidate experience portals (17%)
- Candidate feedback surveys (35%)
- Video interviewing (52%)
- Video screening (51%)
- Gamification for assessments (51%)
- Pre-boarding portals (40%)
Also consider that 40% of our total survey respondents have not yet deployed any type of talent acquisition technology. That really underscores my learning that many organizations are not using the different talent acquisition functionalities to support their priorities, especially improving the candidate experience.
Organizations should consider that talent acquisition technology plays a very important role in candidate experience. Candidate experience is not only about employer brand messaging (though that is very important), it also applies to:
- How the message is delivered to the candidate (CRM)
- How candidates learn about what it is like to work in their profession at the organization (candidate experience portals)
- How candidates are updated on their status in the hiring process (candidate experience portals)
- How candidates can give feedback on the recruitment/hiring experience (candidate feedback surveys)
- How candidates are screened and interviewed (video screening, video interviewing)
- How candidates are assessed (gamification for assessments)
- How candidates learn about their new employer, co-workers, and managers before the first day of work (pre-boarding portals)
Not paying careful attention to the candidate experience can impact your organization’s employer and corporate brand. In many cases, candidates are customers too, especially for consumer products. Not keeping the candidate apprised of the status of their application; not delivering personalized messaging to candidates; not having an effective, efficient, and fair interviewing/evaluation process, are just some of the ways that the candidate experience can impact corporate brand. In my opinion, what is worse is not knowing that these problems exist because there are no mechanisms for candidate feedback.
If your organization wants to improve the candidate experience, it is critical to consider the different technology solutions to improve the candidate experience.
In my next blog, I will be speaking about some positive movements in talent acquisition technology. Stay tuned!
Daria Friedman, Principal Analyst, Talent Acquisition, Brandon Hall Group
