Ian Kershaw, Principle Client Partner at Talent Q, ‘Protect your revenues and profits even when rejecting applicants’ With 150,000 applicants for 6,000 Customer Advisor roles within 362 B&Q stores each year, 144,000 candidates will come away disappointed. Not handling the unsuccessful candidates the right way could result in loss of customer brand loyalty and - ultimately - their lifetime business.

1. Protect your revenues and profits event when
rejecting applicants
Ian Kershaw

2. Agenda
1. Why we’re here
2. The challenge
3. Improving the odds
4. What next

3. 1Why we’re here

4. Are these questions familiar?
‘How do I reject candidates
fairly?’
‘How do I ensure my staff are
customer focussed?’
‘How can I manage the huge volume of job
applications?’
‘How can I create a positive candidate
experience?’
‘How do I identify those with a passion
for Retail?’
‘How can I build customer loyalty?’
‘How do I ensure staff are
motivated & fit with the
culture?’‘How can I retain the staff I need?’
‘How do I maximise sales?’

5. slow
repetitive annoying
Un-manageable
difficult
Tedious
challenging
boring
Sapping
painful
frustrating
Time-consuming
Inefficient inconsistent

6. Impact of staff turnover
% of organizations reporting that turnover has significant consequences:
48 percent
of employers claim
that it costs $9,300
to $18,500 to
replace an
employee.
Overall Costs of
turnover estimated
between 1 and 2 X
salary X no. of
leavers.
57%
47%
44%
42%
26%
21%
Ongoing recruitment and
Increases the pressure on line
Damages the morale of the
HR burden
Negative impact on business
Negative impact on customer
Ongoing recruitment and associated costs
Increases the pressure on line managers
Damages the morale of the remaining staff
HR burden
Negative impact on business performance
Negative impact on customer services
(Percentage of organizations who said these problems arose as a result of high staff turnover, Talent Q, 2013).

7. Staff attrition – lost productivity
Productivity losses tied to turnover
Taleo Research White Paper: The Payback from Talent Mobility

8. Rejecting your customers?
This rejected candidate may also be a customer...
How big might this problem be?

9. The B&Q Challenge
Recruit 6000 new customer advisor roles
within 362 sites across the UK.
Handle 150,000 applicants per annum.
“All retailers know that the stakes are high in recruitment
because every candidate really is a potential customer. It’s
therefore critical for us to provide a positive experience to all
applicants, regardless of whether or not we’ll offer them a job.”
Jo Leggett, Resourcing Manager B&Q

10. How many do you reject versus recruit?
From Chief Recruiter to Chief Rejection Officer!

11. 2 The challenge

12. The vicious circle
“..it was essentially a list of questions that took
45 minutes to complete and we knew it wasn’t
very engaging.” Jo Leggett, B&Q
1 in 3 companies state that the length of the
recruitment process has led to the loss of
potential recruits – CIPD 2011

13. Talent Q research highlights
Across all industries, volume recruiters are finding life difficult. In a recent survey of
some of the biggest volume recruiters in the UK:
62%
37%
(Talent Q,
2013)
said that their biggest challenge is finding the right
candidates
are knowingly recruiting the wrong people
in a desperate attempt to fill their frontline roles
"I'd rather have a hole than an asshole." Dan Jacobs, Head of Talent, Apple

14. Talent Q research highlights
31%
of recruiters believe hiring the wrong
personfor the role is driving turnover.

15. 48%
claim that staff are leaving frontline positions
because their expectations of the
job is not matched to the reality
of the role.
Talent Q research highlights

16. Whatever you do…gets out!
Q: On average, how many people is a bad experience shared with?

17. The high reality of a poor experience
74% share
a poor
recruitment
experience
70% research
the
recruitment
experience of
others
11% will be put
off by a bad
experience of
others

18. Employer and consumer brand link
Good
consumer
brand
Good
employer
brand
Top talent
A good consumer brand will
ensure the right people apply
A poor employer brand can
adversely impact consumer
brand

19. Customer Loyalty
“..those who take meaningful steps to drive consumer loyalty are
88% more profitable than their competitors who do not.”
Deloitte research study – “Serving the Networked Consumer”
Customer
centric culture
Passionate
employees
Customer
loyalty

20. Value of customer loyalty
Q: What is the revenue value of customer loyalty?
• Average spend per annum?
• Number of years as a loyal customer?

21. And also - the right candidates are rare
• Talent Q assessment data tells us that...
40%
of the population are
customer focused 37%
of the population are
comfortable up-selling
but only 12% are both
Sony recently reported that, while they were inundated with applicants
for their sales roles, they couldn’t find people with both the sales and customer
services skills they needed. People who not only loved tech gear but could
explain a product to the customer in plain language.
(BBC, 2014 http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140123-talent-scarcity)

22. Candidates want feedback
About two-thirds of job seekers expect more personalised communication, including a
phone call from a recruiter, according to a 2014 survey by CareerBuilder
“If (candidates) hear nothing or get auto-generated responses, they’re disappointed,”
said Rosemary Haefner, vice president.
Ali Example"

23. 3Improving the odds

24. Reminder of some key issues
• 48% say reality does not meet expectations of the role.
• A limited candidate pool has the preference to be comfortable up-selling as well
being customer focussed (for example).
• Feedback is key in driving levels of engagement with a process.
• Length of process can impact on candidate satisfaction.

25. Action points. Not just for graduates!
Be prepared
• Understand your employer brand and be clear about why
graduates should join your organisation rather than your
competitors.
• Consider the best way to market your graduate
opportunities, whether this is through university careers
fairs, campus recruitment presentations, social media, job
boards or advertising.
• Ensure you have the technology in place to handle the
volume of the applications you’re likely to receive.
• Use job-relevant assessments to screen candidates
quickly and objectively early on in the recruitment process.

26. Action points. Not just for graduates!
Manage expectations
• Be clear about the type of person you want to attract and
the qualities, values and personality characteristics you
actually require.
• Provide an accurate overview about the role in question
and what the job entails.
• Be clear about the length of the application process and
the stages involved.
• Keep your promises to ensure that the reality of the role
matches the expectations of graduates.

27. Action points. Not just for graduates!
Provide ongoing communication and feedback
• Explain why assessments are being used and how they are
relevant to success in the role.
• Provide feedback to candidates and keep them informed
about their progress.
• Select the best applicants and explain to the others why
they were unsuccessful.

28. Action points. Not just for graduates!
Design an engaging recruitment process
• Plan your recruitment process from the applicant’s point
of view.
• Tailor your ‘offering’ to promote the key aspects that
graduates really want.
• Always ensure your application process is engaging for
candidates.
• Monitor social media channels and career community
sites, such as glassdoor.com, thestudentroom.co.uk and
wikijob.co.uk, to track what graduates are saying about
your organisation.

29. Customer service stars at B&Q – A working example

30. Realistic Job Preview

31. B&Q Realistic Job Preview

32. The benefits of a realistic job preview
n Screens out 10-15 per cent of
applicants through self de-selection,
saving time and money later in the
process
n No ongoing cost per applicant
n Reinforces interest of good ‘browsers’
n Increases the quality of applicants
n Reflects the organisation’s values and
required competencies.
Benefits to HR
n Applicants receive a realistic preview of
the key challenges and aspects of the
role
n It is quick, easy and fun to complete
n Gives a realistic overview of the values
and culture of the organisation, and the
key activities involved in the job
n Offers advice rather than assessment
n Can motivate to progress application.
Benefits to applicants

33. Situational Judgement Test

34. B&Q Situational Judgement

35. About SJTs
Face valid to the candidate
Configurable to enhance your candidates’
experience
Based on realistic job scenarios
Customisable to your company details, brand
and roles
Combine scientific rigor and state-of-the-art
technology
Text, video or 2D/3D animation formats
available

36. Benefits of an SJT
n Reflects the values and
competencies for a particular role
n Provides realistic insight into the
role, reducing later attrition due to
mis-matched expectations of the
role
n Minimal and acceptable levels of
adverse impact caused in line with
industry standards
n Pre-determined cut-off score
reduces resources for HR
n Increased accuracy – each
candidate takes a unique test
through adaptive testing method
Benefits to HR
n Improved candidate experience
– gives a better idea of future
job through realistic job
scenarios
n It is quick, easy and fun to
complete
n Gives a realistic overview of the
values and culture of the
organization, and the key
activities involved in the job
Benefits to applicants

37. B&Q Business impact
“We are getting more positive results per
head count than before which is great as it
makes all the effort running the assessment
worthwhile.”
“With the high calibre of candidates coming
through we are noticing a much higher
retention of staff; we’re making sure we are
employing the correct people at the correct
time for the correct position.”
Business impact:
• 96% of candidates found
the instructions clear &
easy to follow
• 77% found the scenarios
engaging
• 71% reported that they
learnt what it was like to
work at the organisation,
compared to 45% with
the previous provider

38. Further Considerations
Tone of Voice – Candidate vs Customer
Involve Marketing Dept-not just for the website
Offer discount vouchers or similar
Habitually seek feedback

39. 4What next

40. Checklist
ü Does my job description/role profile really reflect the vacancy?
ü Does my advert really reflect my job description?
ü Does my employer brand match my consumer brand?
ü Does my recruitment process reflect my consumer brand?
ü To what extent does my applicant pool reflect my customer demographic?
ü Does my candidate communications match my customer communications?
ü What feedback is provided at every stage of the process?
ü How might this feedback be perceived by a customer rather than a candidate?
ü What do/can I “give away” to rejected candidates that will help retain their customer
loyalty?
ü What proportion of candidates remove themselves from the process and when?
ü What proportion of new employees leave within the first 3-6 months and why?

41. Einstein is quoted as having said
that if he had one hour to save the
world he would spend fifty-five
minutes defining the problem
and only five minutes finding
the solution.
It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question.
Q & A

42. Which function, if any,
is responsible for this
number and thereby
controls the agenda?
(HR/Finance/Operations?)
What is my true overall
cost per hire including
assessment of revenue
impact?

43. info@talentqgroup.com www.talentqgroup.com+44(0)1844 218980