The experience of the candidate, and the employee, needs the love and attention of talent acquisition and human resources, now more than ever. Competition for talent is fierce and any interaction can influence a person’s decision to accept a job offer or stay loyal to an organization. In this month’s roundup, team exaqueo has curated five articles to help you put people, both candidates and employees, at the heart of what you do:

1) HOW TO PROVIDE A POSITIVE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE—EVEN IF YOUR COMPANY DOESN'T SEE THE VALUE from SourceCon

Let me tell you a little story that we as recruiters are all too familiar with. Company is ready to hire a new or replacement position. Hiring manager sends job requisition to internal recruiter. Recruiter attempts to schedule an intake meeting but gives up after a few attempts due to manager’s lack of availability. Recruiter posts job on applicant tracking system. Potential candidates apply for a position. Overloaded recruiter rifles through applicants quickly to assess possible fit with limited information in part thanks to hiring manager’s lack of input. Recruiter phone screens does assessment testing and lines up live interviews for hiring manager. Hiring manager provides little, if any feedback, to live interviews except to the one person they “like” and want to hire. Offer is accepted if we are lucky and the position is filled. Done deal, let’s move on.

The one person out of the 50 that applied got the special attention for taking the time to go through the interview process. The other 49 applicants got anything from nothing to minimal communication. No wonder this entire process is so often compared to a black hole.

2) 4 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT TRENDS THAT WILL RULE 2019 from HR Technologist

2019 is going to be a big year for HR professionals. Gen Z finally joins the workforce, new technologies like AI and AR/VR are going mainstream, and as Josh Bersin (formerly of Deloitte) puts it, it will be the year of productivity over automation. We discuss the good, the bad, and what’s changing in employee engagement trends, in 2019.

How we approach, employee engagement has completely changed over the last few years. From a stand-alone objective, employee engagement is now directly mapped to employee loyalty, employer branding, and business productivity. However, employee engagement has always been somewhat of a thorn in an HR team’s side. Genuine engagement is hard to measure, and what works for one employee, might not work for another. Is the landscape poised for a paradigm shift? Or are we heading towards an incremental but lasting transformation?

Let’s consider the top 4 employee engagement trends for 2019 to find out.

3) WHY YOUR BOTTOM LINE CAN BENEFIT FROM A BETTER CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE from IBM Smarter Workforce Institute

Today’s fast-paced global economy requires an equally nimble ability to compete for – and win – top talent. However, this need for speed, often coupled with high volumes of applicants and open job reqs, means that it’s easy for the candidate experience to fall by the wayside. According to the 2017 North American Talent Board Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report, 52% of candidates don’t receive any communication in the two to three (or more) months after applying. And if they make it into the interview process, most candidates are never asked for feedback about the process itself. In a hyper-connected world, the success of your business is inextricably linked to the way candidates experience your organization – and when your candidates are also your customers, every interaction matters. Here’s why your brand and your bottom line can benefit from a renewed focus on the candidate experience.

4) IS IT TIME TO TOSS OUT YOUR OLD EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY? from Gartner

More companies now use employee engagement data beyond large-scale surveys to garner a more holistic ‘voice of the employee,’ but surveys still play a role.

By 2020, 20% of organizations will include employee engagement improvement as a shared performance objective for HR and IT groups, but what metrics will they use?

In 2019, most organizations (74%) will still use formal, large-scale surveys to gauge how employees feel about their jobs and workplace, but that is down from 89% in 2015 — and an increasing number use other forms of engagement data as well or instead.

5) 10 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY IDEAS TO CREATE A DREAM TEAM from centricminds

A sense of purpose, good health, personal relationships, well-defined roles and communication channels are just some of the other elements that contribute towards an environment where employees are truly engaged. But before we proceed, let’s answer the most obvious question: What is employee engagement?

The Talent and HR News Update is a #teamexaqueo collaboration. exaqueo is an employer brand experience firm building employer brands and the talent strategies that drive them through research, consulting, and creative and digital execution. Contact exaqueo to learn more about our employer brand innovation, workforce research, and recruitment strategy offerings.